Tipsy (27 page)

“
It’s Julie,” I
growled.

Watson paused. “Listen to me, Markson.
Don’t do anything stupid.”

I barked a laugh. I was going to do
what I damn well pleased.

“
I suggest you get your team
ready. Dom and some of the crew will be there, in possession of all
their supply. He threatened to kill me. He admitted to killing
another member of his crew. I have the location of the body. He
kidnapped Julie. We have enough to put him away for
life.”

If he makes it that
long,
I added silently.

“
We’re moving now,” Watson
said.

Before I could hang up, he called my
name.

I didn’t say anything.

“
Good work, Markson. Let’s
get this case closed.”

I disconnected the call. There was
nothing good about any of this.

The old Ford came into view. It was
exactly where I left it. I pulled right up beside it and turned to
Slater. “Can I trust you?”

His reply was to reach behind him and
pull out a Glock, which he extended to me.

“
You got one
too?”

He lifted his shirt and showed me
another identical gun sticking out of the waistband of his jeans. I
took the gun he gave me and stuffed it in the waistband of my
jeans.

The keys to the truck were right where
I left them, and I fired up the engine and sped toward Dom’s house.
I had just under fifteen minutes to get there, and I hoped this old
truck could take the speed I was going to push it.

Slater followed close behind me the
entire way. When I turned onto the street of Dom’s house, I noticed
a new vehicle—black Dodge pickup truck parked in the center of the
driveway. My pulse began to hammer and my eyelid began to twitch. I
searched the lawn for signs of Julie, and when I didn’t see her, I
looked at the truck, hoping to see some kind of movement
within.

But everything outside was
still.

That meant Julie was in that house. In
there with a bunch of drug dealers and murderers. I parked the old
Ford so close to the black truck that it rocked on its tires when
my front fender bumped into it.

As Slater pulled in behind me, I walked
toward the garage, which I noticed no longer had a car parked
inside.

“
Dom!” I yelled, not
bothering to be quiet.

The door to the house opened and Dome
came out, a few of his crew scattering out behind him like a bunch
of ants. “You’re late,” he said.

“
Where is she?” I asked, not
bothering to take his bait. I was on time and he damn well knew
it.

“
Where’s the
shipment?”

“
Outside.”

“
Pull it into the
garage.”

“
Not until I see
Julie.”

Slater walked into the garage and stood
off to the side, watching.

“
Bring her out!” Dom
called.

The door to the house opened and two
men escorted Julie out. Her wrists were bound together and she had
tape over her mouth. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and I
couldn’t help but note the panicked fear I saw in them.

I tried to keep a lid on my anger. I
tried not to let her see how angry and how upset I was that she was
dragged into this. All I wanted her to see was my calm exterior so
she would know she was safe.

I took a step toward her and two of
Dom’s guys stepped in my path.

“
Move,” I
growled.

“
We have a deal,” Dom
said.

I tossed the keys at him. They landed
at his feet. “Here, get it yourself.”

Dom glanced at the man to his right.
“Go make sure it’s there. Pull it in.”

The guy scooped up the keys and went
off to do Dom’s bidding. I took another step toward Julie. One of
the men in my path threw out his fist and connected with my
jaw.

Julie’s muffled cry snapped something
inside me.

I went on autopilot and started
fighting. I punched and kicked the two men that dared to block my
path. When one tried to hold me, I kicked out and sent the other to
his feet.

The sound of a gun cocking is what
brought all our heads around. Dom had his gun trained on
Julie.

Tentacles of terror wrapped around my
body and squeezed. I looked between Julie and the gun, measuring
the distance, trying to calculate if I could beat a
bullet.

“
You’d never make it,” Dom
said.

The old Ford backed into the garage and
everyone looked. Everyone but me and Dom. I kept my eyes on him,
while he kept his eyes and gun on Julie.

“
Check it,” he yelled at
Slater.

Slater climbed in the back of the truck
and started going through the boxes. “It’s here,” he called,
holding up a bag of cocaine.

I wondered where in the hell my backup
was. They should be here by now.

Dom looked at me and I knew he was
going to kill us. I didn’t have time to wait for the cops to get
here. I had to do this on my own.

I pulled out the gun Slater gave me and
cocked it, steadily pointing it at Dom. “You so much as sneeze and
I will blow your brains out.” I vowed.

Every man in the place pulled out a
gun, which they trained on me.

I could feel Julie’s terror, but I
didn’t look at her. I kept my eyes on Dom. “You’re under arrest for
kidnapping, possession, and murder,” I said.

Dom’s eyes widened.

“
He’s a narc!” one of the
guys yelled, and all hell broke loose.

29

Julie

I don’t know how long I was
unconscious, but when I woke, my muscles were stiff from being in a
heap on the floorboard of the truck they shoved me in.

I also had a thick layer of duct tape
binding my wrists and over my mouth. I fought against the panic
that squeezed my lungs, reminding myself that I could breathe; I
just had to do it through my nose.

I tested and my skin tugged and
screamed under the constrictive tape wound tightly around
me.

Framed, arrested, and kidnapped all in
one day. It had to be some kind of world record.

I lifted my head to take in my
surroundings, and I was met with an icy stare. “Don’t even try
anything,” the man said, holding up a gun that was lying in his
lap.

I couldn’t even ask them where we were
going or what was happening because my mouth was sealed
closed.

I rested my forehead against the carpet
and concentrated on breathing and kept my ears open so I could
listen to everything the men said and hopefully learn some
answers.

I also thought about Blue. I prayed
that he was all right, that he wasn’t somehow being hurt too. As
much as I hoped he knew what happened to me, I also hoped he
didn’t. I was afraid of what might happen to him if he tried to
save me.

A phone up front rang and someone
answered. He barely said two words and then disconnected the call.
“We’re to meet him,” someone said to the driver.

My hip dug into something lying beneath
me on the floor as the driver cut a U-turn, the tires squealing on
the road. The idiots in the car laughed like they were taking a joy
ride on Space Mountain.

A few minutes later, we were pulling up
somewhere and stopping.

I was carried into a house, one that
stunk like weed and beer, and shoved in an empty closet. It
actually was a relief to be left alone, even if it were inside a
closet. At least in here I wasn’t in a room full of men who were
leering at me.

I busied myself trying to loosen the
tape that surrounded my wrists, stretching and trying to come up
with ways to get it off.

Duct tape was no joke. After fighting
with it for a while, I was sweating and my wrists felt raw. I
understood why they chose to use this rather than rope. It was
better and you could buy it anywhere.

I stiffened when the closet door flung
open and I squinted against the sudden bright light. Two men led me
through the house and out into the garage.

My eyes went directly to Blue, and
relief crashed through me so heavily that I would have moaned if I
could. But then I noticed his appearance. He was bloody and
bruised. Parts of his face were swollen and one of his hands was
scraped up and raw.

What happened to him?

New anxiety pummeled me.

Were we going to get out of
this?

Yes, Blue was trained for these kinds
of things, but we were sorely outnumbered.

I listened as they flung words back and
forth, trying to make sense of it all. They were making a trade. Me
for the drugs.

Blue was going to hand over all those
drugs just to get me back? Maybe it would have been noble to say—to
think—that I wasn’t worth all the damage that those drugs could do.
Maybe I should have found a way to let Blue know that under no
circumstances was he to compromise this case just to save my
life.

But I kind of wanted to be
saved.

I didn’t want to die.

Not here. Not now. Not like
this.

The fact that Dom was now holding me at
gunpoint only made those feelings stronger.

“
You so much as sneeze and I
will blow your brains out.” Blue growled, pulling out a gun and
pointing it at Dom.

Suddenly everyone was holding a gun.
Most of them were trained on Blue. I realized then that maybe I was
more noble than I thought. Because I was willing to die right
now.

If it meant saving Blue.

Knowing that I could die at any moment
was probably the scariest feeling I’d ever felt, but fearing that
Blue could die?

That was worse.

“
You’re under arrest for
kidnapping, possession, and murder,” Blue told Dom, giving away the
fact he was undercover.

“
He’s a narc!” someone
yelled as a team of police converged on the house.

Everyone began scrambling around,
scattering like leaves in a windstorm. “Cops!” a few yelled as they
ran off into the night or back through the house.

The man in the back of the truck jumped
down and pulled out a gun that looked just like Blue’s. He aimed it
right at Dom, who surprisingly hadn’t moved.

“
Pigs,” he spat, looking at
Blue and the other man.

“
Drop your weapon,” Blue
ordered as men in black SWAT jackets converged.

I felt the change in the air; I saw the
decision in Dom’s body before he even acted. Dom swung the gun away
from me and aimed it directly at Blue.

And then he pulled the
trigger.

I screamed, the sound vibrating my
tongue and throat because the tape confined it inside, as I rushed
forward, desperate to stop the bullet.

I barely heard the gunfire that erupted
around us; I was so intent on getting to Blue.

I wasn’t going to make it. I was too
far away. I was going to watch a bullet totally destroy my entire
life.

The man beside Blue acted fast, jumping
in front of Blue and shoving him out of the way. Both men fell,
with Blue landing at the bottom.

I made a sound and dropped to my knees
beside the men, reaching out with my bound hands, trying to help
them, trying to see who was hurt.

A pool of red was rapidly forming
around them both, and I desperately wanted to know who was
hurt.

Beneath the man Blue shifted and
rolled.

“
Slater!” Blue said, laying
out the man on the ground and bending over him. Slater’s shirt was
rapidly turning red.

“
I need a medic!” Blue
roared and then looked back down at the man who literally took a
bullet for him.

“
You trust me now?” Slater
said.

Blue cursed. “You shouldn’t have done
that.”

“
Least I could do after you
came in here and kicked this case’s ass.”

Blue made a strangled sound. “Don’t you
dare die.”

“
Flesh wound,” Slater said
as a pair of medics rushed over and began administering first
aid.

Blue moved out of their way and turned
to me.

Our eyes connected.

His filled with tenderness and mine
filled with tears. He pulled me up to my feet and frowned at the
tape covering my mouth. Then he ripped it off in one great
tear.

“
Ow!” I yelled as my skin
stung. If I had a mustache, I wouldn’t have to worry about
bleaching it out ever again.

Blue palmed my face. His skin felt warm
against my icy cheeks. He didn’t say anything, but he pressed light
kisses to the corners of my mouth where the tape had ripped the
most. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured between kisses.

I brought my still-taped hands between
us and gripped his shirt. “Are you okay?”

He looked awful. He was a bloody,
swollen mess.