Page 109 of Fallen Hero

“Any idea where she’d go?” Aiden asked.

“To Tanner.”

Who the fuck was Tanner?

“Who’s Tanner?” Pete voiced my thought.

“The man who has everything Calli needs to take out Jason Anderson.”

Now we were getting somewhere.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“I’m sorry, Calista, Amir—” The rest of what Tanner was going to say was cut off by Arlo’s vicious blow to his jaw.

His head jerked to the side, but the chair he was tied to stayed upright.

I felt his pain, seeing as just moments before I’d been on the receiving end of Arlo’s right hook. The Aussie had one hell of a power punch, although he obviously pulled his punch to my temple since he hadn’t knocked me out like he had Tanner. That didn’t mean I wasn’t seeing stars floating in my peripheral.

“It’s been a long time, Calista.”

Just hearing Jason’s voice made my stomach roil. Memories from the last time I saw him raced to the forefront of my mind, bringing with them excruciating pain that rivaled the blow to my head.

“Amir sends his regards,” Jason continued.

Fucking hell.

“He wasn’t pleased to learn that the woman he’d dined with wasn’t who she said she was. He drove a hard bargain. You cost me a pretty penny. Luckily for you, I’ve already had a Ventura woman . . . and liked the taste of her. I’m sure you’ll find your time with me more pleasurable than what Amir had planned.”

I glanced around Tanner’s living room. He’d put up one hell of a struggle before he was tied to the chair, if the broken coffee table and overturned chairs were anything to go by. Not to mention his face looked like he’d gone through all twelve rounds with a heavyweight champ and lost.

“If you’re feeling sorry for your friend Tanner, don’t. He sold you out. All it took was a phone call from Amir and the guy sang. Told Amir everything, down to today’s pickup. All I had to do was wait. And voilà, here you are.”

And there I was, unarmed, with no phone, and a headache after Arlo got the drop on me. I would’ve felt like a schmuck about this, but Arlo was six-three, two-fifty pounds (by my guesstimation) of pure muscle, and he’d had the added benefit of knowing I’d be walking up to Tanner’s door at some point.

Atlanta must’ve called Tanner after I’d spoken to her, knowing I’d want to pick up my kit sooner rather than later. Ironically, the woman’s efficiency might get me killed today. If only I hadn’t tossed my phone out the window of the cab, she could track my location, but that was exactly what I was trying to avoid—Mason calling Shep to get my location.

“A Steyr DMR. I’m impressed,” Jason went on, taking his gun off of me to wave it at the table. “Tell me, Calista, was that for me or for Amir?”

I bit my tongue.

Time.

I needed time to figure a way out of this clusterfuck. I couldn’t make a move with Archie guarding the door, Arlo standing sentry next to Tanner, and Jason pointing a gun at me. I had yet to see Bodhi, but he’d be here too.

“Not that it matters, now that you’re coming home with me.” Jason paused and smiled. “I’ll have your sister’s room prepared. I’m sure you’d like to see where she lived all those years she stayed with me.”

I willed the pain not to lacerate my insides as the memories of my sister reared up.

“Wait until you meet him, Calli.” Lili beamed and patted her pink cheeks.

“Is he hot?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. But he has this voice. It gives me goose bumps.”

Goose bumps.

The man who would be the death of her gave her goose bumps.