Justice Read online

  She eased back onto her feet to duck walk as far as she could to squeeze behind the dryer. It was a tight fit while she waited. The guy obviously believed he was a better shot than he actually was. He suddenly jumped into the doorway and pointed his gun at the floor where Jessie should have been. Jessie didn’t hesitate as the man’s gun exploded when he fired at the floor feet from her. She shot him three times in the chest. His gaze widened, his mouth opened and blood poured out before he just collapsed backward.

  “Three down,” Jessie got out in a shaky voice. “I’m checking vitals.”

  “Don’t move, Jessie!” Tim roared. “Wait for backup.”

  Oh, he’s pissed and I’m in a world of shit. She hadn’t really had a choice though. Trey and Mike had their hands full, were pinned and both needed to hold back the jerks outside. They needed that door from the living room to the entryway secure. That meant someone had to watch their backs. That left Jessie available to watch the living room and she’d done it.

  Jimmy’s voice sounded. “Four down. I repeat, four down. The second floor is secured. No female here.”

  Trey and Mike were still exchanging gunfire at the front door until another task-force team arrived to handle the attackers who were pinned without cover. Two of the property’s security guards were dead but another three gave up at that point. Jessie walked out from the laundry room into the hallway once an “all clear” was called.

  Trey reached her first. He studied her grimly before leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Good job.”

  “Two are down in the living room but I haven’t checked to see if they are still breathing.” She avoided looking at the dead guy in front of the laundry room door. “He’s definitely dead. I got him square in the face.”

  Trey glanced down. “Yeah, he’s a toe tagger. I’ll check vitals on the others.” He strode away to do that.

  “Someone’s gonna be in trouble,” Mike called out as he swaggered down the hallway holding his weapon cradled in his arms. “We were pinned down and you did good, kid. Thanks.”

  Jessie nodded.

  Trey returned from the living room. “Make that three toe taggers. You got one in the neck and the other one in the face and chest. I think all that gun-range target practice is paying off, Jessie. The bad news is that there’s no female here. The mansion was just cleared by our teams. The garage and staff living quarters were cleared by our teams. They must have moved her before we arrived.”

  Jessie frowned. “They were guarding this building for a reason.”

  She spun, nearly ran and searched the lower floor. She glanced at the stairs and headed that way but Trey grabbed her arm. “It’s been secured, Jessie. I’m sorry. If she was here she isn’t now. I know it’s hard to accept but we missed her.”

  “Did you find a room they would have kept her in?”

  “No. None of the team reported that. They would have.”

  “They were protecting something. It’s a guesthouse but it’s empty. All those bodies are security. The dead guys have patches. Why station four men at this location for no good reason and then send eight more out here?” She refused to give up hope.

  Trey shrugged. “Maybe the four lived here.”

  Jessie jerked her arm out of his hold. “I’m going to take another look. I don’t care if we have to tear it down but they were protecting something that we haven’t found yet.”

  Trey hesitated. “Hurry. Tim is on his way and he’s really pissed at you.”

  She ran up the stairs. The men were guarding something. Her gut was screaming it at her. The guy who owned this guesthouse was associated with Mercile Industries. He was obviously a rich bastard and probably not a nice guy if he hired mercenaries to guard his property.

  She reached the first room, found no furniture at all and searched the open closet. She used her flashlight to search every inch of room, kicked all the walls and found them solid. She bounced a little on the flooring inside the closet and the room but nothing indicated any loosened floorboards.

  The next room had a card table set up and two dead men were sprawled on the floor. The table and four chairs were the only furniture in the room. She went for the closet first, not looking forward to having to roll the dead bodies to test the floors under them. She searched it with the flashlight but saw nothing. She kicked one side and heard a solid sound. She kicked the back wall but it didn’t sound right. She frowned and kicked it again. Hollow.

  Jessie crouched down and used her flashlight to study the floor carefully. She spotted slight scratches a few feet from the molding. Her fingers brushed over it.

  “Goddamn it, Jessie! I fucking warned you,” Tim yelled from behind her. “I’m going to turn you over my knee.”

  “Shut up. I found something.” She didn’t bother to look at her boss, too focused on the wall in front of her.

  There was silence behind her. Jessie bit her lip and pushed on the wall but it didn’t move. She stood, backed up and studied the wall from a new angle. She glanced back at her team to see that Tim waited in the doorway, glaring at her. Trey and a few of the other guys had followed him up.

  Jessie turned, kicking out at the wall hard. Her foot made contact and punched through the plaster a little. The plaster was an inch thick but only darkness appeared in the small hole she’d made instead of wood beams or insulation that should have been behind it. She crouched down and aimed her flashlight into the hole.

  “What is it?” Trey was at her side.

  “Take it down,” Jessie ordered softly. “It’s a false wall.” She backed up out of his way.

  Trey yanked her flashlight out of her hand and crouched to aim the light at the small hole, nodding. “She’s right.” Trey stood. He shoved her flashlight at her as he took a step back. He kicked the plaster wall. “Back up more.”

  Jessie gave him room to do his thing. Trey was a big guy, stronger, and he had the kickass military boots on. In minutes he’d destroyed enough plaster to make a hole big enough for a man to crawl through. He reached for his own flashlight clipped to his belt, dropped to his knees and his other hand yanked out his sidearm.

  “It’s another room,” he confirmed, inching closer.

  Jessie’s heart pounded as Trey disappeared into the hole on his hands and knees. Seconds passed as slowly as if they were minutes. Trey suddenly called out.

  “Jessie, get in here. She’s alive.”

  Chapter Six

  Justice yawned and glanced at the clock. “It’s after three.”

  “I’m ready to call it a night.” Tiger stretched on the couch. “That was a good action film.”

  “Thanks for staying with me.”

  “Not a problem. Any time.” Tiger met his gaze. “Females are trouble. Never forget that. We’re better off without them.”

  “I’m not sure I agree.”

  “Do you want me to stay in the guestroom?”

  “Do you feel like driving home?”

  “Not really.” Tiger yawned. “I’m not used to these late nights.”

  Justice clicked off the TV and the DVD player, rose to his feet and dropped the remotes on the coffee table. “Stay. We’ll have breakfast together and discuss the new cameras you want installed at the gates.” He withdrew his cell phone and flipped it open.

  “Who are you calling at this hour?”

  “Homeland. Our human task team went out on a mission and I want to see if they recovered one of our females.”

  “They’d have called.” Sadness filled Tiger’s eyes. “You know how these things go. We would have heard if they’d found one. I know they meant to hit the location at two. It must not have been a good lead.”

  That meant that Jessie had been called away for nothing. It had at least been comforting, thinking he might be without her for the retrieval of one his women. “Right.”

  “Hopefully next time they’ll find one.”

  “We can hope. Good night.”

  He spun on his heel, walked quickly down the hallway and closed