The table was moved and the cellar became invisible. Pounding on the door drew everyone’s attention back out front.
“What weapons do we have?” Kord asked, pulling his gun from his utility belt.
“Kenzie and I were able to get these from my car,” Edie said and pointed to her stash.
“Is that a sniper rifle? I can take that upstairs and pick them off,” Maggie Bell said.
“It’s my husband’s,” Edie said, before reaching into the case and handing it to Maggie. “He said he trusted it to shoot straight every time. You can, too.”
Maggie was quiet as she took the rifle. Kenzie knew she was an Olympic shooter, but shooting a person was very different from shooting a target.
“I have the bow and arrow. I’ll join Maggie and someone can use my gun,” Edie said before they headed up the stairs.
“I’ll take it,” Tinsley said, grabbing the handgun that Edie held out.
“My rifle is at home,” Maggie’s brother, Gage, said. “I can call my parents. They’ll grab it and theirs. I can sneak out through Kerri’s and meet up with them. We know this town and all the blind spots. We can get over to the other side of the street and box them in.”
“Do it,” Kord ordered, and a group of them broke off to get Gage out the back and then boarded up Kerri’s restaurant. There was one door that led from her place into the bar. The people outside probably didn’t know that, but it was better to be safe and account for all possible exits.
“Ryker Faulkner, come out or we’ll kill everyone in there!” a man with a very heavy Italian accent yelled out.
“Ryker?” Kenzie turned to his family. “They don’t know he’s not here.”
“We need to warn Ryker and we need to delay them until help arrives,” Wade whispered before stepping up to a shattered window. He kept to the side so they wouldn’t have a clear view to shoot him and yelled, “What do you want with me?”
“We don’t want to kill everyone in there, but we will. This has to do with you and Little Joey. Let’s keep it that way,” the man shouted back.
Kenzie grabbed her purse and dug out her phone. Ryker would know what to say and right now she needed to hear his voice to make sure he was safe.
27
“It’s all set,” Dare said into the coms as he walked toward the ship now offloading the containers Bianca asked him to get through security. She had paid him four thousand dollars to ensure that the containers get off the boat without being searched.
“Where’s Bianca?” Paxton asked into the coms.
“She’s sitting at a table at the front window of Port having a drink,” Granger replied from where he had been following her.
“As soon as the containers are on their way and she pays Dare, Granger can detain her,” Peter ordered.
“Copy that,” Granger replied.
Ryker, Paxton, and Peter watched as Dare spoke to an undercover FBI agent pretending to be security. He waved Dare through and soon the four containers were unloaded via crane onto four separate semi-trucks.
The trucks took off and Ryker knew the video feeds and GPS were active and working as he watched them moving on Peter’s computers. Ryker watched as Dare stopped in front of one of the many hidden FBI cameras and took out his phone. He angled it in such a way the video camera could see what number he dialed before he pressed it to his ear.
“Bianca, it’s me. The four containers are on their way just like you wanted.” Dare paused as Bianca talked.
“Bianca is on the phone,” Granger reported in.
“We hear it,” Peter responded. Granger was pointing a microphone at the window and Bianca’s voice filled the office Ryker, Paxton, and Peter were in at the shipping port.
“Were there any problems?” Bianca’s voice was heard over the computer banks Peter had set up monitoring and recording everything for evidence.
“No problems. I signed off on them just like you said. The papers you gave me to give to security did the trick. There were no questions asked and they were just moved along. Now, when do I get the other half of my money?” Dare asked.
“As soon as my guys check in with me that the containers are safely out of the city. Give me thirty minutes to hear from my drivers, then I’ll text you where you can pick it up.”
“Don’t screw me, lady,” Dare warned her in such a tone Ryker was impressed. He knew Dare was tough, but with Harper and the knitting club, Ryker had kind of forgotten this side of Dare.
“I won’t, unless you ask me nicely,” Bianca said seductively before hanging up.
“Now we wait,” Dare said into his coms.
Ryker took a deep breath and looked at his watch. Kenzie should be in the middle of family dinner at this point. The FBI was trailing the containers, the GPS was working, and as soon as Bianca paid Dare they’d arrest her.
It seemed as if the clock was ticking slowly as the GPS dots moved farther and farther from town. Dare joined them in Ryker’s office where Peter had all the surveillance set up. Finally, Granger came onto the coms. “Bianca is making a call.”
Dare’s phone provided by the FBI rang.
“Yeah,” Dare said as a way of answering it.
“Meet me at the Pineapple Fountain in twenty minutes. I have your money,” Bianca said over the phone.
“Okay,” Dare said, hanging up. “Let’s wrap this up,” he said to the group.
Ryker watched the screens in his office as Dare approached Bianca at the fountain. The running water made it hard to hear, but Granger was already in place with his enhanced microphone, not counting the wire on Dare.
“You did good,” Bianca said, handing over the cash.
“Happy to help. Will you need my services again in the future?” Dare asked as he opened the envelope and made a show of counting the money.
“I think this can be the beginning of a very profitable partnership.” Bianca grinned, but then pulled out her phone. She read a text and her face frowned. “I’ll be in touch.”
Dare didn’t pursue her as she hurried away.
“Roberts, you and your team move in and arrest her after Dare leaves. You can pull her over if she gets in a car. Granger, you can assist,” Peter said into his coms to his FBI team that had surrounded the area.
Ryker’s phone buzzed at the same time Peter’s did. Ryker picked up his phone and his whole world stopped. The text from Kord lodged his breath in his throat and threatened to strangle him. Active shooter at bar. Need backup.
Ryker looked up and saw the fear on Peter’s face.
“What is it?” Paxton asked.
“There’s an active shooter at the bar,” Ryker said as he moved to the private armory in his office. He opened it up and pulled out a rifle, grabbed a stack of ammunition, and a jacket. “I’m taking the helicopter on the roof.”
“Wilson, you’re in charge,” Peter called out to his second-in-command who had been making sure everything was being recorded properly a moment before Peter was running after Ryker with Paxton right on his heels.
“Did you say there’s an active shooter at the bar?” Dare asked over the coms at the same time Granger did.