HazardsDare (33 page)

“What did you find in the apartment?” Hazard asked.

“Cookie pans drying beside the kitchen sink,” Alex answered.
“The whole place smells like Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies.”

Morgan came right up to Hazard, refusing to look anywhere
but at him.

“Avery’s somewhere in this apartment complex, Hazard.
Someone’s moved in recently, a baseball player in trouble with the law. I fear
that the older woman next door is hurt. Hurry, where the cookies are, that’s
where you’ll find them.”

Incredibly, she sounded calm and reasonable, however the
second she said her piece she went white as a ghost. Ethan moved faster than a
wide receiver and caught her before she fainted, carefully lowering her to the
floor.

“If my wife says the women are in this complex, they’re
here,” Ethan stated, remaining close to Morgan. “Phalen, call the manager and
find out who rented a unit here recently.”

Ethan kept tending to his wife while his older brother used
his smartphone. “The rental manager has a voicemail message saying his office
is closed until Monday. I’ll try the superintendent in charge of apartment
maintenance,” Phalen said after completing his call.

“Doc and I can go knock on some doors,” Alex suggested.

“Hazard, I know you don’t want me to see what’s on that
computer screen,” Phalen said. “Morgan mentioned a spy. I might be able to get
into the hacker’s system and shut it down.”

“Are you that good with computers?” Hazard asked.

“Good enough to find Avery. Trust me.”

“I’m going with Alex and Ryan,” he said, handing the MacBook
to his friend.

“You like being called Hazard. I like Doc,” Ryan told him,
waiting at the door for Hazard.

“You three get started on the door to door,” Ethan advised.
“If Phalen and I find something, we’ll get to you ASAP.”

* * * * *

The sleek metallic gun held to Mrs. Albright’s temple kept
Avery from putting up the fight of her life. Her older neighbor was still
bleeding from where Billy Grainger clobbered her with the gun butt to the back
of the head over two hours ago.

Mrs. Albright’s confusion was as frightening as the two men
holding them against their will. Bound and gagged, Avery could barely move,
much less scream, which she would if given the chance.

Helplessly reliving the last couple of hours, she wished to
God she had left for the airport earlier or hadn’t taken the extra minute to
research tequila drinks on her Mac. Instead of leaving when she intended, she’d
met Vivian in the hallway and offered to walk with her to building four.

It all happened so fast. One minute, Avery knocked on the
basement apartment’s door to welcome their new neighbor. The next, the door
opened, Vivian stepped inside and a platter of chocolate chip cookies went
splattering to the floor, the glass shattering.

Rushing to help her older friend when she’d collapsed, Avery
hadn’t realized someone was waiting for her. Impossibly strong arms had caught
her from behind.

“Step into my parlor said the spider to the fly,” John
Redman invited evilly. “Move, fight or call out for help, the old lady’s going
to need a casket.”

“Let my neighbor go,” she’d said, trying in vain to be free.

“She’s sort of our neighbor now. Have you any idea how
gratifying it was for us to watch you limp in and out of your apartment,
totally unaware that we’d moved in. Distraction, you see, was your downfall. It
was easy to track you, especially at night when you were cyber-sexing with your
linebacker.”

“You had no right.”

“Maybe not, but your boyfriend has the perfect body for one
of my adult films. If he blows out a knee or gets concussed too often, he’s
welcome to work for me.”

“You’re insane if you think Hazard would have anything to do
with you. What do you want from me?”

“To kneel at my feet and apologize for being Alexander
Grant’s sister.”

“My brother is a hero. You mess with him, I’ll make you
pay.”

“A hero, you say?”

“That’s right.”

“Are you aware that your heroic brother fucked me over,
literally, figuratively and turned me homo? Have you any idea what I endured in
jail because of him?”

“Alexander’s not the reason you’re gay. Only you are
responsible for the decisions that sent you to jail.”

John had made a weird clicking sound that made her skin
crawl. “Now you see I’d not have had to debase myself for money if Alexander
had bothered to come down off his throne to lend a struggling friend a hand.”

“You weren’t his friend. Alexander was right to kick you to
the curb.”

John pulled on her arms so harshly that she’d cried out. “I
kicked your brother’s ugly ass out of my bed. He wasn’t worth my time.”

“If that’s so, why blame him for everything that’s wrong
with your life? Let me go, Mr. Redman. Let me help my neighbor. She’s
bleeding.”

John had granted one concession. “Billy, help the lady.”

Avery wasn’t given the chance to wrestle for freedom. John
Redman was deceptively strong, easily overpowering her and forcing her deep
into the heart of an apartment painted in stark, pristine white.

Everything was white. Furniture, rugs, appliances,
everything but the bedroom that was set up with video cameras, lights and a
frighteningly out-of-date fur-covered waterbed had been white.

“Ms. Grant, I want you to know up front that this really has
little do to with you,” John mentioned as if she really didn’t matter in the
scheme of things. “But now that you’re in our lair, it’s time you become our
bait.”

“Bait?”

“What do you think your brother’s going to do when video
feed of the two of us fucking you goes live online? You know how much perverts
will pay to see us sandwich you…a bound victim?”

“I’m not going to let either of you touch me.”

“Let me tell you why you won’t fight.”

“Strike me, kick me, whatever, I’ll fight back.”

“What about Mrs. Albright? Fail to cooperate with anything
we say or do, she’s dead.”

He’d been so serious that she knew Mrs. Albright’s life was
in danger. “Don’t touch her!”

John didn’t listen. He’d dragged her to the bed, gagged her
and tied her to the bedframe even as Billy Grainger brought Vivian into the
room.

Once Avery was bound, John took the gun, instructing his
partner to take Avery’s keys and get rid of her car. Billy left for about
fifteen minutes. He couldn’t have dumped her car far from the apartment complex
if he returned that fast.

Concerned more for Mrs. Albright, she tried to keep an eye
on her elderly neighbor. It was all she could do. The helplessness made her
furious. Her solace came from the knowledge that Hazard was expecting her at
the airport. When she didn’t show, he’d know something was wrong and get help.

John Redman continued holding the gun on Vivian, who was
tied to a chair, while Billy Grainger repeatedly filmed Avery. Billy didn’t
really touch her. He didn’t seem interested.

Anytime he glanced over at his boyfriend, it was evident
that the dominant of the two was John. The awkwardness John had portrayed in
Dare was gone. This John was a smooth operator, one who could lie as easily as
he could sway the loyalty of a steroid-addicted athlete.

“Billy, remove Ms. Grant’s gag,” John instructed.

Billy lowered his expensive video camera, placing it on the
bed. Across the room was a panel of computers and monitors. Her image on the
monitors disappeared as he untied the gag.

“You don’t have to do everything he says,” Avery said to
Billy, holding his eyes. “He’s using you. Don’t be fooled by a devil in angel’s
clothing.”

That’s what had been scary about John Redman all along. On
the surface, he looked like a decent guy. He dressed nicely. He had a pleasant
face and came across as the kind of man someone could show off to their mother.

“Don’t talk to her,” John warned. “Think for yourself.”

“Do the right thing,” Avery said to Billy. “Untie me, help
Mrs. Albright.”

“What’s right in your eyes is different than ours,” John
stated. “One thing I’ve learned in rehab. Confront that which we blame for our
struggles, circumstances, people, family, history.”

“Look in the mirror,” Avery advised. “See who is to blame
and start attending a real twelve step program.”

“Spoken like the dutiful daughter to Senator Charles Grant.
You must have been so proud of your brother for swooping in to save Daddy
Dearest’s life. What a story for the presses. What an excellent way to make a
saint out of scum.”

“You know nothing about my brother.”

“I meant your father. He was a politician. He lied to the
American public on a daily basis, putting forth a stance on God and family
values, while all along he kept mistresses in diamonds, apartments and luxury
cars.”

“How do you know anything about my dad?”

“When you’re in a minimum-security facility for years and
forced to report to a probation officer regularly simply because you owned an
adult film company and certain people objected to extortion, you wait, you plan
and you find your enemy’s weaknesses. At first, I thought of exposing your
father.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because you are Alex’s weakness,” John said. “If I hurt
you, it’ll destroy him.”

“Because he cares for his family, that’s a weakness?”

“Yes. Be at ease, Ms. Grant, at least I decided not to stalk
your sister. She’s a little too young, even for my eclectic taste.”

He may have said Charlotte was safe, but the innuendo was
there. If he changed his mind, her little sister would be his next target.

“Don’t mention my sister’s name.”

“Very well,” he agreed. “Billy, come on over here and watch
over our insurance policy.”

Avery turned her eyes to Mrs. Albright. Her neighbor
remained disoriented and agitated over her bindings. Head wounds were nasty.
She needed to see a doctor.

“Billy, Mrs. Albright needs a doctor. Let her go.”

“The blue hair is fine, Billy. Do your job, watch her.”
Redman ordered. “The faster Ms. Grant and I start, the sooner you’ll be
rewarded by topping me when we’re done with her.”

Billy obeyed his master like a puppet on a string. He
stopped partway across the room when a knock came at the front door. It was
loud enough and hard enough to be heard from the bedroom.

“The two of you are about to go down,” Avery warned. “That’s
my cavalry.”

“Impossible. Alex can’t know I have you yet.”

The knock came louder. “Take care of it.” John waved Billy
off with the gun, which he trained on Avery. “You stay quiet.”

Billy was a brawny, barrel-chested guy with steroid-induced
muscles. Avery could only guess, but she’d say the ballplayer was addicted to
more than steroids to get an edge on other athletes. His face showed warning
signs of meth use, which would get uglier if he kept using.

He left, returning after a minute. “It was the apartment
super checking in to see that the move-in went okay.”

“Wasn’t that nice of him? I love the fact that Grant has had
his cronies working overtime tracking my activities in Louisville and here I’ve
been all along.”

“Guess her cavalry got caught in traffic,” Billy remarked.

John laughed distractedly, mistakenly aiming the gun at the
floor. Avery screamed, taking the chance that the superintendent would hear
her.

Billy swung around, rushing forward like a hippo trying to
imitate a gazelle. John’s gun popped twice and the big man slumped to the floor.

“Shit, shot me in the ass,” Billy groveled, crying in pain.

John saw what he’d done and flung the weapon aside, rushing
to Billy’s side. “I didn’t mean it, Billy. I’m sorry.”

Preoccupied with Billy, John failed to hear the sound of
wood splintering.

Avery held her breath. Seconds later, Ryan Hathaway charged
into the room, going straight for John Redman.

Nothing would have stopped the beat-down Ryan gave to
Redman. Nothing! In the matter of seconds, John Redman looked like the poster
child for Jim Croce’s
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
after the jealous husband
took him to task.

“You rotten sonofabitch, for touching my sister, I’ll send
you to the ICU. For threatening to hurt my husband, I might pull the plug
instead of wasting taxpayer money on keeping you in prison,” Ryan warned,
drawing back his fist yet again.

“Billy, help me,” John muttered through fattened lips.

“You might think you got away with hacking Avery’s computer.
Phalen Maddox tracked everything you’ve been doing. We now know what you
intended to do to her and what you planned for Alex.” Ryan struck with a
strength that would rival Hercules. A bone snapped. It was a good chance
Redman’s jaw broke.

A heartbeat later, Ethan Maddox charged through the door,
heading straight for the gun John had abandoned. “Don’t move, asshole,” he
commanded, training the gun on Billy.

Billy grunted and wailed in discomfort, trying to find a way
to alleviate his pain. Phalen joined the fray, going right up to the
ballplayer, planting his combat-booted foot on the other man’s bloody ass and
keeping him still.

“Ethan told you not to move. I’d obey. He’s a hairsbreadth
away from adding to the bullet count in your ass. I’m a hairsbreadth away from
letting him.”

Avery didn’t see much after that. All of a sudden, Hazard
was in the doorway, his handsome face etched in relief when he saw her. Without
hesitation, he came to her side, freeing her.

“Are you hurt, Avery? An ambulance is on its way, cops too.”

“I don’t need an ambulance. All I need is you.”

Hazard’s arms came around her, holding her close, protecting
her from everything. More bashing and fist-smashing resounded through the room.

Ryan Hathaway wasn’t messing around. If someone didn’t stop
him, he was going to end Redman.

“Doc, stop,” Alexander called out in a voice that calmed the
chaos without having to shout. “Avery’s safe. We need to help Mrs. Albright.”