Touch&Geaux (33 page)

Zane breathed a sigh of relief. Surgery at least meant he

wasn’t dead when they’d carried him in.

“Lads, I hate to be insensitive,” Liam said, peering over

his shoulder at the nurse’s station. “But we have about five

seconds to clear our arses out of here.”

“Fuck you, I’m not leaving him,” Digger growled.

“I know—”

“I said I’m not fucking leaving him!” Digger grabbed

Liam by his leather jacket, shaking him. “Where the fuck

were you when we needed you?”

“Take your hands off the coat,” Liam said, voice calm. His

eyes sparked, though, and even Zane recognized that he’d

reached a dangerous point. He was no longer amused.

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Digger sneered but released him with a final shove.

“I understand your desire to stay, I really do,” Liam

continued, his voice low and soothing. “But you’ve done all

you can for the doc, you have to look now to the other team

member we lost out there.”

Owen stood and shook his head. “He’s not any teammate

of yours.”

“Then why am I the only one wondering how long he’ll

survive without help?”

Zane swiped a hand over his face. “He got away from

them.”

“And you know that how?” Liam asked.

“Because I know Ty. You can’t trap a cockroach.”

Liam snorted. “But you can kill one if you stomp it hard

enough.”

“He got away. He’ll go to ground,” Zane insisted. “He

won’t let himself hang in the wind too long.”

“Regardless of what Ty is doing or how capable he might

be of slipping through the cracks, Liam’s right,” Nick said.

“We need to clear out of here before we’re found. All that

blood . . . they’ll know one of us was hit, they’ll be here

looking soon enough.”

“What about Kelly? We can’t leave him behind.

Unprotected?” Owen asked.

“He’s safer here than he was out there.”

Nick stood, and Owen and Digger closed ranks behind

him, facing Liam and Zane. Zane couldn’t help but admire

the way Sidewinder seemed to come together when they

needed to. He had never worked as part of a team before Ty,

preferring to go at things solo even when he’d been a child.

Even Becky had been more of a confidante, a support system,

something to fight for instead of with. She’d been a way to

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forget life’s troubles rather than an ally to take them on, and

Zane had been happy with that arrangement. She had been

exactly what he’d needed at that point in his life. But he had

changed. Life had changed. And he had never had someone

to face the world beside him, not until Ty.

Zane’s stomach lurched at the thought. Ty wasn’t the

happy escape Becky had been for him. He might never offer

Zane the warmth and light Becky once had, but Zane knew

Ty would be there in the dark. In the last twenty-four hours,

Zane had lost sight of that, blinded by the anger.

“Where would he go?” Liam asked as he led them through

the hal ways, looking for a back exit.

“You’re asking us to think like Ty?” Owen snorted. “I

don’t think that’s possible; my brain isn’t powered by squirrels

on treadmills.”

Nick shook his head, unbuttoning his bloody shirt as he

walked. He shrugged out of it and dumped it into a hamper

in the hal way. The others followed suit, discarding as much

of their bloody clothes as they could in various nooks and

crannies they passed on their way out.

“He’d go where they’d least expect,” Nick said.

“Somewhere public?” Digger asked.

“The hotel, maybe. The rooms are still under your name,

they can’t be traced to Ty or Garrett,” Owen said to Nick.

“That’s how they found him to start with,” Nick growled.

“He’s familiar with this city, there’s no telling what kind of

places he knows.”

Zane inhaled sharply. “Ava.”

Nick looked over his shoulder at Zane, eyebrows raised.

“Maybe so. If he didn’t go back there for help, maybe she’ll

know where he would go.”

“He doesn’t know Ava’s the one who called her father.”255

Nick stopped short, and Zane almost barreled into him.

“Wait, she what?”

Zane huffed. “She’s the one who called her father. She

hoped Ty would go up against him and take him out.”

“That chick’s all wrong, man,” Digger whispered.

The change that came over Nick O’Flaherty was almost

frightening. His face hardened, his eyes going a deep,

striking green when he lowered his head. He glanced at

Owen and Digger, and both men nodded at some unspoken

communication.

Nick headed off toward the exit, Owen and Digger on

his heels.

“Oh dear,” Liam said with a sigh.

“What the hell just happened?” Zane asked.

“You flipped the wrong switch in that one. I think we’ve

just landed the job of white knight,” Liam grumbled. He

started after them at a jog. “Let’s go save the girl from the

rabid Yank Marines.”

They double-timed it from the hospital, skirting the edges

of the confusion and panic that was now the French Quarter,

and headed for Marigny and Frenchmen Street. Nick kept

looking down each street as they ran by, both hoping to see

signs of Ty’s passing and praying he didn’t. The chaos meant

the pursuit had been hard and fast, and it seemed to have

encompassed two or three blocks.

Ty had made a worthy chase of it, at least.

Nick hoped the calm of the latter regions meant that Ty

had gotten away and blended into the scenery, rather than

getting caught.

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“What’s the reach on these ear buds?” Zane asked. He

refused to slow down, and for once Nick was glad for the

man’s stubbornness.

“You got to be in a mile range of the hand unit,” Digger

answered. “If Ty’s got his unit on him, we should be able to

hear him and he should be able to hear us.”

“So we can’t hear him, that means he dropped his radio?”

Owen asked.

“Or his ear bud. Or he went into the drink. Or he’s

underground. Or he’s behind lots of concrete. Or somewhere

the signal’s getting jacked.”

“Digger!”

“What? They ain’t military grade. Damn.”

“Have any of you actually tried contacting him?” Liam

asked.

They had to stop at Esplanade to wait for the heavy traffic.

Nick put a finger to his ear and pulled the hand unit out,

holding it up for the best reception he could give it. “Grady?”

They all waited, breathing shallowly to better hear.

All Nick received was the buzzing of radio silence in his

ear. “Maybe he’s hiding,” Zane said. “Maybe he can’t talk.”

“Yes, we’ll go with that,” Liam said, sarcasm dripping from

his words.

Nick stared at him for a long moment, and when Liam

met his eyes, Nick hit him. Liam tumbled to the sidewalk as

everyone else watched impassively.

Digger patted Nick’s shoulder. “Me too, brother.”

Liam sat up and wiped a hand over his mouth. “Do you

feel better?”

“A little,” Nick said. The signal changed and they hustled

across the street after Zane helped Liam to his feet.

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When they reached La Fée Verte, the bar was closed

down. Zane banged on the door and shouted for Ava to open

it, but they got no response.

“The fucking place has no ground floor windows,” Owen

said as they all examined the façade of the building for any

point of entry.

“It’s all right, lads, daddy’s here,” Liam drawled. He stepped

up to the door, digging in the backpack he was carrying.

“What are you doing?” Nick asked.

“Blowing your mind, love.” Liam pulled out two small

squares of off-white clay.

“Is that C4?” Zane asked.

“PE4, thank you very much.” Liam molded the plastic

explosive against the hinges of the door.

“You don’t really understand going under the radar, do

you?” Nick grumbled.

“You Recon boys sneak under the radar,” Liam said as he

set the charges. “The Special Air Service gets shit done.”

Owen raised an eyebrow at Nick. “If you want to hit him

again, I’ll hold him down.”

“Maybe later,” Nick said. They all moved away and threw

themselves against the wal .

Liam lit the charges and then hustled down the wal ,

flattening himself at Zane’s side. The blast was smal , and the

sound was almost entirely covered by the racket of the Easter

festivities and the live bands warming up nearby.

Zane was at the door before the smoke even cleared,

kicking it off its destroyed hinges.

“You’re welcome!” Liam called after him. “Good lord,

to watch him you’d think Ty gave reward blowjobs for being

rescued.”

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They streamed into the bar one after the other, clearing

the room. Zane had already found Ava by the time Nick

entered, grabbing her before she could barricade herself in the

office. Zane held her around the waist as she struggled.

Nick stalked up to her and grabbed her chin, forcing her

to look at him.

“Where are they?”

She was breathing hard, gritting her teeth. “I don’t know.”

“But you know they have him.”

“I didn’t want Ty hurt.”

“That why you threw a butcher knife at him when he left

before?” Zane growled in her ear.

“Says the man who threw him into a table,” she snarled.

She was still meeting Nick’s eyes. “I didn’t know Daddy had

help. I swear. I thought you boys could take him.”

“Doc’s in the hospital dying,” Nick sneered. “And you’re

sorry.”

Her eyes widened.

Liam came up behind Nick and patted him on the

shoulder, pul ing at him gently. Nick released her and backed

away before he was tempted to really hurt her. Then Liam

reached out to pat Zane’s arm. “Let her go,” he said, his voice

oddly soothing.

Zane lifted his chin stubbornly, but he did. Liam took her

by the hand and led her to one of the barstools nearby. He sat

her down and cupped her face.

“We need your help, dear, or Ty’s days are up.”

She glared at him for a few breathless seconds and then

nodded.

“Where would he go if he was being chased?”

“Harrah’s. He always told me, if I got in trouble, to get

to the casino. Something about facial recognition. Every bad

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in town knows they have it, they won’t risk getting swiped

by it.”

Liam nodded at Zane and Nick. That was a plan that

sounded decidedly Ty-like.

“Now,” Liam continued, his voice still low and almost

seductive. “If your father were to get his hands on Tyler, where

would he take him?”

“He wouldn’t take him anywhere. He’d kill him right

away.”

Liam tutted, still looking her in the eye. “I don’t believe

so. Ty told us your father tried to set him up for murder first.

He wanted him in his jail, not dead. He wanted to speak to

him before he killed him. Think hard.”

Ava shook her head almost defiantly.

“Somewhere underground maybe?” Owen asked.

“There’s no underground in New Orleans,” Zane growled.

“It’s all water.”

“He’d take him somewhere no one would hear him

scream,” Liam whispered to Ava.

She nodded, closing her eyes. “The Lower Ninth Ward.

He’d take him there.”

Liam snapped his fingers at Digger. “You know where

that is?”

“Yeah. Area got flooded by Katrina when the levees

broke. There’s whole blocks of wrecked houses just sitting

there empty. It’s not too far.”

Liam nodded, then turned and backhanded Ava off the

stool.The others jumped, and Owen shouted in protest. Even

Zane moved to intercede, but Ava remained on the floor,

unconscious.

“What the hell?” Nick cried.

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Liam shrugged and poked her with the toe of his boot.

“Now we have leverage.”

“What if Gaudet doesn’t have him?” Nick gritted out.

Liam pursed his lips, then shrugged again. “Then that was

for the doc.”

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ou’re either real stupid or real brave.”

“Y
Ty shook his head. The world was spinning. He

couldn’t feel the ground under his feet.

“Why are you back in town, Tyler?”

Ty looked up at Commander Louis Gaudet. “Do you . . .

do you ever become just very aware of your ears? They’re . . .

right there on your head.”

“Is he high?”

“Probably,” Shine answered.

Gaudet’s voice came from right in front of Ty’s face. “Is

that some sort of code, boy? You took his little radio away,

didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” Shine drawled. He pointed to a pile of Ty’s

effects in the corner of the room.

“Even so, check him for a wire.”

The big man grabbed Ty’s shirt and yanked it, pul ing the

buttons from their threads. Rough hands patted him down.

Ty’s head fell forward. He couldn’t seem to make the spinning

or the buzzing stop.