Janet Evanovich - Full Tilt

"Hell, no, I'm not okay," he yelled. "I hit my damn head on the steering wheel. You could have gotten us both killed."

Deedee grimaced. "You've gone and wrecked Jamie's car. She'll never forgive me. What do we do now?"

"It's a no-brainer, lady. We hoof it."

* * * * *

"Think, Alexa," Max prodded. "If somebody in the city were trying to hide something or someone, where would they go?"

She twisted her hands nervously. "I don't know. If I did, I'd tell you."

A middle-aged man stepped through the front door. He wore a collar. "Alexa?"

She turned. "Father Joseph? What are you doing here? Oh, God, it's bad news, isn't it?"

"I came because I heard Danny is missing. I don't know anything, Alexa."

She looked around the room. The officers stood there, faces carved in sympathy and regret. The priest wore a pained expression. "You think he's dead, don't you?" she said, bursting into tears. "All of you think my son is already dead."

"No," Max said. "He's not dead. We have to believe that."

"Let's go somewhere private," Father Joseph said. "I'd like to spend a few minutes with you alone." He led the sobbing woman away.

"What are we going to do?" Jamie asked Max, wondering how long Alexa could hold up. "Do you have a plan?"

Max was prevented from answering when his cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket. "Max Holt," he said tersely.

Jamie watched the changes on Max's face. The look in his eyes told her something was wrong, bad wrong. He snapped his phone shut. "I have to leave for a few minutes," he told her. "I want you to stay with Alexa."

"What's happened?"

"Don't automatically assume the worst, okay?"

"I know you, Max. Who just called?"

"It's not important, but I have other business to attend to. I won't be long. Trust me for once."

She studied him. She did trust him, but she knew he took risks, and that's what bothered her.

He glanced around. "I have to let Lamar know I'm going out for a few minutes. I'll be back before you know it."

Jamie waited until Max headed off to talk with Lamar before racing out the front door. She opened the door to Max's car. "Muffin, Max is in trouble," she said. "I don't have time to explain. Open the trunk so I can climb in."

"I don't normally take orders from anyone but Max," Muffin said.

"I'm pretty sure this is a life-or-death situation. If you don't help me now, you might not have Max around to give you orders."

"It's going to be tight in there," Muffin warned, "even though the car was designed with more room than the standard Porsche."

"Yeah, okay," Jamie said, closing the door. The trunk popped open. She was surprised to find it located at the front of the car. Without wasting another second, she ran in that direction. "Oh, damn," she muttered when she saw just how small the trunk was. She climbed in, scrunching her legs beneath her chin, making herself as tiny as she could. She closed it only seconds before Max opened the door, slipped into the front seat and started the engine.

"I have a situation on my hands, Muffin," he said, as the safety bar closed over him, and he shot out of the parking lot. "It's serious."

"I'm all ears."

"Swamp Dog is holed up in the city municipal building. He's got Frankie and Alexa's son. And Deedee's dog," he added.

"A hostage situation?"

"Yeah. Now, listen, if I don't get back to you—"

"Don't talk like that, Max."

"Listen to me, Muffin, this is very important. I've been thinking about the word 'EPSCO.' I think it's a cryptogram for the word 'SCOPE.' "

"Meaning the people involved scope out opportunities to rip off everybody they can."

"That's probably not exactly what they had in mind when they came up with the word, but it means the same thing. It may just be the password to get into those financial organizations in Delaware."

"How come I didn't figure it out on my own, Max? I mean, a child could have done it."

"Because it was too simple, and we have a tendency to make things more complicated than they are. It was staring us right in the face."

"Max, I can't let you go into that building. You're dealing with a madman."

"I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, right. Your sixth-degree black belt won't mean shit to an animal like Swamp Dog. A karate chop is no match for a bullet. I have to notify the FBI. They could grab a chopper and be here in an hour."

"There's no time. Swamp Dog said if I wasn't there in fifteen minutes he would start shooting."

From inside the trunk, Jamie heard the entire exchange, and her blood ran cold at the thought of Max facing Swamp Dog. Max didn't even carry a weapon, for God's sake! Not that it would matter to a man like Swamp Dog. She tightened her grip to keep from slamming into the side of the trunk as the car careened around a corner. Max was literally flying. After five minutes or so, the car slowed. Jamie felt the car turn several more times before it finally came to a screeching halt.

"Where are we?" Muffin asked.

"I've parked in front of a wooden garage door that's twice the size of a normal one. I assume this is where they store the city trucks and heavy equipment. There's a side door as well. I'll enter the building through it."

"My exterior audio sensors are on," Muffin said.

"I should be able to hear and record everything that goes on in there. So far it's quiet, but my heat sensors tell me Swamp Dog and his hostages are near the back of the warehouse." She paused. "Uh, Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

Jamie listened as Max climbed from the car. She waited until she thought he was out of earshot. "Muffin?"

"I'm here."

"Pop the trunk."

There was a moment's hesitation. "Sorry, Jamie. Can't do it."

Jamie blinked in the darkness. "What do you mean you can't do it?"

"It's far too dangerous to let you out."

Jamie's temper flared. "Max is in danger, dammit, and I'm not going to just lie here in a fetal position and wait for Swamp Dog to kill him. Let me out of the damn trunk now!" Jamie was glad Vera wasn't there to collect quarters over her cussing.

Muffin didn't respond.

* * * * *

Mitzi and Lenny had cruised by slowly as Max turned into the driveway of the old building. They pulled into the parking lot of an adjacent building, and Mitzi cut the engine. She reached into her purse for her gun. She turned to Lenny. "Ready?"

He sighed.

"You're going in there with me whether you like it or not."

"I'm not a killer, Mitzi, and neither are you."

"Listen to me, you dumb son of a bitch. There's a lot of money riding on this. We go in, pop the guy, and get the hell out of there. Simple as that."

"We could go back to our old life," Lenny said. "I could get a real job. Ya know, you don't appreciate life until you watch it snuffed out of another person," he added. He met her gaze. "I could take care of you, Mitzi. You wouldn't have to go back to stripping."

Mitzi's mouth fell open in surprise. "You? You can't even wipe your ass, Lenny."

"A man can change if he has reason enough. You're enough reason for me. Vito never appreciated you like I did. Like I still do."

Mitzi looked thoughtful for a moment, but then the hard look returned. She raised her gun, pointing it directly at Lenny. "You either go in there with me now or I'm going to put a hole in your head the size of Texas."

Lenny looked dejected as he reached beneath the seat for his gun. "Maybe dead is better," he said. He got out of the car, and they started for the building.

* * * * *

Max stood just inside the door of the municipal building and waited. The place was a massive storage facility for city equipment, which included bulldozers, trucks, tractors, and yellow cars. The smell of diesel and rust was almost overpowering. Generators hummed, and Max could hear the creak and pop of cooling metal from some of the vehicles.