Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) (28 page)

“I know how hard it must have been for you to lose your spot on the team for something Micah and Dalton did back then,” Devyn said softly, grateful her voice didn’t shake and give away the terror she was experiencing. She gestured toward the old jersey he was wearing, wanting to forget all about Hunter Parson. Yes, he’d taken her virginity, but she didn’t have sex with anyone else on the team. She’d kept to herself until she was well into her twenties. Rumors had a way of destroying one’s faith in oneself. “But you had so much more than a position on the court in a gymnasium going for you. You—”

“Did I?” Brian asked in a rather mocking tone. He still had the upper hand and he knew it. Devyn leaned against the counter where patrons could fill out their deposit slips, her knees unable to keep her upright on their own. She was getting a little lightheaded now that the initial rush of adrenaline wore off. “Now see, you didn’t come home with me after school every day of my damned life and—”

There it was. A crack in Brian’s armor. The change in his demeanor was astonishing and he snapped his teeth shut with such a force she was surprised his enamel hadn’t chipped. It sure as hell made her jump, but she wasn’t about to lose this edge she’d managed to scrounge up. She needed to distract him enough so that she could find something to use against him.

“Did your dad used to hurt you back then?” Devyn asked with as much compassion as she could muster. “Did he—”

“You have no idea the hell I went through,” Brian spit out, literally. Saliva drops had turned to spittle as he sneered and gripped the shotgun in his hand a little tighter. Devyn shot a glance at the trigger, breathing a sigh of relief when she discovered his hand was wrapped around the wooden handle. “I ruined his dreams.
His
dreams, not mine. And it wasn’t just me who broke into the chemistry lab, but no one believed a word I said because the rest of the team let me to take the rap.”

Devyn could recall those days, but she’d been so concerned about her own life falling apart that she hadn’t paid much attention about those who didn’t run in her circles. Joey had mentioned after the fire at the school that Micah and Dalton had been the ones who had come up with the whole idea, but Micah had already been given a scholarship to MSU. No one in the group had wanted to mess that up, so they’d all kept quiet. It wasn’t until Micah had damaged his left leg that Joey had come clean, but by then it had been too late to do anything.

Whatever reason those teenage boys had told themselves didn’t excuse the damage they’d caused to an innocent teenager. What they had done was wrong, in every sense of the word, and three of them had paid with their lives. What did that say of the town that they’d totally brushed off those memories when these horrible events had started to occur?

“What they did was wrong, Brian,” Devyn exclaimed, hoping her conviction came through. “You didn’t deserve to be cut from the team. I’m sure if we go out there and explain what happened—”

“Shut up!” Brian yelled, the veins in the side of his face bulging out from the skin as fury rose up unlike any she’d ever seen. She heard a cry of alarm and realized it came from her when he’d lifted the shotgun with the barrel aimed directly at her face. “Just shut up or I’ll erase that pretty face. You had to involve Dixon, didn’t you? He was putting the pieces together, so I had no choice but to try and eliminate him. Then he had to bring those damned investigators to town. The two of you ruined everything. I even called the station with the code to the garage saying I was John just so that the authorities didn’t reach out to him. I just needed a little more time…”

Devyn thought she nodded, but she couldn’t be sure. Brian most likely had gotten the code for the alarm system from Joey before he was killed, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask. A penetrating flame of panic spread through her system so that it felt as if the inside of her had caught fire. All she’d wanted to do was try to talk Brian out of whatever plan he’d come up with, but that was looking less and less likely. She took the time Brian needed to compose himself to glance over at the wall.

Jack Dixon was shaking his head in warning, but Devyn had already figured it out. This wasn’t ending peacefully. Brian Gathright had murdered three people and he was going to kill more if someone didn’t try to stop him.

What Devyn needed was a weapon.

*

The irritating tenors
of multiple sirens could be heard in the distance. Everything had gone to hell and it was as if they were walking through an endless maze filled with dancing flames of fire on either side of them. They couldn’t see in front of them and they had no clue what was happening behind them.

“Dalton Linney is dead,” Detective Chaisson informed the team as he pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose in a manner that alleged he didn’t believe the situation in front of them would end any differently. Gunny and Doc’s presence was the only thing that kept Trigger from telling this man where he could take his assumptions. “The deputy suffered critical injuries from the blast and is currently being taken to the hospital in Corinth. All available units are en route to Micah Kilgore’s house.”

Devyn’s hostage situation was the catalyst that had set this day in motion. Trigger hadn’t even finished his call with Isaac when the news of Linney’s death had come over the radio, alerting them to a bigger plan in motion. Brian Gathright didn’t care that his identity was now exposed because he planned to go out in an epic manner. It would have helped to have that information up front, but that would have meant establishing communication…and Gathright wasn’t answering any of the communication channels Gunny tried to ascertain.

“The best we can figure is that Gathright must have been able to rig explosives at each of the residences,” Detective Chaisson speculated as he turned to look at the same building Trigger had been staring at for the last thirty minutes. What was happening inside? Was Devyn okay? Was his father? “Kilgore is currently trapped inside his residence waiting for the bomb squad to arrive. They are en route and their ETA is roughly fifteen minutes.”

Anything could happen within fifteen minutes. Trigger adjusted the bulletproof vest that Chaisson had offered up, providing Gunny and Doc each a vest once more officers arrived with the necessary gear. The Memphis SWAT team was also currently on their way, but with the way the events were playing out…Trigger wasn’t sure they would get here in time, which was why they weren’t going to wait to recon the site.

“The ventilation system from the roof is our best covert access point,” Gunny advised as he pointed to a specific location on the blueprints displayed on the tablet Chaisson had linked to the bank’s Wi-Fi service of all things to gain Internet access. “We don’t have what we need to breach either the front or the back entrances without the SWAT guys’ equipment. I guess we could shatter the windows with a flash bang, but I’m not exactly sure we’ll get the effect we’re hoping for.”

Trigger pulled a face, wishing like hell that Stick was here. Aaron Scott was their explosives expert and he would have been able to make a sizable detonation out of the junk inside of their vehicles. His absence weighed heavily.

“The windows are heavy duty security windows, so that takes another option off of the table,” Doc said in a grim tone, glancing over his shoulder at the layout of the building. More police cruisers were pulling into the parking lot, while some were veering off in the direction of Micah’s house. “We can try—”

“Brian,” Gunny said, having been repeatedly trying to make contact while going over their options. Everyone’s attention had now been snagged and Trigger listened intently for any mention of Devyn or his father. “I’m glad you chose to answer my phone call. My name is…”

While Gunny established a rapport, Trigger breathed a sigh of relief when Isaac drove up to the curb with Diesel. He wasn’t pleased to see his mother and sister parking on the street as well. The police were keeping people at bay, so Trigger quickly made his way over as Diesel hit the ground with both his front paws. The Shepherd was by his side, bandage still in place, within seconds.

“Thanks, Isaac. Would you please try to keep Mom and Katie out of range?” The two women were getting out of the car, already calling his name. Trigger didn’t have time and was grateful when Isaac was already nodding his head in understanding. “I can’t be worrying about them when I have Devyn and Dad to think about.”

“I’ll do my best,” Isaac promised, his dark eyes filled with worry. “Go do what you have to do.”

Trigger didn’t waste time and made his way back to the group of officers on hand waiting for Gunny’s orders. A perimeter had already been set up around the building and now communication was being established.

“Gathright wants to know if Micah and Dalton are dead,” Doc stated, knowing his voice didn’t carry over the line Gunny had formed. They used a push-to-talk communication system to eliminate any chance of a hot mic situation. “What does that tell you?”

“That he’s waiting until every one of his targets are eliminated before killing those people inside and himself,” Trigger replied in a monotone manner. If he allowed any personal feelings of rage, regret, or concern to break through his composure, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do his job as he’d been trained. Diesel seemed to understand this and sat, waiting for a command, ready to do what was necessary. “Gunny needs to—”

“Already done,” Doc assured him, falling silent as they continued to listen in on the conversation.

Gunny would in no way give confirmation that Linney had been killed in the blast. He delayed giving any information on what was happening across town, most likely infuriating Gathright, but buying them the time they needed. The team leader was already motioning with his hands indicating what he wanted done and Trigger was more than ready. Diesel would have to sit this one out, so he gave orders for his best friend to stay where he was with the team while he headed for the back of the building where the police had a ladder set up for access to the roof.

Trigger was the leanest of the group and therefore the perfect choice to enter the ventilation unit. Unfortunately, he didn’t have their unique equipment that was essential for harrowing assignments like this, such as two-way earpieces or surveillance equipment allowing those outside to see what was going on inside. It was only a matter of time before Gathright figured out that he was being played.

‡

D
evyn jumped halfway
out of her skin when Brian slammed down the phone with a fury, ratcheting up the intensity of the situation. She would have loved to say it was easy to see he was losing his tenuous grip on what little sanity he had left, but she couldn’t. His anger and irritation were evident, but he was in complete control in the next second. Was this it? Was this how things would end? Was he planning something even more devastating? Had he planted some type of explosive device in the bar’s AC system too? Would the team think to check that out in time?

The hostages against the wall were all in different states of shock, some more so than others. Jack Dixon remained calm and collected, not that his demeanor surprised her. He was staring intently at her and she pulled her gaze away from the source of all this upheaval to see if he was trying to tell her something when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She reacted just in time to turn away when Brian threw the phone against the glass office door right behind her.

Devyn wasn’t sure how she was still standing against the counter when all her knees wanted was relief from all the strain. Brian had turned away for a brief moment, enough time to give her a minute to catch her breath. She sought out Jack, who was holding a pocketknife against his pant leg. He ever so calmly tucked it back underneath him when he was sure she saw it.

“Brian?” Devyn cleared her throat as she attempted to have another insane conversation with someone she practically grew up with, but never actually knew. She needed to keep Brian talking to give Trigger and the police the ability to do whatever they were going to do to resolve this situation. She wasn’t sure
what
they could do at the moment, but she believed with her entire being that they were applying a strategy to save these people inside here. “I think—