Page 93 of Target Acquired

Kenzie looked up at him. “Wow. William was the man your grandmother married, so it seems like she did get out eventually, but in the meantime, wow. It sounds bad.”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“Your great-grandfather had a lot of pull, didn’t he?”

“From what I understand, he had everyone in his pocket. There wasn’t a soul in Lake City who didn’t owe him a favor or two.”

“And so he could pull strings with the state hospital where he locked up his daughter.”

“Sounds like it.”

His phone buzzed and chimed, then Kenzie’s followed along with the other phones all over the house.

A call.

“Where to this time?” she asked. She shut the journal and set it on the table, pulling her mind from the past to focus on the present.

“The warehouse district. A former employee with a grudge and a gun. Officers are on scene.”

“Great. What happened to giving us a heads-up and we plan out everything? All of these last-minute calls are unusual.”

“That’s because most of them have been fake.”

“True.”

“This one sounds legit. Let’s go.”

Kenzie grabbed the journal, and then they were out the door where the others were waiting in Dolly. Seconds later they headed out of Kenzie’s neighborhood and to the warehouse district. It sounded larger than it actually was. In total, there were five buildings on the edge of Carson Lake, the second largest lake in Lake City. Local police already had the place blocked off and were standing by. Badami and the same team that had been at the hospital were there again. Cole’s phone buzzed and he glanced at it. His sister. She’d have to wait. He hurried over to Badami, well aware this could be another ambush situation. “Any communication?”

“Yeah. There’s definitely a guy in there with a semiautomatic. He’s got four workers held in the main office, but he won’t let us talk to them and he hasn’t made any demands yet.”

“Name?”

“One of the workers said it could be Charlie Matthews, a former employee who was recently fired, but they’re not sure because of the mask.”

“Negotiator?”

“Ten minutes out. I called another SWAT team from Asheville. They’re being choppered in. Not taking any chances with this one.”

Cole waved to James. “Cross, you got this? King can go inside with us while you work out here.”

James stepped forward. “Yep. Get him on the phone, will you?” James had training as a negotiator, and while Cole wasn’t thrilled with pulling Kenzie from the safety of Dolly, he also knew she could do the job.

Butler didn’t even roll his eyes at the statement.

Badami dialed as James settled the headset over his head, and Cole motioned to Kenzie to join the team. Through the comms, they’d be able to hear James and the gunman.

“I don’t want to talk, man, I want justice.”

“I know you do,” James said, his voice soothing, but firm, “but we have to talk in order to figure out what we can do to make that happen.”

“They need to suffer,” the man said softly. “They need to be scared of what’s going to happen, what’s to come.”

“Why?”

“Because they didn’t care that he’d be homeless. And terrified. So now they’re just getting a little taste of their own medicine before—”

“Before what, Charlie? Can I call you Charlie?”