In Jack's Arms (Fighting Connollys) (20 page)

your house is the next likely target."

Jack eased up and helped the man to his feet. "Looks like you weren't the only one with those same

thoughts."

"Clearly," Besian agreed. He pushed the toe of his leather boot against a guard's face. "Are they dead?"

"Sleeping," Jack said. "Drugged."

"Shit." He crossed to the open safe and peered inside. "The jewelry is here. No cash though." Besian glanced back. "The camera?"

"There was a camera in there."

"
A
camera? Not
the
camera?"

Jack shook his head. "I found the same model in the box of broken merchandise in the storeroom. I

slapped on a smeared barcode label and put in the safe as a decoy."

"Which the thief took," Besian said.

"I don’t think that's all the thief took," Jack replied uneasily. "Marley is missing."

The mobster visibly stiffened. "You're sure?"

Jack wondered at the man's reaction. "Yeah. She was working tonight, and now she's gone."

Besian swore in his mother tongue. "Where are the security tapes?"

"Over here," Jack said, leading him to the adjoining room. He logged into the system using the

credentials Abby had let him borrow earlier that morning when he had been reviewing footage from the last

few weeks. He clicked through the files and eventually found the tape of the attack that had happened here.

"So there's Dan coming in the front," Jack said, pointing out the older man. The store had been empty inside with one of the guards in the back helping Mark move a mega-sized TV that had been pawned and

Marley and another guard up front. Before she could hit the panic button, Dan had pulled a gun and forced

them into the office at gunpoint.

"And there's the kid and Flea," Besian said, tapping another square on the monitor. "Looks like they came in the back, shut off the security system and caught Mark and the guard."

On screen, the two armed men used their weapons to persuade Mark and the guard to walk toward the

office. Mark reluctantly used his keys and access codes to open the safe while Marley took the weapons

from the guards and tied their arms and legs. She was crying when Leonard made her bind Mark's wrists

and ankles. It was Leonard who popped each man in the neck with a syringe, and Flea who rifled through

their pockets in search of cash and valuables.

"But who the hell is that?" Jack spotted another man coming in the front door.

"Shit." Besian obviously recognized him. "That's Julio Jimenez. He's the number one cartel man in the city. Well—he was."

"Why risk everything over an unsanctioned hit?" It was the one piece of the puzzle Jack hadn't been able to figure out since Lalo Contreras had filled him on the real situation.

"Family," Besian said softly. His finger moved across the monitor. "Here we go. So—Julio finds these three idiots trying to steal the decoy camera. He pops Flea when he tries to run. The kid drops his gun and surrenders because he's a coward and that leaves dear old dad to try to talk his way out of it."

"And Marley," Jack murmured as the young woman was blindfolded and bound by Leonard and tied to

Dan. "Why take her?"

"Because her stepfather rides with the Calaveras club," Besian replied matter-of-factly.

Jack didn't believe it. "You're sure?"

Besian nodded. "I checked it out. Her mother is married to Octavio Ruiz, the vice president of the club."

"Well…shit."

"Yeah. Shit." Besian smacked his back. "We need to go."

"I have to call the police."

"Why?"

"Because there are three unconscious men and a dead man in the shop," he said tersely. "We can't just leave them here."

"We don’t have time for this, Jack."

"What if Mark and the two guards were overdosed? If they die—"

"Wipe the fucking camera. Get rid of any video evidence that we were here after the attack. I'll handle the rest."

Jack did what was necessary while Besian made a phone call. He spoke in rapid-fire Albanian, his tone

one that brooked no refusal. Pocketing his phone, he said, "Ben is less than five minutes away. He'll take care of everything here. Happy?"

"Not really."

"Where is the real camera, Jack?"

He shoved out of the chair and returned to Abby's office. Hopping up onto her desk, he popped free the

ceiling tile above her chair and slid it aside. His hand slapped around until he found and retrieved the box.

After replacing the ceiling tile, he gave the box a shake. "Right here."

"Then let's get the hell out of here. We'll take my car."

Jack didn't like the idea of riding shotgun with the mobster but beggars couldn't be choosers. He slipped

into the front seat of the flashy sedan and fastened his seatbelt. Besian punched the gas and drove for a few blocks before asking, "Do you have a piece?"

"Not on me," Jack answered.

"Check the glove box. Take whichever one you like. They're all clean."

He did as instructed and discovered a small cache of weapons. He picked through them until he found

one similar to his preferred pistol and then closed the glove box. "You should have Ben put some traps in here."

Besian chuckled. "Did he school you on the underworld?"

"No, he made it perfectly clear that I didn't belong in his operation and he only tolerated my presence because you asked him."

"Asked?" He snorted. "Ben isn't the sort of man you
ask
to do anything. You have to
tell
him—and maybe he'll do it."

"He said he was your nephew."

"Did he?"

"Is he?"

"In the ways that matter? Yes."

Jack decided to leave that line of questioning alone. Whatever the story, he wasn't getting anything else

out of Besian. "So Julio Jimenez…?"

"There's been friction between Julio and Lalo since last summer. Lalo wants to grow, but Julio is easily threatened by the potential power shift. When Lalo put pressure on that prick kid of Dan's, the kid folded and told him all about the camera and other shit Flea had stolen from Mando's house. The rumor had been

circling that Julio had been behind that hit and that he had used the ghost to do it. When he found out there was a video out there? Lalo jumped on the chance to take that juicy fucking bone right back to
El Jefe
."

"Lorenzo Guzman?"

"The one and only," Besian confirmed. "Lorenzo doesn't want trouble with Romero. Trouble with Romero means trouble with his partner Maksim Prokhorov—"

"The big boss out of Russia?" Jack tried to keep all the details straight.

"Yes. If Romero leans on Maksim, Maksim leans on Nikolai who—"

"Will be forced to get nasty with Lorenzo here in Houston," Jack guessed.

"Yes, and if that happens, Nikolai will start calling in favors."

"You're on that list?"

"Don't you fucking know it," the Albanian groused. "That's the price of doing business."

"But what was the beef between Julio and Mando? What tipped this off?"

"You remember that kid who got run over by the motorcycle and dragged after that concert in April?

The hit-and-run where the kid got smacked by three or four cars before someone finally managed to grab

him and drag him out of the road?"

"That was Mando on the bike?" Jack cringed at the awful images the description created. "I saw the news piece. He was sixteen?"

"Sixteen and Julio's godson," Besian said. "I heard he was actually the kid's father, but who knows what's true."

Jack couldn't even imagine the pain of losing a child. He thought of how much he loved his brothers

and how sick he had been when he had gotten the word about Finn and the IED. To lose a child in such a

brutal way? To have your flesh and blood smashed by a bike, dragged down a block and ripped to shreds

and then left to die?

No, Jack wouldn't have hired a hitman. That was a score he would want to settle himself.

"This whole fucking mess could have been avoided." Besian shook his head. "Nikolai told Romero to give Mando to Julio as a peace offering, but he wouldn't fucking listen. No, he sent cash.
Cash!
Can you believe that? Money to honor a blood debt? What a fucking outrage!"

Jack had always heard that Besian and his men were big on the idea of blood debts and their code of

honor. "Pop said Romero was always protective of Mando."

"Yes. He did more to shield Mando than he ever did for his own kid. He left Vivian holding the bag—

literally—but kept from Mando from doing a bid in the pen by offing a witness."

"Why?"

Besian shrugged. "Who knows? Some bonds can't be easily explained."

Thinking of the bond he shared with his brothers, he asked, "Where is this meeting happening?"

"Why? You planning on sending the Connolly Army to do recon?"

"Marines," he corrected. "We were Marines."

"Sorry."

"And yes," Jack replied honestly. "Abby's life is in my hands. If she has to be here tonight, I want my brothers watching her back."

"And yours?"

He nodded. "And mine." Thinking of the hostage that had been taken, he added, "And Marley's."

"You let me worry about her."

Jack's curiosity got the best of him. "Why?"

"Because." That was far from a reason but Besian obviously wasn't going to give any further details.

Jack began to suspect the hardened criminal might have a bit of a soft spot for the auburn-haired beauty.

Not that Besian had much of a chance with someone like Marley…

"Tell your brothers to meet us at the lot to the south of the meatpacking plant where we had the

tournament." Besian eyed him carefully. "Tell them to stay out of sight—and to keep their weapons holstered. The bosses—me, Nikolai, Romero and Lorenzo—have all agreed this is safe territory. No one

gets hurt tonight."

As he texted Kelly with the info, Jack had a bad feeling that the bosses' well-laid plans to keep everyone safe were about to turn to shit.

Chapter Twelve

"You need to breathe."

I glanced at the terrifying Russian sitting in the passenger seat to my left. Kostya spared a concerned

glance before shaking his head. "You're going to pass out and become another problem for me to deal with tonight."

The SUV driven by the three-fingered man I had learned was named Arty slowly rolled into an empty

lot behind some abandoned warehouses. "I'm trying."

"Try harder," Kostya replied.

"Sorry. I just—I'm not used to shit like this."

"That's a good thing. That's the way it's supposed to be for nice girls like you." He gestured around the SUV. "This world of mine has a way of hurting sweet women."

"You say that like you've seen it happen it a lot."

"Too many times," he murmured and reached for his door handle. "You stay here until I come to get you."

Not waiting or expecting an answer from me, Kostya exited the vehicle. I squeezed my shaking hands

between my knees and tried to calm my racing heart. My stomach swirled with anxiety and fear. Glancing

out the darkly tinted window, I watched as more vehicles rolled onto the lot. Suavely dressed men in suits poured out of them.

But my gaze zeroed in on the welcome sight of Jack—
my
Jack. In jeans and a T-shirt, he looked so out of place next to Besian and the other men from Houston's criminal element. He held the video camera and

scanned the area, looking for something.
For me
.

His gaze landed on the SUV. I jumped when Kostya knocked on the glass. A second later, the door

opened and he gestured for me to join him. I slid down and kept close to the Russian's side. Fighting the

urge to run to Jack, I walked slowly but fixed my gaze on his handsome face. His encouraging smile

strengthened me.

We were so close to getting out of this mess. All we had to do was hand over the video, swear we

would
never
speak of what we had seen, and then we could go back to our normal, boring lives.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

"Come here, sugar." Jack drew me tight to his side. His lips pressed to my temple as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I inhaled the comforting scent of him, the manly mixture of cedar and denim and

leather. "Are you really all right? You're not hurt?"

"I'm fine, Jack. I swear."

He studied my face as if to gauge my sincerity. Physically I was fine, but I was sure Jack could tell that emotionally I was a wreck. He kissed the top of my head and hugged me even tighter. "It's almost over.

We'll be home before you know it."

"I hope so, Jack."

"Listen," he said carefully, "something happened at the pawn shop."

I jerked back with fear. "Jack—"

"Flea is dead." He didn't try to ease into the truth. "Mark and your security guards were drugged, but they're fine. Dan and his son stole the decoy camera, and then one of the cartel guys found them there. He shot Flea and kidnapped Dan, Leonard…and Marley."

"What! Marley?"

He nodded and dipped his head, whispering right into my ear. "Did you know her stepdad is bad

news?"

My ears perked to the rumbling sound of approaching motorcycles. "Yes, I knew. Something tells me

we're about to meet her stepdad in the flesh."

"Yeah." Jack didn't sound happy about that. "Whatever happens, you stick close to me, Abby. If this goes bad, you do exactly what I say. Understand?"

"Yes." I had never been happier to be tucked away in Jack's arms. No matter what happened in the next few minutes, he would keep me safe.

Scary looking guys on motorcycles rolled onto the lot. I recognized Marley's stepfather. He had a long

dark braid that ran down his back, so long it touched the bottom rocker on his leather vest. The once-white patch was now yellowed with age and dust but big bold letters claiming their territory as the entire state of Texas remained clear. He flanked another man—the president of their chapter—and had two others trailing