Carla Cassidy - Tough Justice - Hunted

“Something is terribly wrong,” she said, still fighting the shrill alarms ringing loudly in her head. Even though the seven-month old little girl might have been given a new name, she would always be Emily in Lara’s mind. It was the name Lara had given her in the first moments after birth.

She looked at Nick. Less than eight hours ago they had been in bed together having hot and passionate sex. What she needed from him now was some sort of reassurance that everything was going to be all right. But she also knew he wasn’t one to throw around false platitudes.

“I agree, but we can’t jump to conclusions,” he replied somberly. “With a four-hour head start we’re going to have our work cut out for us in finding Moretti.”

His honesty was what she hated and what she liked about him. They were finally at a place where he pulled no punches with her. He wouldn’t allow her a moment of wishful thinking that somehow by the time they got to headquarters Moretti would be back behind bars and baby Emily would once again be with the parents who adopted her.

She stared out of the passenger window, each breath a painful ache in her tight chest. Four hours. Moretti had a four-hour head start to put some sort of plan into place, to find some place safe to hole up. He wouldn’t have left the prison without a definite plan and people waiting to assist him in whatever he needed to remain free on the outside.

She had so many questions now that some of the initial shock was beginning to wear off. How had Moretti managed to escape? Was his brother, Mason Moretti, still in the prison hospital? Dammit, how had Moretti gotten away?

There was no point in voicing the questions out loud. She knew Nick had no answers. She hoped that the team was already all gathered and at work and would have some answers for her by the time she and Nick arrived.

Thankfully throughout their short time working together, Nick had learned when to talk and when to keep his mouth shut with her. He didn’t say a word as he parked the car in the official parking garage. He remained mute as together they raced for the building and during the ride in the elevator up to the twenty-third floor. Please, let this all already be resolved, Lara thought desperately.

Lara and Nick flew down the hallway and into the conference room, and Lara was grateful to see that not only were her usual teammates gathered, but also junior agents James Walsh and Jennifer Gulden were present, as well.

A fleeting thought shot through Lara’s head as she recognized how different the members of the team looked now from that first day when she’d arrived to start working for the new Crisis Management Unit.

Mei Wang was dead, strangled and stamped with the MM tattoo on her cheek. Cass was in jail awaiting arraignment on a number of charges, and Christina Ruiz had been borrowed from another team to take Cass’s place as their computer expert. Ty looked as if he’d aged a decade with the death of his partner, as did Victoria after all she’d been through when her daughter had been kidnapped and with the weight of this entire case on her shoulders.

A new pain filled Lara. In one way or another Moretti had touched them all with his evil. The entire team had been forever changed due to his machinations. For the first time since Victoria’s awakening phone call a wave of anger rose up inside Lara, a deep, killing anger that equaled the terror that still gripped her gut like a tight vise.

“How did this happen?” Lara asked as she and Nick sat side by side at the table. “How in the hell did he get out of that prison?”

“The FBI and other law enforcement officials have swarmed the place and are in the process of conducting a full investigation,” Victoria said. “All I can tell you is that at this point there is one missing prison guard. Another guard, a Toby Racine, was found unconscious in Moretti’s cell. He’d been beaten and was wearing Moretti’s jumpsuit.”

“He obviously had help both inside and outside of the prison to pull off an escape,” Ty said. “What do we know about this Toby Racine?”

Christina sat up straighter in her chair and tucked a strand of her short dark hair behind her ear as she gazed at a printout of information. “He’s twenty-nine years old and has worked at the prison for the last three years. He lives alone.”

“And what about the missing guard?” Nick asked.

Victoria looked down at the notes in front of her. “Anthony McCord, at least twenty years working in the prison system. His wife’s body was found an hour ago in their home. We have units sitting on his residence.”

“He’ll probably eventually show up somewhere as a dead body, too,” Xander said. “Moretti won’t want any loose ends. Once he isn’t useful to Moretti anymore, he’ll kill them.”

“Maybe he’s headed for Canada—for either helping with the escape or for killing his wife. Or both. That would make the most sense,” Ty replied. “The border is only a few hours from here.”

“We have the border patrol on alert,” Victoria said.

Lara didn’t care about a missing guard, especially one who had apparently been turned by Moretti. The most important issue in her mind was little Emily’s safety. “I tried to contact Peter Linden, but my calls kept going to his cell phone. I finally called Faye Minnow,” Lara said and watched as Victoria’s eyes narrowed in response.

“Emily was moved just a little while ago by Linden’s partner Kincaid. It was a Level Ten, whatever that means,” Lara continued.

“I’m aware of the situation.” Victoria held Lara’s gaze.

Every muscle in Lara’s body tensed as she prepared for a blow. She saw it coming in the darkness that had taken possession of Victoria’s blue eyes.

“And?” Lara asked softly.

“And I got a phone call from the US Marshal offices a few minutes ago. There’s no US Marshal Adam Kincaid, and no such thing as a Level Ten. Peter Linden’s official car was found twenty miles away from the last location where the family had been located.” Victoria paused a moment and cleared her throat and then continued, “Peter’s body was inside of the car. He’d been tortured—probably for information—and then shot in the head.”

The shrill screaming began in Lara’s head once again.

Chapter Two Contents Cover Title Page Tough Justice: Hunted (Part 8 of 8) Carla Cassidy Back Cover Text TOUGH JUSTICE: Justice is worth every sacrifice. Episode Eight: Hunted The Grand Finale is finally here, a moment Moretti has been thinking about since he learned of Lara’s betrayal. Moretti has escaped from prison and his only goal is to go after Lara’s daughter—his daughter. He knows Lara will do anything to save her child. He’s counting on that. Lara has been a worthy adversary, always playing to win. This is it: hunter vs. hunted... About Tough Justice About the Author CARLA CASSIDY is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author who has written more than one hundred and twenty novels for Mills & Boon Books. In 1995, she won Best Silhouette Romance from RT Book Reviews for Anything for Danny. In 1998, she also won a Career Achievement Award for Best Innovative Series from RT Book Reviews. Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. Dedication To the Tough Justice team, who worked overtime to make this happen! Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Epilogue Copyright Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.