Page 43 of Fast Kill

Zaid stiffened at the same time as Logan sat straight up in his chair beside him. Zaid rubbed a hand over his jaw, a bad feeling expanding in his gut. Wainright was the son of a bitch who’d arranged the sub shipment in the Bahamas. He smuggled opium out of A-stan too?

“Of course your team is now well aware of who he is. And as of last night, we have sworn statements given by prisoners from the Bahamas raid that he was the one responsible for ordering Dean Baker’s pilot to kill him a few weeks ago in Long Island.”

Wainright was also personally linked to SA Kennedy, the cute forensic accountant Logan had shown an interest in recently. He’d spent the night at her place last night because Wainright had broken into her house and tried bribing her to act as an informant for the cartel.

Zaid could feel the tension coming off Logan. Without looking at him, Zaid set a hand on the guy’s shoulder and squeezed once in a show of support. The agency would find Wainright, and nail his ass to the wall for everything he’d done.

Up front, Jaliya continued with the briefing, laying out Wainright’s suspected ties to the cartel, his suspected whereabouts, and how he was involved with trafficking in A-stan.

When she finished, she took questions, and it was all over within fifteen minutes. Zaid filed out into the hallway after her with everyone else. Ahead of him, Rodriguez was already on his phone, grinning, no doubt talking to Charlie.

“Anyone up for a beer?” Hamilton asked behind them.

“I’m up for a steak,” Kai said from up front.

“Course you are,” Freeman piped up in front of Zaid.

“I’ll go with you,” Zaid said, though not for a beer. He wasn’t strict about the way he practiced his religion, at least not compared to a lot of people, but he never touched alcohol. “I’ll be DD if anyone wants a ride.” He glanced at Logan, who was limping along beside him, apparently determined not to use his crutches. “You in?” he asked, mainly to be polite because Zaid was pretty sure Logan would want to head straight over to Taylor’s now.

“No. I’m gonna—” He stopped in mid-sentence when Rodriguez came to a dead halt in the middle of the hallway and looked back at him sharply.

Uh oh…Zaid didn’t like that look on his teammate’s face. Not at all.

Zaid came to a halt as the rest of the guys ground to a sudden stop and looked at Rodriguez questioningly. The hallway went dead silent. Even Taggart and Jaliya stopped and looked back to see what was going on.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll tell him,” Rodriguez finished. He lowered the phone and spoke directly to Logan, his expression grim. “Taylor’s in trouble. She just found the agent guarding her place with a bullet through his head.”

Oh, shit…

Logan stiffened and inhaled sharply. “What?”

The rest of the guys exchanged loaded glances.

Rodriguez nodded at Logan. “The cops are taking her to our place right now. You coming?”

“Yeah. I’ll meet you there.”

With a nod, Rodriguez turned and jogged for the exit. Logan picked up his pace, but he was a long way from jogging yet.

Partway down the hallway he twisted his head around and shot a look at Zaid. “Can I swap vehicles with you? If anyone’s casing her place, they might try to follow the cops. I was at her place last night, and someone could recognize my truck.”

“Sure.” Zaid fished the keys from his pocket and exchanged with Logan. “I’ll follow you out.”

Together they hurried for the exit and out into the brightly lit parking lot.

Chapter Thirteen

Logan parked Zaid’s truck in a visitor spot out front of Jamie and Charlie’s building and jumped out just as his teammate called Logan’s cell phone.

“You there yet?” Zaid asked.

“Yeah, just pulled up. Thanks for lending me your truck.”

“No problem. Holler if you need anything. I’m gonna go by the bar in case any of the guys need a ride home after.”

That was why Zaid was so well-liked by everyone on the team. He looked after them all like they were family. “Sounds good. See ya.”

Without pause he jumped out and rushed for the condo complex’s front door. Charlie buzzed him in. Urgency beat at him as he took the elevator to their floor. Normally the stairs would be faster but there was no way his knee was up to it, and getting to Taylor as fast as possible was all that mattered.

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