Tickle His Fancy: Trident Security Book 6 (Trident Security Series) (21 page)

Ian paced back and forth in the war-room as Nathan banged
away on his keyboard, attempting to find a connection between Fancy’s
brother-in-law and wherever he’d taken Brody. Dialing another number, Ian was
trying to call in some favors to get an alert put out on the local news
channels about the missing man and his truck. Hopefully, someone would call in
that they’d spotted them. Boomer, Marco, and Webb had gone to interview
Maguire’s co-workers at the firehouse, but after the firemen had gotten over
their initial shock at the current events, no one there had any idea where they
might be.

While the Omega Team was also out scouring the area, Fancy
was with Kat and Angie in the conference room, contacting the few friends she
knew Corey hung out with on occasion who weren’t in the fire department. Ian
let her do it to keep her busy. In the meantime, Devon was going through the
city’s traffic camera feeds, trying to spot the geek’s truck. Nathan had hacked
into the system for him before starting his own search on Maguire’s financial
status, credit card purchase history, and anything that might give them a hint
as to where to start looking.

As Ian hung up the phone, Webb and Boomer strode in, and the
latter took a seat next to Devon. “We’ve got nada. Webb’s got everyone out looking
for them. Maguire’s truck was found in a supermarket parking lot about two
blocks from the bakery, so they must be in Egghead’s truck.

Crossing his arms, the detective leaned against the wall. “I
just called the hospital. Adams is out of surgery and in the ICU. It’ll be
touch and go for the next twenty-four hours, at least. They have him intubated
and in a drug-induced coma so we can’t get any more info from him.

“DeAngelis went over to Maguire’s condo with one of the
uniformed guys and is knocking on doors again, trying to see if anyone we
missed earlier is home now.”

Boomer got Nathan’s attention. “If you patch another computer
into the traffic feeds for me, I’ll help Devil Dog search them.”

“Sure.” The computer tech rolled his chair across the room to
another section of Brody’s vast console setup. Flicking the mouse on its pad,
he brought it out of sleep mode. A satellite map appeared, and he paused,
tilting his head to the side as he studied it.

The man’s actions caught Ian’s attention. “What is it?”

Nathan tapped the screen. “The blue dots are the trackers in
the Omega team’s phones spread out around Tampa, right? And all these red dots
are everyone on the Alpha team. They’re all here in the compound except
DeAngelis, whose dot is over here.” He pointed to the one a few inches away
from the others on the map, which translated into miles. “The only one missing
is Evans’s dot, right?.

“Yeah, we know that. I checked this morning for Egghead’s
phone and it wasn’t registering.” He stepped behind Nathan and stared at the
screen. “Is it back up again?”

Webb leaned in, and Devon and Boomer stood to look over the
computer geek’s shoulder as Nathan shook his head. “No, but. . .” He
grabbed the mouse and moved the pointer on the screen to an area north of the
compound where a white dot was. “What’s this one?” He clicked on the dot, and
the info for a tracking device popped up. “Says ‘Bracelet number one.’ What the
fuck is that?”

Ian slapped him on the shoulders in relief. “
That
is
fucking Brody! He was going to give Fancy a tracking device to wear, just in
case, because of all the crap going on with the vandalism and missing subs. He
must still have it! Where the fuck is he?”

Rattling off the coordinates, Nathan zoomed in on the
property and got the address on the north side of Tampa. He quickly switched
over to another screen and entered the address into whatever database he was
in. “Property is three acres in the snooty part of town, apparently. Three days
ago there was a fire in the main house, and it was pretty much a total loss.
And looky here. . .Maguire’s station house responded to it!”

Without being told, Boomer and Devon ran from the room to get
their gear ready, but Webb stopped Ian in his tracks. “I gotta call in SWAT,
Sawyer. You know I have to. Don’t go all cowboy on me.”

“If they beat us there, then it’s all theirs. But I’m not
waiting around for them.”

Webb nodded as he dialed his phone. “Understood. I’ll be
right behind you.”

As Ian hurried to the conference room, Tiny and Kristen came
in the front door.
Perfect timing.
“Big guy, I need you on guard duty
here.”

Inside the room, Fancy jumped to her feet. “What happened?
Did you find them?”

“We think so—”

“I’m going with you!” She snatched her purse from the table.

Ian stepped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders.
“Absolutely not.” Before she could argue, he continued. “Listen, little one.
I’m pulling Dom rank here for several reasons. One, Egghead would kill me if I
let you within a mile of whatever’s going on. Two, I have a feeling this has a lot
to do with you, personally; you’re the only connection between the two of them.
If Corey sees you, it could set him off. I have to assume Brody’s incapacitated
somehow, and that means we have to take every precaution. Stay here with the
women and Tiny, and I swear I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I find
out, okay?”

Tears filled her eyes, but she relented and nodded. “Please
call me as soon as you can. I can’t lose Brody, too.”

Squeezing her shoulders, Ian placed a kiss on her forehead.
He still felt like a heel from when he’d barked at her earlier outside her
shop. “I will.” Turning to Angie, he hugged her tight. “We’ll get him back, I
promise.”

“You better,” his fiancée replied. “He’s walking me down the
aisle in a few weeks.”

“And he’ll be there.”

With a fist bump to Tiny on the way out, Ian ran to the
parking lot and hopped into the passenger seat of the SUV his brother had
running and waiting. Devon hit the gas before the door was even shut. Not
seeing the detective’s car, Ian assumed Webb was already on his way to the
location.

Boomer was in the backseat, typing away on his phone.
“Texting Polo and Omega. Where should they meet us?”

Hitting the speed dial on his own phone, Ian waited for
Nathan to pick up the line in the war-room.

“Hello?”

Not bothering with announcing himself, the boss said, “You
better have a live satellite image up on your screen right now, or you just
lost all the brownie points you earned five minutes ago!”

A snort came over the line. “I assume you want a staging area
for everyone to meet up. There’s a kiddie park one block over on Mercer Drive.
The only structure they can be in is a shed of some sort about fifty yards
behind what’s left of the house on the west side of the property. My guess is
Evans’s truck is parked behind it under some trees because I can just make out
the corner of a pickup, but I can’t be certain it’s his. Nothing else to
report; it’s all quiet from what I can see. I’ll monitor it until you get
there.”

“Under no circumstances do you let any of the women watch the
live feed,” Ian warned. “If you do, I’ll dump your body in an alligator pit,
you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Boss-man.”

Hanging up the phone, Ian relayed the info to Boomer for the
text, before finding Webb’s cell number in his own call log. He hoped like hell
they weren’t too late—aside from the obvious not wanting to lose a friend and
teammate, Angie would fucking kill him.

* * *

Marco’s vehicle flew down the street to where the target
property was, and he slammed on his brakes. He’d been a lot further away than
the rest of them, and Boomer had sent him an updated text that they were now
one house down from where Brody was being held—hopefully still alive. Not
bothering to park the truck correctly, he jumped out of the driver’s seat and
raced over to where Webb was talking with Ian, Cal Watts and the leader of the
TPD SWAT. “I got here as fast as I could. How the hell did you get an entire
SWAT team here so fast—make that two teams?”

Not only was TPD’s team present but so was the local FBI Hostage
Rescue Team. Cal was head of the HRT and shook Marco’s extended hand. “Believe
it or not, we were around the corner at the old junior high school doing a
joint active shooter drill.” The large building built in the 1950s was
scheduled to be demolished after a new school had been erected a mile away. The
local law enforcement was taking advantage of it for training before it was
destroyed. “Only took two minutes to load up and hightail it over here. We’ve
got the shed surrounded but haven’t made contact yet. Two positive heat
signatures inside with no windows. One of my guys is trying to find a spot to
snake a camera in before we let Maguire know we’re here. We’ve evacuated the
homes on all sides.”

Wearing headphones, Boomer approached carrying a laptop.
“Everything is muffled. I can’t make out what’s being said, but they’re
talking. The tag must still be in Egghead’s pocket.” Figures the first time
they found a fault in the geek’s microphone and GPS device was while they were
trying to rescue him.

Cal listened to something coming over the comm set in his
ear, then responded, “Copy that.” He then addressed the group gathered with
him. “Shed is sealed tight. Can’t get a camera in there without making noise.
Ian, I know your team wants in on this, but you’re too close to the situation.
And we have more personnel than we probably need already.”

Reluctantly, Trident’s leader nodded. “Just because I don’t
like it, doesn’t mean I don’t agree with you. But God help you if we don’t get
Brody out of this alive.”

Marco knew it had taken a lot for Ian to step aside, but the
man was wise and experienced enough to know when it was necessary. However,
that didn’t stop Marco from wanting to go all Rambo and kick the door of the
shed in to rescue his best friend. His boss gave him a look that said he
understood, but it was best to calm the fuck down and allow HRT and SWAT to do
their jobs. Nodding, Marco let the two teams do what they were trained to do
and prayed it was the right decision.

* * *

The urge to panic was strong, but Brody shoved it to the back
of his mind and tried to think of a way out of this dilemma—before his goose
was cooked. “Listen, Maguire. She’s all yours. Fancy was just a fling for me.”
He almost choked on the lie, but if that was what he had to do to save Fancy
and himself from this psycho, so be it.

“I knew you were just looking for another notch on your
bedpost.” Corey shut off the hose. The water in the pool was above Brody’s
ankles. “Should have thought about the consequences when I warned you off the
first time.”

He tried to maneuver the cuffs so maybe he could snap one and
then the other. Shackled to the heavy wooden chair, his options were few.
“Well, consider me warned this time. You’ve made me see the light; you’re the
better man for her. Let’s forget this ever happened. I’ll walk away and leave
her for you.”

Sneering, the bastard attached the clamps of the jumper
cables to the car battery. “Do I look stupid to you? The only person walking
out of here when this is over is me. Then I’ll comfort Fancy over the fact that
you disappeared, and I won’t have to do all that shit to her shop anymore.”

What?
Swallowing hard, Brody watched as Corey picked
up the clamps at the other end of the cables.
Shit, this was going to
fucking hurt!
“You were vandalizing her shop? Why?”

“She was supposed to come to me for protection, not you!” He
dropped one of the clamps into the water and slowly lowered the other one to
just above the surface. “You had to stick your nose and dick where they didn’t
belong!”

Brody realized this wasn’t going to be a quick death. The
bastard was going to shock him over and over again. He tried to pitch himself
and the chair to the side and hopefully out of the pool, but he didn’t have the
leverage to do it in one shot before the electrical connection was made in the
water.

“Corey, man, don’t do—” His body seized as the current flowed
through him. Pain was an understatement. It was a hundred times worse than the
Taser. The air around him crackled, and his brain didn’t register anything but
the agony every cell in his body was experiencing. This was it. He’d survived
countless missions, idiotic childhood stunts, and a few extreme sports, and he
was going to bite the dust at the hand of this deranged asshole. Just when
Brody thought he was going to pass out, the clamp was yanked out of the water,
and his body sagged heavily. What had felt like an hour of being electrocuted
had in reality been only a second or two. His throat was raw, and he concluded
that the screaming he’d heard had been from his own mouth—involuntary though it
was.

Thoughts of Fancy flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t
grasp one to hold on to. She was going to be devastated if he died. She’d come
so close to not surviving the first time she’d lost a man she loved.
I’m
sorry, sweetness. If I could turn back time and save you from another
heartache, I would. I would’ve never pursued you if I’d known how this was
going to end. I love you, Fancy-girl.

He'd barely recovered when he was hit by another jolt. His
muscles went rigid, and his limbs felt like they were going to snap in half.
Above his own screaming, he heard a crash, shouts, and then gunfire, but the
electricity still coursed through his body. His heart pounded out of control. A
white light filled his vision, then suddenly there was no searing pain, no
sound, no anything, just darkness.

Ian waited with Marco and Devon as Cal grabbed a bullhorn and
prepared to announce their presence to Maguire. Boomer was in the HRT’s
tactical communications van with one of the techs, trying to clean up the
static coming from the device in Brody’s pocket. The Omega team was gathered
back by Marco’s truck. They felt as helpless as everyone else and opted to stay
out of the way. A paramedic unit and ambulance were parked up the street in
case they were needed.

Devon was about to say something when Cal’s hand flew to the
comm device in his ear. “Shit! Take it!” he barked.

The Fed tossed the bullhorn onto the grass and took off at a
dead run to the target property. Ian, Dev, and Marco threw protocol to the wind
and hightailed it after him. Boomer came crashing out of the van to follow just
as they all heard shouts and gunfire. As they neared the shed, with it’s now
kicked in door, Cal stopped short, and his fist shot up at shoulder height,
silently ordering everyone behind him to freeze. They heard the “all clear” and
“get the medics” seconds later. Before anyone had a chance to get close to the
door, two men in full tactical gear hurried out carrying someone between them.

Shoving aside his shock, Ian pulled a switchblade out of his
back pocket and lunged forward to help the others free an unconscious Brody.
His hair was sticking straight up, and there were burn holes in his lower pants
legs. Ian could smell seared hair and flesh as he cut through the Duct tape
restraining Brody’s wet ankles and legs.

“He’s been electrocuted,” said one of the men who had carried
the big geek out.

After the others had gotten the handcuffs and tape off him,
Dev and Marco picked Brody up by the armpits and legs, and someone kicked the
chair out of their way so they could lower him to the ground.

As Marco opened Brody’s airway, Dev felt for a carotid pulse.
“Nothing! Start CPR.”

Marco took a deep breath, tilted his best friends head back,
sealed their mouths together and blew as hard as he could. In the meantime, Dev
lined his hands up over their teammate’s chest and began compressions as soon
as Marco finished giving the breath. They worked in tandem until the paramedics
and EMTs arrived to take over. One EMT pulled out an Ambu-bag attached to a
green tank, placed the mask over Brody’s face, and forced the oxygen into his
lungs.

Dev continued giving compressions as the other medic cut the
shirt out from under his hands. As Marco scrambled to get out of the way of the
rest of the arriving medical personnel, the medic slapped defibrillator pads
and EKG leads on Brody’s chest. “He’s in V-fib! Need to shock him!”

The whine of the defibrillator charging increased in volume
until a green light appeared on the device. The medic held his finger over the
discharge button and yelled, “Clear!”

Everyone took their hands off of Brody’s body and when the
medic hit the button, the unconscious man’s entire torso jolted. Ian had a wry
thought; it was weird that to counteract what the electricity had done to
Brody’s heart, they basically had to electrocute him again.

Devon checked for a pulse, and the EMT began squeezing the Ambu-bag
again. After checking the monitor, the medic recharged the device and once
again yelled, “Clear!”

Movement to his right caught Ian’s attention, and he turned
as Cal came back out from the inside of the shed. The agent approached him.
“Maguire’s dead. My men heard Egghead scream, so I gave them the clear to take
the door. The bastard had him tied to that chair in a fucking kiddie pool
filled with water. He used jumper cables attached to a car battery. The gun
that he pulled on them, forcing them to shoot, was a Taser. Unfortunately, when
they took out Maguire, both ends of the cables were in the water. Egghead was
already unconscious when they cut the current off. I’m sorry, Ian.”

His gaze returned to where the medics were still working on
Brody and loading him up for transport. He wished Maguire was still alive so he
could kill the bastard himself. His voice was flat as he said, “Not your fault.
You played it right. All we can do now is pray.”

* * *

Fancy was numb. She’d been sitting in the ICU waiting room
for the last few hours along with Brody’s teammates, their significant others,
and extended family. After Brody had been loaded up in the ambulance, Ian and
Marco had returned to the compound to break the news. Corey had been shot and
killed by the rescue teams, but not before he electrocuted his hostage. Ian
hadn’t gone into much detail, and Fancy didn’t want to know everything that had
happened just yet. All she wanted was for the doctors to come out and tell her
she wasn’t going to lose another man she loved.

The medics had been able to restart Brody’s heart, but they’d
intubated him to assist his breathing. He hadn’t regained consciousness, and
the doctors had told the stunned Trident group that the next forty-eight hours
were critical. Fancy had gotten the impression they were surprised he’d made it
to this point.

Marco approached where she and Harper were sitting together
and handed them both cups of coffee. Fancy thanked him even though she wouldn’t
be able to stomach the strong brew. They still had no clue what had led up to
all of this—why Corey had kidnapped and tortured Brody in the first place. And
if Brody died, they may never know.

Around her, everyone stood, and she looked toward the door
leading out to the hallway as an older couple entered with Mitch Sawyer. They
had to be Elise and Gerard Evans, Brody’s parents. Ian had contacted them
immediately about their son and arranged for a private jet to fly them to Tampa
from Texas. Then Mitch had gone to the small local airport to pick them up when
they’d landed.

The distraught looking couple shook hands and exchanged hugs
with nearly everyone present. Jenn broke down in tears again as she hugged Mrs.
Evans, and once again, Fancy prayed Brody’s two families wouldn’t lose him
because of her.

After Jenn had regained her composure, Mrs. Evans asked her a
question, and the younger woman turned and pointed across the room to Fancy.
She hadn’t known what to expect, but when Brody’s mother walked over to her
with open arms, Fancy fell apart. Tears poured down her cheeks, and she began
to sob uncontrollably.

The older woman enveloped her in a warm embrace, which made
Fancy cry even harder. “I’m s-so s-sorry, Mrs. Evans. It’s all my f-fault.”

The arms around her tightened, and a hand stroked her head.
“Hush, now. First off, my son is madly in love with you, so I think you can
call me Elise. Secondly, Ian explained what he could, and I don’t see why you
believe this is your fault. You didn’t know that man would do this. Neither did
my son. Now we just have to pray that the Lord lets us keep Brody here on earth
for many more years.”

Fancy didn’t know where the other woman got her strength, but
she drew some of it into her own body and mind, pulling herself together. Elise
released her, gave her a genuine smile, and then turned to greet Kristen, who
was holding little JD in her arms. Gerard Evans then introduced himself to
Fancy and also insisted she call him by his first name. They were such a
friendly couple, and she immediately liked them.

Another man, whom she hadn’t noticed among the crowd, stepped
forward and held his hand out to her. “Hello, ma’am. I’m Brody’s older brother,
Brett. It’s nice to meet you, but I wish it were under better circumstances.
Brody told me all about you when I spoke to him the other day. He’s quite
smitten.”

Blushing, she shook his hand. “I’m sorry we’re meeting like
this, too. You’re the Dallas police officer, right? He talks about his brothers
and sisters often, but there are so many of you, I’m not sure if I’m mixing you
all up.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m the police officer.” His mouth turned up
into a grin. “Just be glad the whole lot of us didn’t come; you would need
nametags for everyone.” He gestured for her to take a seat. “Might as well get
comfortable and get to know each other. I’ve got plenty of stories about Brody
from when we were kids that you can use to blackmail him every once in a while.
Did he tell you his other nickname is Frodo? He read
The Hobbit
and
The
Lord of the Rings
trilogy long before they were turned into movies.”

Forty-five minutes later, two family members at a time were
allowed to go into the ICU and see Brody. They were given fifteen minutes every
three hours, and as much as Fancy wanted to see him, she remained quiet as
Elise and Gerard left everyone behind to go see their son. Besides, she wasn’t
sure if she was allowed in the unit since she wasn’t immediate family.

Friends, police officers, and even a reporter had been in and
out of the waiting room. The latter had been escorted right back out by Tiny
who stood well over a foot taller than the nosy man. Detective Webb had told
Fancy he would contact the local police in her Ohio hometown to have them inform
Corey’s parents of the incident and his death. She was grateful since she had
no idea what to say to them. She’d spoken to her mother and aunt earlier, and
as expected, Aunt Denise had been more supportive. It wasn’t that her mother
hadn’t tried, but the woman never knew what to say during times like these and
usually ended up saying the wrong thing. Fancy was used to it, though, and she
did her best not to let it bother her.

Boomer had gone down one flight to the surgical intensive
care unit earlier and checked on Russell Adams’s status. The veteran was stable,
and the surgery had gone well. Ian had Nathan tracking down the man’s family so
they could be notified. During one of his few chattier moments in her shop,
Fancy had learned Russell was originally from Connecticut and still had family
there, but she hadn’t known anything other than that. She’d overheard Devon and
Ian discussing that they would cover all the man’s medical bills, saying it was
the least they could do since without him they may not have found Brody before
it was too late.

When Elise and Gerard reentered the room, Fancy was surprised
to see there was still time left for visitors. Brody’s father waved her and
Brett over. “Go on in, you two. Let him know you’re here. I told them you were
his fiancée, Fancy, so they would let you see him.”

Grateful, she gave Gerard a peck on the cheek before
following Brett into the restricted unit. Although the doctor had told them
about the ventilator and all the tubes and wires attached to Brody, it was
still a shock when they entered the room. Brett held her elbow in support as
they approached the bed. Brody was so pale, and his big body actually looked
small with all the medical equipment around him. A sob threatened to escape her,
and she swallowed it back down as she laid her hand on his and squeezed. There
was no response.

The EKG monitor beeped with his steady heart rate, and the
blood pressure cuff around his upper arm began to inflate. Brett placed his
hand on his brother’s blanket covered knee. “Hey, Frodo. Got yourself in a bit
of a pickle, didn’t you? Well, I’m here with your girlfriend, and she’s as
pretty as you said she was. You better get your ass out of here because you
know our sisters—once they find out you’re in love, they’ll want to meet Fancy
at the hoedown. In the meantime, I’m telling her all the stories you probably
don’t want me to, but that’s what big brothers are for.” He squeezed Brody’s
knee. “We only have a few more minutes before we have to leave, so I’m going to
step out and give you two a little time alone.”

Fancy gave Brett a watery smile. “Thank you.”

He nodded, clearly trying to keep his emotions under control
for her sake. “I’ll be right outside when you’re done.”

Once she was alone, Fancy pulled the only chair in the small
room closer to the bed and sat. Her hand never left Brody’s. “I’m so sorry,
Brody. I still don’t know what happened, but it’s obvious it had something to
do with me. Just. . .just don’t leave me, please. I don’t know what I
would do if I lost you, too. I love you.” Her voice cracked on those last few words,
and she took a few calming breaths.

A soft bell dinged signaling the end of visiting time. Five
minutes had flown by and it felt like only seconds. Standing, she leaned over
and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Sir. Please come back to me.”

The only response was the rhythmic beeping of the machines in
the room and the ventilator inflating and deflating Brody’s lungs. Giving his
hand one more squeeze, Fancy reluctantly left the room.