“What is it?”
Before she could answer, more footsteps sounded upstairs. Tristan hoped like hell it was backup, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath. With a jerk of his head, he and Shae went down the stairs as quietly as possible. He ushered her to the darkest corner of the basement. “Stay here,” he warned.
“But—”
“No buts! Hart will be here soon. We just need to keep them busy until then.”
The door above them was pushed farther open, widening the beam of light shining into the basement.
Tristan pushed Shae into the shadows as he stepped back. “Don’t shoot!” he called up. “I’m not here to cause any trouble!”
He expected the careful footsteps of a mercenary, but instead a calm, relaxed gait came down the stairs. The second he saw the expensive European leather shoes, Tristan knew who it was. “Damask. Nice of you to join us.”
“You see,” said Damask as his well-armored backup appeared at the top of the stairs, the assault rifle pointed right at Tristan, “I think you’re lying. In fact, I think you’ve caused me nothing but trouble.”
Tristan went through all the different ways he could play this. “You got me all wrong, man. I’m just doing a job here.”
Damask reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around. “This brings back memories.”
“You have a lot of good times in dark, deserted basements?” asked Tristan.
“Good is relative.” Damask gave a hand signal to the man behind him. “Let’s end this.”
The guy started to pull the trigger and Tristan held out his hands. “I—”
“You’re in my house.” Shae stepped out from her hiding spot. “I think you should leave before I call in reinforcements.”
Tristan’s body flooded with fear. What the fuck was she doing? Didn’t she realize what danger they were in?
Damask seemed shocked at her apparent misunderstanding of who had the upper hand here. “Miss, I believe you already know that the police don’t scare me.”
“Liar.” Everyone went so quiet, they would’ve been able to hear a pin drop. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with liars lately, and I like to think I’m pretty good at recognizing one now. I know what you want from this house. I know exactly where it is. Tell me, is it frustrating?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Damask, but this time with something else in his voice. This time with a hint of fear.
“You’re so used to having other people do your bidding. You threaten them, force them, write them fat checks. But you don’t trust any of them. Not really. Not enough to do the one task you couldn’t do yourself.”
“You don’t know—”
“The barrel. I’m talking about the barrel.”
Even in the dark basement, Tristan could see Damask pale.
“I found it my first week here. It was pretty well hidden in the storage room, but I do a thorough search of even the darkest places. I would’ve thrown it out if it weren’t so damn heavy. I bet you weren’t expecting it to be that heavy when you filled it. It’s why you left it here, hidden.” Damask started to say something, but Shae didn’t give him a chance. “You couldn’t let anyone else carry the barrel out because of what was in it. Your biggest mistake. The one thing they could hold over you.”
Finally Tristan caught on. “What did you leave in that barrel, Damask? Prints? DNA? I bet it’s a forensic team’s dream come true in there.”
Damask nodded. “You’re both smart. Too smart for your own good. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that I’m a winner. And the likes of you aren’t going to bring me down. We’re done here.” He lifted his hand and Tristan didn’t have to be trained to know he was giving a kill order. His first thought was for Shae and he went running for her. But the shot rang out long before he reached her.
Shae was shaking with the weight of the gun in her hands as Tristan reached her. She’d never fired a gun before, but when she’d seen Damask’s man aim at Tristan, she had gone on autopilot. She was pretty sure her aim sucked, but because she was just a few feet away from the stairs, she’d managed to hit the poor guy in the shoulder. She’d been aiming for a leg, but the gun had kicked up. Now that his giant rifle clattered down the stairs, she decided the shoulder was the better option.
Tristan took the gun from her and aimed it at Damask. “I think it’s time you learn your manners.”
“Don’t shoot!” Damask held up his hands. He suddenly looked so much smaller than she ever remembered him before.
Shae set a hand on Tristan’s shoulder. “Don’t,” she warned. “What we have on him is more than even Perlman can wash away. I think it’s time to call the police.”
Shae’s eyes drifted shut. The hospital chair was distinctly uncomfortable, but she was exhausted. She had barely done anything. The whole mess with Damask had only taken a few minutes, but the stress of those few minutes combined with the frantic rush to get Hunter to a hospital and making sure Damask didn’t cut a deal with a dirty cop had taken its toll.
She and Tristan had dealt with the police while Toni, Hart, and Gage had made sure Hunter got to the hospital as soon as possible. It was only when the police got there that her suspicions were confirmed. Inside the barrel was a body. Everything inside was so old and worn away that Shae didn’t know how they’d be able to get anything useful, but Damask had been so determined to keep anyone from getting to it that it had to be important.
“Hey there, Tiger,” said Toni.
Shae’s eyes popped open. “Hey,” she said in an obviously drowsy voice. “How’s Hunter?”
Toni shrugged. “He’s seen better days, but he’s out of surgery and seems stable. What the fuck do I know about medicine. But it’s Hunter. I don’t want to overstate someone’s ability to survive, but who else do you know who could get shot there and have it not hit the heart? That’s some kind of talent.”
“You don’t think it was luck?”
Toni let out a little laugh as her head fell back against the wall. “Luck. That’s rich. I don’t believe in luck.”
“Not even a little bit?”
“What would’ve happened if you hadn’t been locked in that closet with Tristan? Hell, what would’ve happened if you hadn’t bought the house Damask used to own and killed his mistress in? What would’ve happened if Scott hadn’t blackmailed my brother-in-law to work for him?”
“Wait, what?” Shae shook her head, not even sure what she should be taking away from that. “Go back to the mistress part.”
“Well, that is my quick guess. Apparently they found his prints on the inside of the barrel. The woman was stuck in there with a journal and what do you want to bet that journal mentions him by name?”
“And he buried her with it?”
Toni shrugged. “I’m going to bet Damask was a very different man back then.”
“How do you even know all this?”