Bad Boy's Touch (Firemen in Love Book 3) (38 page)

“But then I realized the guy was shorting me. Worse yet, I found he was working with some other two-bit gangsters behind my back. Betrayal doesn't go over well in the Miriani family.”

His words had malice in them, a hint of something ominous.

“What did you do to him?”

“I did what we'd do to any traitor.” He smiled. “His girlfriend thought he'd gone away for a week on business. In reality, he's taking a long nap at the bottom of Lake Waco.”

I stumbled backward. “You... You
killed
him?”

Victor said nothing, only began counting his money again.

I fought the instinct to run for my life before he tried to take me out too. I'd known Victor was a shady bastard, but a murderer?

Well, he was part of a gang family, so it wasn't much of a surprise. But then how many others had he killed who got in his way?

Maybe he was telling me all this because I was going to be next.

Damn it, Alex, where are you guys?

“Of course, I had no idea Harvey was plotting to take him out too – only he chose arson because he's too weak to shoot a man in the head.”

So, Harvey set the fire thinking it was Freddy inside when it was really his brother James. By the time the house burned down, Freddy was likely already dead.

“That should teach assholes like him not to steal from me.” He slammed his fist into the wall. “It'll show dad, too. He always said I was too easy on people. Not anymore.”

“You've lost it, Victor,” I said. “When they find the body, they're going to figure out it was you who killed him.”

“When
who
finds the body? You forget I'm the police chief, dear. If I want to send an innocent man to jail for my crimes, I can. Evidence can be planted. Judges can be bought. I have the power here.”

“Who are you gonna blame this on? Harvey?”

“He's the perfect scapegoat. A tragic tale of revenge gone wrong, a grieving father who only wanted to avenge his son. Freddy manufactured the drugs that killed his boy; Harvey has a perfect motive for wanting him dead.” He relaxed. “Yes, and the fire he set proves that all the more. He dug his own grave this time.”

The click of a chambered bullet made my hair stand on end. I thought at first it was Victor, then realized the sound came from behind.

“You'd better watch what you say,” muttered Harvey, “or it'll be
you
in the grave, not me.”

Harvey had finally gone off the deep end. He had his pistol pointed at Victor, his hands shaking madly, his face sweaty and his hair ruffled. His gaze shifted from Victor to me.

“How nice of you to join our party,” Victor said. “Now put the gun down. It'd be rather foolish of you to shoot me.”

“And if I don't, you're going to make sure I go away for life.”

“You're an arsonist, an attempted murderer. You deserve to spend time behind bars.”

Harvey sputtered. “I've had enough of you pushing me around. Enough of being under your boot for years. I'm done.”

Victor did not seem upset. “What is it you want?”

“I want the money – all of it. And find yourself another scapegoat.”

Okay, why the hell wasn't the FBI raiding the place? There was a man with a gun in here, and another who just admitted to murder. What were they waiting for?

“But I need you, Harvey. Without you, I'll have no one to blame for these horrible crimes.”

“Blame Charlie. He deserves it,” he said bitterly. “Or perhaps Madison's new boyfriend, Brett.”

“Don't you dare,” I snapped. “They did nothing wrong. It was you who ruined our lives back then.”

Harvey waved the gun in my face. “Tell me something. What is it you see in him, huh? What's he got that I don't?”

Holy crap. Did Harvey... Did he have a thing for me?

“I've wanted you for years, but you chose Victor instead, oblivious to my advances. And now Silver. Well, you know what? I don't take rejection well.”

“Don't be foolish,” Victor said with a laugh. “Why would Madison choose you over a man like myself? I have more to offer her than you ever could.”

While they argued, I tapped on the microphone in hopes it would get their attention. Nothing.

“I want the money and my name cleared.”

“Not happening.”

Harvey broke into a creepy smile. “Of course, you would protest. You always had been a stubborn ass. But did you expect me to come unprepared?”

He pulled something from his pocket. It looked very similar to the detonator he had at the police dinner...

“You're bluffing. You couldn't have put a bomb in my house,” Victor said, chuckling. “The security on this place is top-notch.”

“I'm pretty good with electronics. All it takes is a few snips of the right wires, and...”

What if he wasn't kidding? If there was a bomb right here in this office, we'd all be blown to pieces.

The thought of it saddened me more than scared me. I would never see my family again. Never be held by Brett again.

“Last chance. Give me what I want.”

Victor glared back. “No.”

Harvey pushed the trigger. Powerful explosions shook the house, one after another like a row of firecrackers going off. The force was so strong that it knocked me to the floor.

Chunks of the ceiling fell; a chandelier crashed to the ground. Glass shattered all around us and flames erupted in every direction.

But not the office, thank God.

Harvey stood there calmly while Victor howled.

“You son of a bitch! You've ruined my house! Do you have any idea how much this
cost?
” He gathered the stacks of money in a hurry, though much of it fell to the floor.

“Consider our partnership over.”

Harvey turned to walk out the door. Victor grabbed a gun from his desk and fired, the bullet narrowly missing and lodging a hole in the wall.

“You're not getting out of here alive,” he screamed. “Rabid dogs need to be put down.”

Another bullet barely missed me as Harvey ran for it. I bolted, too, panicked thoughts racing through my mind as I tried to figure an escape route.

Victor's house was a maze of hallways, two floors, and a dozen rooms. Harvey walked with purpose toward the kitchen, as if he knew exactly where he was going. That's right; he likely had this whole thing planned, including an escape route.

I didn't want to follow him, especially with Victor shooting from behind, but it might be my only chance at getting out.

He must have set multiple bombs. Flames already filled several rooms and had burned everything in them to ash. Already, the smoke clouds made it impossible to see my path, and my lungs ached for fresh air.

“Harvey!” I screamed. “You're crazy. You're going to kill us all.”

“Victor has to die,” he yelled back over his shoulder as he jogged down the stairs. “As for you, well... You're an unfortunate victim, I do agree. But if I can't hurt Charlie directly, I have to find another way.”

“Killing me because of your son won't bring him back. It won't make things right. I had nothing to do with his death, and Charlie didn't mean to –”

“I'm sorry, Mad. Shame it had to end this way.”

Back there somewhere, Victor was gaining on us. He had lost it and was now firing shots randomly at shadows, yelling at the illusions produced by billowing smoke.

Damn it, why did they have to take my gun from me? Where were they, anyway?

Harvey sprinted around the corner in the direction of Victor's exercise room. It had a door leading outside to the pool area; he probably planned to get out there. I was going to do the same.

“You're not leaving me here to die,” I growled.

But when we reached the exercise room, there was an unwelcome surprise. The wall had collapsed, blocking the exit to the outside completely. When Harvey saw it, his face fell.

“It must have triggered early,” he muttered. “I didn't mean to...”

I grabbed Harvey and shook him. “How do we get out of here? What have you
done?
”

He sighed. “There may be no other way. I strategically placed the bombs so that upon explosion, all exits would be blocked. That includes windows and doors.”

“Well, I'm not going to just stand here and burn to death,” I said, suddenly feeling very light-headed and dizzy.

I turned to look elsewhere for an escape route and came face to face with Victor. When our eyes met, I thought he'd shoot me. Instead, he trained the gun on Harvey.

“You,” he snapped. “You will suffer for this. I'm going to throw your useless corpse in the fire until there's nothing left of you. But I won't stop there, oh, no. I know where your family lives. Your brother. Your parents. You might have lost your wife and son, but there's more I can take yet.”

The smoke was too much, and I fell to the floor. My vision blurred.

Victor pulled the trigger.

Chapter 28 - Brett

It was another slow night shift. Jayce and Billy played pool to pass the time. Carter was cooking us pancakes, but the smell made my stomach queasy.

“It's not right,” I said to Charlie. “I should be there with Madison. She needs me. Can't those FBI idiots see that?”

“Maybe. I'm just glad they let us off the hook. You realize how much trouble we could have been in? Pays to have friends in high places.”

Something felt wrong. I never had been an intuitive guy, but I just got this awful feeling, like their whole plan would fail and Maddie would get hurt – or worse.

Carter handed me a plate of pancakes, but I waved him away.

“I can't eat right now, man. Feel like I'm going to throw up.”

“I don't blame you. The FBI; wow.” He took a bite of his own food. “So you really care about her, don't you?”

“She's the most awesome woman I ever met. If something happened to her, I... What would I do?” I shook my head. “I think I love her.”

Jayce put down the pool stick and sat with us. “Have you told her yet?”

“No. Figured she'd call me crazy.”

“Maybe she feels the same about you.”

Maybe so. I hoped so.

“When all this crap is over,” I said, “I'll tell her. I dunno what the future holds, but right now, I don't wanna be with another girl again.”

Carter nudged me and grinned. “You'll be one of us soon, married with kids.”

“Ha. Let's not ask
too
much out of me.”

The clanging alarm made all of us jump. Carter knocked over his milk, sending the white liquid all over the table.

“Something big going down at the police chief's house,” Hank yelled from his office. “Explosions have been reported by multiple callers. The whole place is going up in flames fast.”

Pure rage filled me, and I moved in a way I didn't know that I could. The guys tried to talk to me; I heard none of it.

Get the keys. Get in the truck. Go, go, damn it, why wouldn't this thing move any faster?

“Brett! Calm down,” Jayce told me from the passenger's seat. “You can't do your job if you don't think rationally.”

“Think... rationally?” I glared. “The woman I love is in that building.”

“But maybe she got out.”

Or maybe that Harvey asshole blew her up. He was behind this; who else could it be? That meant he was there with her and Victor.

I swore if I saw his face, I would kill him.

Charlie clung to the back of my seat. “Faster, man. If anything happens to my sister...”

“I know, dang it!”

Victor's house was in the hills, up a mountain through a long, winding road. The big trucks weren't well-equipped to navigate the curves, so I was forced to slow down.

The fire was so big and widespread that it lit the night sky orange. At the top of the hill was Madison's car, but she was nowhere to be seen.

A couple of FBI cars were parked there, too. Several agents canvased the area looking for a way in, but it didn't seem like they'd had much luck.

“There are no hydrant hookups,” Jayce informed me as I parked. “We'll have to use the water from the trucks, but I'm not sure three of 'em will be enough.”

Charlie practically fell over his own two feet as he jumped out of the seat. I had to grab him by the collar before he charged without thinking into the burning house.

“Whoa there. Maybe you ought to stay back. Fire's a dangerous thing, and you're not trained to deal with it.”

“But Madison's in there!”

“I'm going to get her out. I promise,” I assured him. “Trust me, Charlie. I would never let anything happen to her.”

Nearby, FBI guys were running about like headless chickens. Alex was on the phone, yelling over the roar of the fire.

“I'm gonna need backup. Send whoever you have,” he said. “There's a bomber. Got two people trapped in the house, possibly three.”

While the other guys got to work hosing off the building, I began to feverishly look for a way in. Alex called to me.