Author: Allison Brennan
Category: Suspense
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/allison-brennan/page,13,583429-a_deeper_fear.html
He let her in.
“They’re on their way up. When I got here, I told security to let them up and text me. He unlocked the elevator just now. Lesko is with a woman.”
“Only one?”
“There’s at least two more involved. I chased one of the suspects, but he had a head start and I couldn’t catch up. Then I heard commotion in the lobby. By the time I got there, a witness told me that Megan and Lesko were forced into a limo along with a woman and a large man. Another woman was in the limo, and I’m guessing that was Brandy Lesko. A third suspect was driving. I cut through the Hyatt parking garage in order to beat the limo here—the benefit of one-way streets is that they had to go all the way around three square blocks.”
“Megan?”
“She’s okay. She was hit on the head, but was conscious and talking, according to the witness.”
That didn’t make him feel better, especially knowing what had happened to Ellen two days ago.
“Sean’s in place,” he said, “but I need you to talk these people down.”
“We need Sean to track Megan’s phone.”
Why hadn’t he thought of that?
“I’ll tell him, then hide—but I’ll have my eyes on you, okay? You good?”
“Yes. As soon as Sean knows where Megan is, John has a team ready to go after them. I’m going to buy us time. Tell Sean I’m turning on my speaker; he knows how to access my phone.”
Jack slipped away seconds before he heard the door unlock.
* * *
Lucy positioned herself in Lesko’s office. She put her phone on the table so she could see messages that came through—as soon as she knew that Megan and Brandy were safe, she would change tactics. She planted her backup weapon in a drawer at the conference table. She wasn’t certain how she was going to handle the situation, but if the suspect disarmed her she needed to know where a second weapon was in case things went south.
Preventing the theft was important, but saving Richard Lesko’s life—and Megan and Brandy—was the priority.
She forced her heart rate to slow. The attack in the bathroom, the race down the stairs, running over to the building—her adrenaline level was high. But she had to have all her senses alert, and listening to the blood pump behind her ears wasn’t going to help her sense any nuances.
She heard a male voice outside the office. “Don’t hurt my daughter, please.”
“You cooperate and no one gets hurt. I promise, okay? We’re just going to get the money.”
The woman sounded nervous. Because their original plan had been thwarted? Because she expected a trap?
They stepped into Lesko’s office, Richard first. The lights weren’t on, save for a faint security light coming from each corner of the room. The woman had a gun on him. Lucy kept her hands visible.
As soon the woman was in full view, Lucy knew she’d seen her before.
The woman locked eyes with Lucy. Confused.
“What?” The woman glanced all over the room, looking for others but Lucy was here alone.
“Robinson,” Lucy said.
The crime scene tech.
She’d processed Ellen’s crime scene.
She’d processed the Sheraton roof—where all the prints had been wiped from the door.
She’d processed the roof of 1201K.
She had been privy to information. John would have talked around her, not realizing that one of his own techs was in a criminal gang. She must have learned that they suspected 1201K would be robbed, and she would have known that Omni was at the top of the list.
Yet she still went through with the plan. Deviated from the original strategy of coming in at night through the roof. But still went through with it.
That told Lucy she was desperate. She would know that John would have people in the building. She would know that she couldn’t get away with it, that they would learn her identity soon enough. Hotel security cameras. Lesko’s testimony. Unless she planned to kill everyone.
Murder was a lot harder to run away from.
“Agent Kincaid.” Robinson sounded surprised. “How—you were in the hotel.”
“Let’s talk.”
“No time to talk. I’m sure you’re not the only one here, but I hold the cards.” She led Lesko to his desk, sat him down, and stood behind him, putting him between her and Lucy. “Do it,” she said. “Exactly what I told you in the elevator.”
“And Brandy will be safe.”
“I give you my word.”
“Your word?” Lucy said. “Is it good?”
“I’ll be taking Mr. Lesko back with me. As soon as we get out of the city, I’ll release everyone, and we’ll be on our way. This isn’t personal. It’s just a job.”
“Your partner nearly killed a woman Wednesday night. She’s in a coma. They don’t know if she’ll ever come out of it.”
“It was an accident. He didn’t mean to hit her so hard, and her prognosis is good.”
“You checked.” Lucy wasn’t surprised.
“I didn’t have to, Detective Black has been calling over to his brother-in-law asking for status updates. It was pretty easy to figure it out.”
“You’re in law enforcement. Why?”
“Why this?” She turned to Lesko. “Do it, Richard. I don’t have time. Good.” She watched what he was typing. “Keep going.” She pulled out a notebook and put it down next to him. “That account. You have two minutes. I know it doesn’t take longer.”
“Robinson,” Lucy said, trying to keep her going. “You haven’t hurt anyone. Your partner, yes—but not you. You share with us who hired you, cooperate fully, and maybe you’ll get off easy.”
She laughed. “Really? Easy? You don’t know John Black very well, do you?”
“John’s not here. It’s you and me.”
“You across the room, me here. And that’s the way it’s going to stay. One minute, Richard. Tick tock.”
“I know your original plan didn’t have any innocent bystanders involved. You were going to slip in, transfer the money, slip out.”
“Black brought in a security consultant, some genius who figured everything out. Based on a couple of scratches on the roof? What the fuck? But yeah, I didn’t want to bring in anyone else. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I promise you, I will. If I have to, I will do anything for my family.”
Family. That helped. She wouldn’t want to die if she was trying to protect her family. She wouldn’t want them to die.
But family could also make people desperate, and desperate people could make bad decisions.
Lucy had turned off vibration on her phone, but a faint shift in the color told her a text had come in.
From Jack.
Located Megan. ETA five minutes.
Lucy didn’t know if she could keep Robinson occupied for five minutes.
“I’m Lucy,” she said. “What’s your first name? Calling you Robinson seems awkward.”
“Beth. I’m sure John will tell you when you talk to him. I know he’s on the roof.”
“Yes, with Officer Knight. Riley.”
“How do you know him? You’re not even from here.”
“I met him. His brother-in-law is the ASAC of Sacramento FBI, I’m in the San Antonio office.”
“Fuck me,” Beth muttered. “I swear, I never should’ve taken this job.”
“Why did you? If this was so far out of your comfort zone.”
“It wasn’t the job—it was the bastard who . . . never mind. Not important.”
“Who hired you, Beth? Who are you risking your freedom for?”
“Richard, it’s been more than two minutes. The money is not in my account.”
Beth was holding a phone.
“It’s going. I swear. I did everything right.”
Richard knew the plan, and that the money was frozen, but he was playing along.
“Please,” he begged. “Don’t hurt my daughters. I’m doing everything you said. I don’t care about the money, I only c
are about Brandy and Laura.”
“Then what is going on?”
“Look—it says it’s transferring. I don’t know why it’s taking so long.”
Lucy glanced down at her phone.
Sean is going to fake the transfer, he says. He’s in her phone. May not work. Buy time.
She trusted that Sean knew what he was doing.
“Do you want me to help?” Lucy said.
“Stay there. Do not move. I don’t want to kill you, but I don’t have a lot to lose right now.”
“I’m not moving. I’m staying right here, behind the conference table, giving you space.” She needed to make sure that Jack and Sean knew exactly where everyone was if they felt the need to breach the room.
Beth stared at Lucy, as if to make sure she stood still. Then she turned back to Richard.
“Is it locked up? Did you do something? Alert someone?”
“No,” Richard said. “I logged into the account and went through all the security questions. I answered them right—you saw that. And now it’s showing the transfer icon. You saw that I typed in the numbers correct!”
Beth frowned, then she turned off her phone. “The money had better be there.”
Lucy practically held her breath while Beth logged back into her account. Thirty very long seconds later, Beth smiled. “Thank you, Richard. That wasn’t that hard, was it? And no one has to get hurt.” She called someone.
The person didn’t answer. She called again.
“No, no, no.”
Lucy glanced down at her phone. A message from Sean.
Have Megan, Brandy. No injuries. Jack, John outside door.
“Beth,” Lucy said. “The police have your partners in custody.”
“I don’t believe you!”
Sean texted, Beth’s husband Doug and his brother Frank.
Lucy said, “Doug and Frank are in custody, uninjured. Put the gun down and step away from Mr. Lesko. It’s over, Beth. You’re not going to get out of this building. And you don’t want a violent end. You don’t want to never see your husband again.”
“How are you communicating? What are you doing?”
Then Beth saw the phone on the table and frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Everything you said and did was sent through speaker to John Black. We tracked Megan Elliott’s phone, followed the limo. This isn’t worth losing your life, Beth. The more you cooperate, the greater the chances you’ll get out with minimal time. No one died, and that’s a good thing.”
Beth looked torn. “No one was supposed to get hurt at all. In five years, we never hurt anyone.”
“I believe you. Who hired you, Beth?”
“It’s too late. He has the money. He’ll be long gone.”
“He doesn’t have the money.”
“He does—I saw the account.”
“The genius you mentioned? He’s a computer security expert. He mirrored the account so you would think that the money was transferred. The Feliciano trust fund was never at risk—the escrow account has been locked.”
“No. You’re wrong.”
“I’m telling you the truth. So even if you get out of here—which you won’t—you won’t have your money, and I suspect the person who hired you will track you down. Let me guess. If I’m right, put down your gun.”
“Let me think!” Beth was torn, but she knew that she wasn’t getting away. She was a crime scene technician, she knew what the police would do. She knew that she wasn’t going to be able to run forever, even if she got out of the building.
“It’s Nick Feliciano’s uncle.” Lucy remembered what Brandy said earlier. “Right? He didn’t want Nick to move the money because he did something with the trust. Lost money, maybe replaced it with someone else’s money to pay Nick this week. And you were hired to get it back. But it’s not going to go back to him, and you’re not going to be paid. Either you put the gun down or you’re going to be killed leaving this building. You and I both know that.”
“How the hell did you guess that?”
“Something Brandy Lesko said to me earlier about Nick’s family. I had a hunch.”
Beth put her gun down on Richard’s desk and put her hands on top of her head.
“Thank you, Beth, you made the right decision,” Lucy said. “Richard, please step away.”
As Lucy spoke, John and Jack came into the room, guns drawn. Jack glanced at Lucy, nodded. Richard left his office, pulling out his phone at the same time.
John approached Beth, read her the Miranda rights, then cuffed her. “Get a lawyer, Beth.”
“Is that what you say to all the criminals you arrest?”
“Only the ones I think are remorseful.”
“Is Doug okay? Really?”
“Yes. He didn’t put up a fight. He’s in custody. His brother resisted, but we had an agent inside who helped take him down. Bumps and bruises.”
“Can I see Doug? I know it’s not protocol, but . . . I will cooperate. I promise, full cooperation. Doug didn’t even want to do this, I talked him into it.”
“No promises, Beth, but I’ll see what I can do.”
John escorted Beth out, and Sean ran in and hugged Lucy. “You did great.”
“I agree,” Jack said. “You good?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m leaving. Megan hates the hospital, but she needs to get checked out, so I’m taking her whether she wants to go or not.”
Lucy turned to Sean, kissed him. Surprisingly, they were alone, at least for the moment. “We’re going to have to give our statements. Then I’m ready for bed.”
He frowned. “You have a bruise on your cheek. And here—you’re bleeding. What happened?”
She looked at where Sean was pulling at her blouse. She hadn’t noticed the blood before. “The door in the bathroom,” she said. “When Frank—I assume it was the brother-in-law—tried to grab Laura, he hit me with the door. I thought it was just my head. I’m fine.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
She put her arms around him. “You’ll just have to inspect every inch of my body and make sure I’m a hundred percent okay.”
“Tough job, but I’m up for it.” He grinned and kissed her. “I love you, Lucy Kincaid Rogan.”
“Love you more.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sean and Lucy arrived at Jack and Megan’s late Saturday afternoon, hours after the party started. Neither of them felt guilty—they agreed that they needed the morning to relax after the stressful night.
“Do you want beer or wine?” Sean asked.
She shook her head. “I’d fall asleep. I’m going to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. But you have a beer or two, I’ll drive back to the hotel.” She smiled and kissed him, and he watched her go into the kitchen. He was the luckiest man on the planet.
The tension and fear Sean had been feeling for the last month had been fading since his heart-to-heart with Lucy Thursday night. He still was apprehensive about the future, but it wasn’t all-consuming, and he finally could see the light. He might talk to someone, but not Dillon the shrink, even though he liked him. And not Jack, even though he respected him. They were Lucy’s brothers, and while they treated Sean as their own family, there were some things he’d feel awkward discussing with them.
But Kane . . . Sean needed his own brother now. He’d called him this morning, while Lucy was sleeping.
Sean realized how much Kane had changed in the last two years when he answered his phone on the second ring.
“Hey.”
“It’s Sean.”
“Do you think I’d pick up the damn phone if I didn’t know who it was?”
Good point.
“You still in Sac?” Kane asked.
“Yeah. We’re flying back tomorrow. Commercial. I was wondering if you were in the middle of something.”
“What do you need?”
What did he need? “I don’t know. I thought if you and Siobhan wanted to come up and visit
for a couple of days. Jesse has his eighth-grade graduation Friday, I know you planned to come for that, but . . .”
“We’ll be there Monday afternoon. Good?”
“Good.”
He hadn’t had to explain anything, and that told Sean he made the right call. That between him and Kane, they would figure out how to get Sean past this.
Yes, he would get through this. He finally believed it.
Jack came up to him, handed him a beer, and clapped him on the back. “Where’s Luce?”
“Making coffee.” He sipped. “How’s Megan?”
Jack’s face darkened. “She’s fine. Her head hurts, but she won’t take painkillers. Concussion, but I’m keeping an eye on her. I convinced her to relax on the back porch—people can come to her, she doesn’t have to entertain anyone.”
“We’re not going to stay long.”
“I wanted to cancel, but Megan didn’t. And we won this one, so I’m going to let her celebrate. But we wouldn’t have been offended if you didn’t come.”
“We wanted to. We’re leaving tomorrow, and, well, I’m sorry. About everything.”
Jack looked him in the eye. “No apologies. I’ve been where you are, Sean. You’re a good man. None of us are good at talking about our shit. But you have one of the finest women I know as your wife, and I knew you’d find a way to get back to her.”
“You kicked me in the ass when I needed it.”
“It’s the past, Sean. We’re good, okay?”
“Thank you.”
“You should talk to Duke before you go.”
“Where is he?”
“At the grill. He’s a control freak.”
Sean laughed. “He is.”
“But at least I don’t have to cook.”
Sean went out back and talked to his brother Duke and his sister-in-law Nora. Molly, who’d turned two in March, was running from person to person showing off a giant stuffed purple bunny. As Sean watched, JT Caruso—one of the principals of RCK—scooped Molly up with the bunny and turned her upside down. She screamed out laughter. When JT righted her and put her on his shoulders, she shouted, “Again! Again! Upsies downsies!”