Cut and Run 5 - Armed and Dangerous

engine, and Nick broke into a sprint for the gate to the dock as the SUV roared down the lane toward him. It hopped the curb and barreled down the sidewalk as Nick reached the gate and shouldered through it. He could hear the doors slamming behind him as he sprinted down the dock, and when he heard the gate give way, he leapt onto his boat and rolled to the deck so he could crawl inside without being open to gunfire.
    There was nowhere to run; he would never get the 580 moving in time to escape. All he could do was buy enough time for Ty and the others to make it away cleanly. He scrabbled through storage compartments, tossing life preservers over his shoulder and finally hitting gold. He grabbed it and kissed it, murmuring to it as he scrambled to the galley, where he’d have the most cover.
    When two men in dark suits kicked down the heavy oak door in the salon, Nick stood behind the galley partition, aiming a double-barreled shotgun at them.
    “Oh, son. You broke down the wrong door today,” he said with sadistic glee before he opened fire.

Chapter 16

    B LAKE N ICHOLS walked onto the floor of his four-star restaurant and took a deep breath as he headed for the bar, where two men in expensive suits waited.
    “Mr. Nichols?” one of them said as he approached them. He reached into his suit and extracted a badge, flipping it open to show Blake his CIA credentials.
    “Can I help you?” Blake asked, not reacting to the badge.
    “We know you’ve been in touch with a Mr. Randall Jonas. We need you to tell us what you know.”
    “Oh really?” Blake laughed, shaking his head at the audacity of the man. “And why should I do that?”
    “Because you’re Julian Cross’ friend. And we’re trying to save his life.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Mr. Cross is the last man alive who can identify Randall Jonas as the architect of over fifty known murders. We have no other proof. Jonas destroyed it all before he escaped.”
    “Escaped?”
    “If those FBI agents deliver him to Jonas before we can intercede, Mr. Cross will be dead and Jonas will be free to access his account in the Cayman Islands and disappear. We don’t want that to happen. And we assume you don’t either.”
    Blake held his breath, his mind racing as he tried to decide how much to give away. “Jonas said he was being set up.”
    The CIA agent nodded. “We’ve been tracking his movements for two years, trying to gather enough evidence to bring him down. He caught wind of the investigation, destroyed everything, and ran.”
    Blake narrowed his eyes, suspicious.
    “We know he sent a man named Arlo Lancaster here to Chicago a year and a half ago to kill Cross and you. Ever since he learned Cross was still alive, he’s been trying to find him. And with your help, he finally did.”
    Blake found it hard to breathe as the truth sank in.
    “The FBI?”
    “Two rogue agents, sent by an old friend of Jonas to bring him in. We assume he’s either being duped or he’s working with Jonas. Either way, this ends in Julian Cross dying when he’s delivered.”
    “Oh God.”
    An hour later, after seeing the threadbare evidence the CIA had compiled on Randall Jonas, Blake called Preston as his stomach tumbled. There wasn’t enough to convict the man, but it was enough to convince Blake.
    “I delivered him right to the bastards,” he spat out as soon as Preston answered his call.
    “An honest mistake, sir, I’m sure,” Preston murmured.
    “You make damn sure those FBI agents don’t make it to their boss, you understand me?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Do whatever you have to. Jonas cannot get his hands on Julian, or Jules is a dead man.”
    Preston was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was low and dangerous. “Understood, sir.”

    B URNS stood as soon as he heard the commotion outside. For his assistant to be railing at someone like that, it had to be Ty. Relief flooded him. They hadn’t heard from him in days. Burns had begun to face the very real fear that Ty and Zane might be dead. He heard the telltale response to his assistant in a gruff voice, and then the door to his office was shoved open.
    “You can’t just barge in like this whenever you want. Director Burns has a standing order not to be disturbed!”
    “Go eat your granola, Nancy, don’t worry about it!” Ty shouted.
    “It’s okay, Nancy!” Burns said in a stern voice as Ty shoved a man into the office and then slammed the door in her face.
    Both men were disheveled and