Shot Through the Heart

by Diane Benefiel

He charged down the stairs. Nathan had turned on a light in the living room and crouched next to the coffee table. John rounded the couch, dread knotting his stomach. The dog lay motionless on the floor.

  Nathan placed a hand on the still form. “He’s alive. I think he’s been drugged.”

  John went to his knees, feeling the dog for injuries. Cooper’s breath came slow and deep. “You’re right.” The knot of dread grew to strangle him. He rose swiftly to his feet. “He’s got her. That shit Simon DiNardo has Rane. Let’s go.”

  Nathan gripped his arm. “Pull it back. I’m not usually the one to be saying it, but we need to think this through. We need to notify the team.”

  “You can call them from the truck. We’re going after them. We’re going to get her back.”

  “Without a doubt. But we want to do it without getting her killed, so we’re going to think it through and follow a plan. We don’t even know where she is.”

  “The bastard probably has her at their compound.” The DiNardos lived on the outskirts of the city in a collection of buildings covering several wooded acres. He didn’t particularly care that it was surrounded by security fencing and monitored by cameras. That wouldn’t have stopped him in Afghanistan, and it wouldn’t stop him here. He jerked free of his brother’s grip. “I’m not going to sit back and wait for the team to make a plan. That’ll just give Simon more time to be ready for us. Or to hurt her.”

  “You’re not going off half-cocked either. First thing, we need to go over this place.”

  “Dammit, Nate. He’s got my girl.”

  “Yeah. He’s got her because she’s your girl. My bet is he grabbed her to get to you. And he’ll use you to get to me, if he can. I’m the one who carved a slice out of his face. The team doesn’t know about Savannah, but Simon knows we won’t let up on him because of her. So, we go after Rane, but we go after her with a plan that keeps all of us alive.”

  “Right. You’re right.” John breathed deep, fighting back the urge to storm the DiNardo stronghold, guns blazing. He spotted Rane’s cell on the couch and grabbed it. “Go ahead and call the team. I’ll see what I can find here.” While Nathan stood with his phone to his ear, John swiped through recent e-mail messages and texts but found nothing relevant. Nothing to indicate where she’d gone or who she might have left with. It struck him suddenly that she might not be with Simon at all, that she might have left with Kyle. Even if she had, it wouldn’t have been voluntarily. She would never have left her unconscious dog or her phone.

  Nathan put his phone in his pocket. “Denton says to stay put until they get here.”

  John prowled the living room. He wanted to be out there, searching to find Rane. To make sure she was safe. Why had he let her meet with Kyle DiNardo in the first place? He should have—

  The lock on the front door clicked, and he froze. An instant later he was across the room and swinging the door open. Rane tumbled into his arms, and he pulled her into his embrace. “Are you okay? Where the hell have you been?” The fear that had been clawing at his throat eased, replaced by a relief so great it made him shaky. He loosened his grip enough to tip back her head. Huge green eyes stood out from her pale face. “Rane, what happened? Are you okay?”

  She just shook her head and gave a shuddering sigh as she burrowed into him. He wrapped his arms around her and held tight.

  Chapter Ten

  John held Rane close for a long minute before she finally pushed back. “Is Cooper all right?”

  He reluctantly loosened his grip then reached out to push the door shut. She let him go to cross to where the dog lay on the floor.

  “I think he’s okay. He just needs to sleep it off.” Nathan approached as she crouched next to the dog, stroking his head.

  “Poor baby.” She looked up at John. “If he doesn’t come around soon, I’m taking him to the emergency vet clinic.”

  “Rane, what happened? Where did you go?” John stood close.

  Sitting on the floor, fingers buried in brown fur, an expression he couldn’t read crossed her face. “Simon was here when I got home from work.” She gave a humorless laugh. “I’d finally convinced you I didn’t need you to drive me back and forth, and then Simon’s here when I walk in the door.”

  Anger fired, and he wished he had Simon’s face to pound on. “How did he get in?”

  She shrugged, defeat in the gesture. “I don’t know. The alarm was off, so I guess he must have disarmed it. He was just here, and Cooper was knocked out.”

  “What happened then?”

  “He said I needed a little incentive, that he wanted to show me something. He had a gun. He made me get in his car, and we drove around the city.” She sat quiet for a moment. John hated the haunted look on her face. “He’s angry at Kyle for meeting with me. Said he didn’t want me to get the wrong impression from Kyle that I have a choice about cooperating with him.”

  Cooper blinked open his eyes, and Rane bent forward. “You’re okay, baby.” She stroked his head.

  “What did he mean that you needed a little incentive?” This came from Nathan, who eased himself down on the couch.

  She shrugged. “Just that. He drove to St. Augustine’s, pointed out where he could hole up with a rifle and shoot me anytime I was in the parking lot. We went by my dad’s facility. He knows when the nurses bring the patients outside. Simon showed me vantage points where someone could hide and shoot. He said how people went about their daily lives in their own little worlds, thinking everything was fine, that they were safe, but how incredibly vulnerable we all really are.”

  John clenched his fists. “That fucking bastard. I’m going to tear him limb from limb.” Rage, burning hot, surged through him, nearly blinding him. He sucked in a deep breath, muscles clenched, as the image of Rane, shot by a sniper, flashed across his mind. He’d seen what a rifle bullet could do in Afghanistan, and he’d be damned if he’d let that happen to Rane. He forced himself to clamp down on the fury, to search for the calm he’d need if he was going to get Simon and stay alive. He paced across the floor.

  Nathan rose to stand in front of him, movements stiff, reminding John his brother had already been shot. He had to keep his head so they all stayed safe.

  He stopped pacing and addressed Nathan. “The team should be here any minute. Rane can stay with them when we go find Eddie. We’ll see what he’s got in case it can help us, and then we’ll go after the DiNardos. Simon’s always been a homebody so he’s likely back at the compound. Odds are Kyle’s there with him. Suits me to get both of them.”

  “You can’t do that.” Rane’s voice sounded strained.

  “The hell we can’t.” He was in control now, the way he needed to be to carry out his mission. “He kidnapped you, threatened you, scared the hell out of you. We’re going after him.”

  She shook her head, shoulders rigid. “Simon wants to meet with you. Just you two, not the team. He says he wants to talk about Savannah.”

  John could see the confusion in her expression as she looked from him to his brother.

  It was Nathan who spoke in the sudden silence. “Why the hell should we do that? Savannah’s dead; he killed her. There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “He says he’ll give you information. It sounds like he wants to make a deal that will take the heat off him and his family.” She paused. “Who’s Savannah?”

  “An old memory.” Nathan’s features tightened.

  A vehicle pulled up outside and doors slammed. John crossed to the door to open it and soon the rest of the team was there, filing into the room.

  Denton crouched next to Rane, his massive shoulders blocking the rest of the room. “How’s this guy doing?”

  Cooper had perked up a little at the strangers coming into the house, but was still pretty much out of it. He shifted to lay his head on Rane’s lap.

  She petted him, fingers kneading into his fur. “He’s coming around. I’m just glad he was drugged and not shot. I guess it’s just another kind of warning.”
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  Denton reached out to stroke the dog’s ears before he rose. He nodded to John. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  While John related the events of the evening, anger apparent in every word and gesture, Rane realized with sudden clarity that Simon was playing them. There was a history between Simon and the Garretson brothers, a history that had to do with the mysterious Savannah, and Rane didn’t believe for one moment that Simon would honor whatever deal he thought he could make. She guessed he was trying to buy time. Plus he knew she and John had a relationship, and if he could make him angry enough, John would be more likely to act out of rage, to mess up. Because of their relationship, John was in even greater danger from the DiNardos. Simon would have gone after the task force eventually, but because of her connection with both Kyle and John, he was forced to move up his timetable.

  Rane could see John trying to dial back on his anger as he spoke with Denton and the team. Denton gripped his shoulder and John sucked in a steadying breath. Denton’s voice held a quiet authority when he spoke. “You and Ben go see Eddie, see what he’s got.”

  “Then we’ll bring in DiNardo on kidnapping charges.”

  “Not tonight, you won’t.” At John’s angry gesture, he continued. “We’ll add that to the long list of charges we’ll have on him, but we’re not going to jeopardize all our time, effort, and taxpayer money by rushing this. We’ll go after him when we’re ready and not before.”

  “I’ll go with John.” Nathan stood next to his brother.

  Denton glared at Nathan. “You’re staying with me. You haven’t been cleared to return to duty, so you’re damn lucky all I’m doing is driving you home.”

  Nathan looked ready to argue, but Denton cut him off. “I get he’s your brother and you two stick like glue, but I could bust your ass for conducting police work without medical clearance.”

  “All I did was go with my brother to his girlfriend’s house. That’s not police work.” Nathan’s voice was mild. It gave Rane a funny feeling to be called John’s girlfriend. She wasn’t sure if it was good funny or bad funny, but she was glad to see Denton didn’t bat an eyelash over their relationship and figured John must have told him.

  “Ben goes with Johnny.” Denton turned to Ty. “Ty, call Bricker and see if he came up with anything in those financials on Simon DiNardo he was going through. I know it’s late, but call him anyway.”

  Denton gave the assignments while John strode over to where Rane sat next to Cooper. He reached down a hand. “Come with me.”

  She let him pull her to her feet. “What?”

  He didn’t answer, instead leading her down the darkened hall. When they were out of sight of the others he pulled her into his arms and his lips found hers in a scorching kiss. She gripped his shoulders, fingers digging into hard muscle. All the emotions of the crazy day had been building inside like a pressure cooker, and now John had hit the release valve. She responded to his kiss with acute need. He pulled her up until her hips cradled against his, breasts pressed against his chest, each straining toward the other. Long minutes passed before he broke the kiss. In the dim light, his eyes burned with emotion. His fingers tangled in her hair, thumbs stroking along her jaw as he drew in an unsteady breath. Finally, he rested his forehead against hers. “You okay?”

  “I am now.” Her arms encircled his waist, and she laid her head on his chest, holding him tight.

  “I need to go meet with our informant, but I should be back in forty-five minutes, sweetheart. No later than an hour. The others will stay with you until then.”

  She nodded, and he pulled away. “John, be safe.”

  He cupped her cheek. “Always.”

  ***

  The next morning, Rane followed John into a conference room at the police station. When he’d arrived home last night, he’d spent an hour deep in conversation with Denton before finally, blessedly, the house had been cleared. She could tell he was preoccupied, but he’d led her to bed where there had been an intense quality to their lovemaking that, while thrilling, made her anxious. Simon’s pseudo kidnapping had rattled John, and he was psyching himself up for the end game. That scared her. But still, she’d awakened that morning with her head on his shoulder, a strong arm holding her close to his side. It felt so right; he felt so right. She was tumbling into love with a man who, if things continued as they were, would have expectations of commitment she couldn’t fulfill.

  Still scattered, she surveyed the assembled men before finding a seat. She and John both carried travel mugs. He’d insisted on taking the time to make coffee, saying he didn’t want to poison her with the station’s toxic brew. The entire team was present. Denton and Ben sat in conversation, Ty leaned against a wall with arms folded, glowering, and Nathan looked very much the bad boy with his black shirt, scruffy beard, and attitude.

  John approached his brother who sat with a scowl on his face. “You get cleared?”

  Nathan glared. “For desk duty. Sons of bitches want me to ride a desk when this whole damn thing goes down. I’m appealing it.” That explained the attitude.

  “Good luck with that.”

  “I might have the luck. The lieutenant owes me.”

  Denton turned to address the group. “Listen up. Eddie came through for us. We checked out his tip and it’s credible. The DiNardos are getting a substantial shipment of heroin tomorrow, early. It’s coming in on a rental truck and will be delivered to a warehouse on the south side. This is a big one. Their plan is to divide it there, and send it to stash houses where it’ll be cut for distribution. We want to get it before it leaves the warehouse.”

  “We’ll need more than just us on the takedown.” This came from Nathan.

  “I’ll arrange the additional resources, monitor the situation throughout the day, and keep you all informed. But as of now, you all have the rest of the day off. Relax. Get some sleep. We’ll meet tomorrow at 05:00.”

  The phone rang and Ben caught it, spoke for a second then passed it to Denton.

  “Yeah.” Denton’s gaze turned to Nathan. “Good. I’ll tell him.”

  He hung up. “You’re cleared for full duty. Don’t know how you did it, but you’re cleared.”

  Nathan grinned. “Pick up the lieutenant’s teenage daughter and haul her home instead of bringing her in for drunk and disorderly, and he’ll owe you one, too. Glad I’m not her dad.”

  ***

  Rane stood in her living room staring out the front window. Mrs. Kershaw strolled by in the late morning sun with Honey Pumpkin, this time in matching fuchsia. Across the street, a woman pushed a baby carriage. The baby’s feet, clad in tiny, striped socks, poked out from under a blanket. It all seemed so normal, far removed from the dark world of heroin and drug deals and stash houses. Denton had arranged for a guard to be placed on her father. After a long phone conversation, Rane had convinced Lily to stay at her parents’ house in the Ballard neighborhood. And because John was occupied elsewhere despite Denton having given him the afternoon off, she had a cop in plainclothes assigned to her.

  John and Nathan were meeting Simon. He hadn’t told her, but she was positive that was what was up. After their morning conference with the task force, he’d gotten a call on his cell and pulled his brother into a huddle. He’d arranged for the guy assigned to her to drive her home and then disappeared.

  She sipped the mug of tea she held, hoping it would calm her nerves. It didn’t help. She felt restless, jittery. On top of being worried about John and Nathan, she knew she should tell John about her father’s involvement in Kyle’s prosecution. She had to be honest with him, but she kept holding back. Her father had always valued his service as a cop, and he’d solved some big cases. And even while no cop would have a problem when one of their own did something like take the lieutenant’s daughter home rather than arresting her, planting evidence to get a conviction crossed way over the line. Doug Smith’s reputation would be ruined and every good thing he’d ever done overshadowed by that one incident of poor judgmen
t. That he’d done it to protect her made it even worse. Her own complicity in the crime haunted her.

  She set down her mug and grabbed her car keys. “C’mon, Rick.” Her minder sat up at the kitchen table where he’d been reading the Seattle Times. “I want to go visit my dad.”

  They drove the two miles to the facility. The tea hadn’t calmed her nerves, but doing something just might. When she turned on the windshield wipers to deal with the light drizzle, she noticed the blades had been replaced. She no longer had a piece of rubber chasing the blade across the glass. John must have done it. His thoughtfulness struck a chord. She’d dealt with her own problems for so long even such a simple thing was touching. She wondered if this was what people meant when talking about love, that it was the little things that mattered.

  Outside her father’s door, a uniformed officer stood on guard. She left Rick chatting with him outside and entered the room.

  Doug Smith sat in his easy chair in front of a window that showed the sun breaking up the clouds, staring out at the feeder where birds merrily scattered seed. He looked up when she came in. His dark hair had faded to gray and his eyes, the same sea green as hers, had lost their spark. “Those are house finches, the ones with the red on their chests.”

  “Sure are a lot of them.”

  “Every now and then, we get a goldfinch. Not so many of them, but they’re pretty.”

  It always amazed her that he could remember things like the species of birds outside his window, but some days forget she was his daughter. Framed photos of the both of them together sat on his nightstand as a reminder. Rane sat near the window and looked at her dad. He’d lost weight. He’d once seemed so tall to her, so strong, invincible. Now he was a shell of himself, his brain stealing him away, little by little. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “How’s it going, Dad?”

  He turned his attention to her. “When am I getting out of this place? Is it time to go home yet?”