Page 108 of Playing With Love

It didn’t matter what name he used—they were the same man. He’d said when he was Tim he lost his humanity and his honor. I didn’t believe that for a second, Tucker would sacrifice himself for the greater good. He’d do and say and be forced to see things he didn’t want to do, say, or see if it meant making communities safer. If it meant putting bad people behind bars so they couldn’t continue to spread their poison. He’d do it for the moms and dads worried their children would fall victim. For the brothers and sisters who were worried about a sibling. The teachers trying to keep their students away from drugs.

Selfless in his pursuit.

Every time it tore chunks out of me, ate away at my insides.

Tucker was a good and honorable man.

Tim was a hero.

When I was done, I was going home to you even if home was a phone call.

I took a deep breath.

One day you’re gonna say those words to me.

I should’ve told him I loved him.

“Do you know how to shoot?” I asked Ally.

“Um. Yeah. Kinda. My dad taught me and Jess gun safety when we were teenagers but I haven’t shot one in years.”

That would have to do.

“Reach under your seat.”

“Liza.”

I ignored Lenox’s growl.

Allyson leaned forward, keeping the phone in her left hand facing me, and reached under the seat with her right.

When she sat back I explained, “That’s a Smith and Wesson M&P Shield. The safety is the third lever back under the slide. Up is safe. Down is ready to shoot. You have ten rounds in the magazine. To chamber a round, you pull the slide back. The safety never comes off unless the barrel is pointed at your target and you need to use it.”

“Got it.”

“Where’s Tucker?” I asked.

“Still on Van Hill coming up on the elementary school.”

I quickly glanced at Allyson. “How far ahead of us are they?”

“Ten minutes.”

“Liza, you need to slow your speed,” Dylan told me. “And watch for deer.”

I looked at the speedometer and eased off the gas. I hated that Dylan was right but the last thing Tucker needed was for me to hit a deer and delay me getting to him.

“I just got a call back from Larry Halcomb from the DEA.” I heard Jason Walker say. “At the time of Anderson’s arrest Jake wasn’t involved in the investigation. The DEA knew he had a brother and a sister but neither were in the club. The sister lived nearby but Jake lived in Nevada at the time of the takedown. Halcomb said Jake was present at the trial but doesn’t remember if he was in the courtroom when Tucker testified. To be sure, Halcomb went over Tucker’s reports. There is no mention of Jake, and Tucker’s reports are detailed. Anderson is housed in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Halcomb’s working on pulling the visitation records now.”

I tightened my hands on the steering wheel. Who the hell cared if Jake visited his brother, he obviously knew who Tucker was. The details of how he knew him were irrelevant.

“Where’s Tucker?”

Instead of answering my question, Lenox went back to his earlier refrain, “You need to stand down and wait. We’re working blind until we know how many hostiles⁠—”

“Tucker wouldn’t stand down and wait for more intel. He wouldn’t leave me for a second longer than he had to. It doesn’t matter if there are two of them or five. I. Am. Not. Waiting. So save your breath and help me.”

“It looks like they’ve stopped.”