Brian Read online

  Raydeen opened the bento box and began eating a bunch of grapes. “Damn, forgot how hungry sex makes me.”

  His mouth twitched, but again, he kept his gaze on his equipment. The next time he fucked her would be in a bed.

  Inside the house, the phone rang. Uneven steps thudded on the floorboards.

  “Yeah, I’m picking up a load today. Mostly pharmaceuticals. Got a doc in Helena who shorts his older customers. Have a couple friends picking up the package.”

  There was a pause.

  “Okay, right, I’m not doing the pickup. I told you I blew out my knee. Jim and an old friend are doing it for me… He’s cool. Promise. When they get here, I’ll give you a call. I’ll have to do a count first so you know how much cash to bring.” The sound of something tapping echoed through the van.

  “Don’t know why it’s a problem. Sure, you haven’t met him, but I told you I needed help.” There was a long pause, and Daryl grunted. “Okay, you can meet him. I’m expecting them about nine…. What? That early? Look, if you don’t think I can handle this…” Again, he paused. “Okay, got it.” Then he slammed down the phone.

  “Think he was talking about Kenan?” Raydeen asked, whispering.

  “You don’t have to whisper. We’re a hundred yards away and inside a sound-proofed van.”

  “Was he talkin’ about Kenan? Because it doesn’t sound like his dude was happy about having a new guy to deal with.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know.” Brian raked a hand through his hair. “I think your friend might be walking into trouble. If it’s even Kenan that Daryl was talking about.”

  She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth then released it. “What should we do?”

  Brian grimaced. “I think I have to call in the big guns.”

  Raydeen sighed. “You mean your hunters? They really going to do this? Listen while a drug deal goes down? Should we call the cops?”

  “Might come to that. But let me talk to Reaper first.” He pulled out his phone and hit Reaper’s speed dial number.

  “Yo, Brian. What’s up?”

  “I’ve got a problem.”

  * * *

  The closer it got to nine, the more antsy Raydeen got. Brian had made his call two hours ago. Brian had placed the call on speaker because she’d been sitting too close, interrupting his conversation with Reaper with questions.

  She didn’t like that she’d been driving him crazy, but she was nervous. “It’s 8:00. You sure your crew is on the way?”

  Brian pointed toward the computer monitor. “I’ve been tracking their location using the GPS on their phones. Take a look,” he said, turning the screen toward her. “They’ll be here in under five minutes.”

  “Lord,” she shot up from her seat, “I forgot about my bra. And my underwear. Did you see them?”

  Brian gave her a sideways glance. “You flung them. They might be behind something,” he said, glancing around the cramped space of the van.

  She stood and began searching under the bench, in cupboards. Nothing. “Have any Glade? It smells like sex in here.”

  “Roll down the passenger side window and let some air in.”

  She dashed toward the front of the van, flipped back the curtains, and leaned over her seat to hit the control. The window whirred down, but it was already too late. A large SUV was slowing down on the other side of the street and parking beside the curb. What looked like a dozen people spilled out of the doors.

  “We have company,” she whispered and dodged back behind the curtain. “Too many to fit inside here.”

  He hit the remote that opened the back gate of the van, which faced away from the house. Reaper stood in the opening then climbed inside, followed by Carly, Dagger, Lacey, and Hook. Not a dozen.

  They crammed inside and closed the door, everyone taking a seat on the bench or a folded chair. Raydeen crossed her arms over her breasts and hoped no one noticed her nipples popping.

  “Doing a little recon, Brian?” Reaper said, his eyes narrowing.

  Brian cleared his throat and shot Raydeen a quick glance before turning back to Reaper, who was big enough he could have filled the space all by himself. With so many inside, she was sure all the air would be sucked out of the van. “Damn, when did it get stuffy in here?” she said, waving a hand in front of her face.

  Lacey sniffed then gave Brian a wink. “Someone got busy.”

  “Lacey…” Brian warned.

  “The ops van is not a shaggin’ wagon,” Dagger said then laughed. “Good for you, bud. You, too, Raye.”

  “Oh my God.” Raydeen placed her hands on her cheeks because they were on fire.

  “We don’t have time to find out who did who,” Reaper growled. “What the hell kind of mess do we have here?”

  “Like I said when I called,” Brian said, “we think a vet Raydeen has worked with is walking into an ambush. Possibly. We set up a listening post to hear whether Kenan Reynold’s buddy, whose house we staked out, talked about Kenan. What we heard concerned us. The dealer his buddy Daryl does business with wasn’t too happy hearing that he had someone new on his crew. He’s coming early to be here when the drugs arrive. However, we’re not a hundred percent sure that Kenan Reynolds is the new guy.”

  “This guy worth us putting our necks out?” Reaper said, giving Raydeen a hard glance.

  She swallowed. Reaper was always scary looking, but right now, if she didn’t know he was a marshmallow around Carly, she might have shit herself with the hard look he gave her. “Kenan’s not a bad guy. But he’s got a habit. I think Daryl turned it on him and is making him earn his drugs.”

  “Why should I care if he’s got himself in over his head?”

  “Because he’s not responsible for his habit. It wasn’t a decision he made. Everything he got before he went rogue was prescribed. When the VA suddenly got wise about opioid abuse, they started cutting soldiers off. They left vets in a bad way without a lot of support.”

  “The VA would have helped him with rehab.”

  “I know,” Raydeen said, “he didn’t make the right choice, but he’s not a bad person. I think he can be helped.”

  Reaper’s mouth thinned. “We get involved, we risk our licensing. This isn’t what we do.” His gaze swung to Brian. “You conducted an illegal surveillance.”

  Brian nodded. “No excuses there. I know. But I wanted to help find this kid.”

  Reaper drew a deep breath and aimed another glare at Raydeen. “I’m going to make a call to Cochise’s woman, Sammy. She’s a deputy. Works with us sometimes. We can’t say how we know…”

  Brian nodded. “I’ll make the call.”

  Raydeen closed her eyes. The last thing she’d wanted to do was add to Kenan’s trouble, but after listening to the one-sided conversation Daryl had with his guy, she knew Kenan was in danger. “Do what you have to do to keep him safe.”

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Sheriff Miller and Deputy Sammy McCallister stepped inside the van. Dagger, Hook, and Carly had retreated to the SUV to let Reaper deal with the law.

  “Reaper,” Sheriff Miller said, giving him a solemn nod. “Sammy read me in while I driving here.” His gaze went to Raydeen and Brian. “So, you were here searching for a missing vet?” He raised an eyebrow.

  Raydeen cleared her throat. “I was about to knock on the front door when I overheard the conversation Daryl had with someone about drugs coming in from Bozeman. Pharmaceuticals, he said.”

  “And you think the soldier you’re looking for is involved?”

  “Not sure. But Kenan Reynolds has gone to ground,” Brian said. “Hasn’t been in touch with his family or the Soldiers’ Sanctuary since his meds were cut. We think,” he said, looking up at Raydeen, “that Daryl talked him into doing a pickup so he could get what he needed.”

  “And you think it’s going to go down now?”

  “We think Daryl’s boss will arrive any time now. Kenan and another associate of Daryl’s are arriving around nine.”

/>   The sheriff glanced around at the monitors in the van, which still showed the camera feeds. Brian had turned off the receiver for the listening device just before the sheriff arrived. Reaper hadn’t been happy about lying to the sheriff about how they’d heard the call, but they’d agreed on the story that Raydeen happened to hear the conversation in order to keep the agency out of hot water.

  Brian knew there would be a reckoning when this was over. He’d overstepped his authority, broken the law. Tonight, he might be losing his job with Montana Bounty Hunters, but he couldn’t be sorry about how he’d gotten here. They were doing the right thing.

  “You got more than cameras?” the sheriff asked. “Any way to listen in on what’s happening inside the house?”

  Brian nodded slowly.

  The sheriff’s eyes narrowed again. “Good. I’m going to step out. You do what you have to do while I call the judge to get the warrant.”

  Brian blew out a breath as the sheriff stepped out of the van.

  Reaper cleared his throat. “Turn it back on.”

  “If this leads to an arrest…”

  “I’ll work it out with the sheriff. He’ll contract with us for free for the use of our equipment, seeing as we’re already on the scene and able. The sheriff’s as eager to bust these guys as we are to see Kenan kept safe. He’s not going to let a little thing like details get in the way. This is Montana law.”

  Brian turned on the receiver. The TV was off now. The sounds of someone walking, likely pacing the floor, came through loud and clear. It was an odd, uneven sound.

  The door opened again, and the sheriff climbed back inside. “We have a warrant. A deputy is dropping by the judge’s house, but we’re legal…now.” He glanced at Reaper. “I’m deputizing your hunters. I know you have earpieces and helmets with cameras. Sammy keeps me apprised of your capabilities. Let’s get suited up. I’ve only got myself and two deputies here. I’ll need your team to be our backup.”

  Reaper followed the sheriff outside.

  Brian went to the locked boxes that served as a row of seats on the wall opposite the monitors and unlocked them. He pulled out helmets and attached cameras. By the time the hunters and the three lawmen returned, he was ready to issue them. He turned the cameras on before handing them out, one at a time, along with earpieces. “I’ll need each of you to state your name as you come online, so I can synch the feeds coming through the monitors.”

  The sheriff stepped up again, and watched intently as the deputies and hunters called in, one at a time, and Brian typed their names so they appeared at the bottom of their feeds. Now, he could see what each of them saw.

  “Wish like hell the county would spring for something like this,” the sheriff muttered.

  “Like I said,” Reaper said, leaning into the van, “whenever you need us, we can roll out to support your guys.”

  “We’d need to train together.”

  Reaper gave a nod. “Fetch would pay for it. He’d be happy to keep our relationship thriving.”

  The sheriff nodded. “Well, let’s get that house covered. Will we be able to hear what you’re hearing?” he asked Brian.

  Brian flipped a toggle switch. “Now, you will. You can talk over the feed.”

  When everyone departed, Brain dimmed the lights inside the van and kept watch on the monitors. He slipped a headset on to better hear the team moving in around the house, and to speak with them, should he need to.

  He glanced sideways at Raydeen.

  She gave him a tight smile and mouthed, “I’m okay.”

  They watched as the deputies and the hunters moved in the shadows, disappearing behind trees and crouching in the darkness beside the house.

  The monitor trained on the street in front of Daryl’s house showed a set of headlights beaming in the distance. “We’ve got company,” Brian said softly into the mic.

  “No one makes a move unless I say so,” the sheriff said. “Hunker down. Have to make sure a crime is being committed.”

  The porch light turned on, and Daryl opened the front door, standing in the light as a black Lexus drew to a stop in front of his house.

  “Brian, you get the plate?” the sheriff whispered.

  “Yeah, I’ll call it in to dispatch and have them run it.” He zoomed in on the license plate and placed the call.

  Dispatch was quick to return the identity of the owner. “That vehicle is owned by Reginald Bellows, out of Whitefish.” She gave a description of Reginald as well as a long list of prior offenses, which included distribution of drugs.

  Brian passed the information along to the team just as Reginald exited the back seat of the car, accompanied by his driver and a very large man.

  Reginald looked up and down the street, his gaze narrowing on their van a hundred yards away, but he must not have been too worried because he strode up the driveway and onto the porch.

  Daryl held out his hand. “Good to see you, Reggie, Donald, Hoss,” he said the last word while looking at the largest man.

  “Your guys be here soon?” came a voice that lifted the hairs on Brian’s arms. It was dead even. No inflection except for a hint of menace.

  Daryl glanced down at his watch. “Kenan called a minute ago. Said they stopped for gas on the edge of town. They’ll be here shortly.”

  Raydeen drew in a sharp breath.

  “So, now we know Kenan Reynold’s involved,” Brian said.

  “Well, shit,” Carly’s hushed voice came over the mic.

  Reginald glanced around again. “Let’s wait inside.”

  Reginald and his minions entered the house. The door closed.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” Daryl asked.

  “I won’t be here long enough to finish it,” Reginald said.

  “Sheriff, Dagger, here,” Dagger broke in. “I have the back door covered.”

  “I’m around the side,” came Sammy’s voice. “I can see into the living room.”

  “I’m watching the bedroom window,” Lacey said.

  “I’ve got another bedroom window,” Carly said.

  “When the time comes,” the sheriff whispered, “Landman and me’ll go through the front door.”

  “We’ve got another vehicle approaching,” Brian said.

  A Jeep slowed as it approached the house then parked in the driveway. Two men exited. The one Brian recognized as Kenan carried a small duffel bag.

  “Kenan’s carrying a bag,” Brian said. “He and the driver are making their way to the door.”

  The door opened, and once again, Daryl stood on the porch. “Well, come on in!” he said, waving the two men inside.

  “Daryl, we have your delivery. We didn’t have no problems. The doctor took the envelope. Said everything was fine.”

  “That’s Kenan’s voice,” Raydeen said, loud enough Brian knew the rest of the team heard as well.

  “I’ll take that,” Reginald said.

  “We’ll need to do a count,” Daryl said, sounding upset.

  “Won’t be any need.”

  Sammy’s feed bounced upward. The camera gave Brian a quick glance inside the room. His stomach tightened.

  “Get ready,” Sammy whispered. “Reginald’s guys just drew their weapons. Daryl, Kenan and the other guy have their backs to me. Daryl’s got a gun in the back of his pants.”

  “What’re you doin’?” Daryl said. “You have what I promised.”

  “Daryl,” Reginald said, this time sounding as though he was enjoying himself.

  Again, gooseflesh rose on Brian’s arms. The man was a sociopath.

  “You know I don’t like changes. We had a routine. You had one goddamn job.”

  “Look, everything’s cool,” Kenan’s voice sounded. “Daryl blew out his knee. Said he needed help with a job. Everything went down just like it was supposed to. You don’t have to do this.”

  “I like my employees to follow orders, whoever the fuck you are. Daryl didn’t. I let one employee slide, soon everyone believes they ca
n think for themselves. That can’t ever happen.”

  Again, Sammy’s feed shifted from the wall to the window. The man who’d been with Kenan was already on his knees, his hands behind his head. Kenan stood, his gaze going from Reginald to the two goons. Daryl’s expression was stricken, his mouth slack.

  “Now, sheriff,” Sammy said. “He plans to kill all three of them.”

  “Landman and I are moving to the porch,” the sheriff said.

  Brian watched as the sheriff rose from behind the brush where he’d kept hidden and approached the front door, his arms extended, his hands cradling a gun.

  Dagger raced up the back steps and stood beside the door, waiting for the signal.

  Reaper and Hook moved in behind Dagger.

  “I need you all on your knees,” Reginald ordered.

  “I blew my damn knee,” Daryl shouted.

  “Fucking idiot,” Kenan said. “He’s the one in charge. He’s got the gun. Don’t argue.”

  “Do what I say,” Reginald said, his voice lowering.

  “I’ll have to help him down to the floor,” Kenan said, his voice soft and steady.

  “Kenan’s moving toward Daryl,” Sammy said. “He’s going for the gun. I’m coming around the side of the house.” Abruptly, she ducked down and moved along the side of the house, making her way toward the front.

  The sheriff stood back. Deputy Landman moved in front of the door, raised a foot, and kicked it in. With his gun held out, he entered the door and moved sharply to the right.

  The sheriff moved through the doorway with his gun also extended. “I’m Sheriff Miller, put down your guns!”

  Reginald’s gun turned toward the sheriff. The two men with him flung their bodies to the side, one disappearing behind a sofa, the larger man running down the hallway.

  The sheriff’s hand jerked at the same time an explosion sounded. Reginald’s hand, the one holding the gun, dropped and a dark shadow blossomed on his shoulder.

  Dagger’s camera turned to the side, and the feed jolted. When he faced the house again, the door was hanging on its hinges, and he was moving forward.

  The large man who’d raced down the hallway nearly stumbled over himself as he halted in front of Dagger and glanced toward a closed door.