Covert Complication (Badlands Cops Book 2)

by Nicole Helm

  “I can sneak around behind him,” Felicity said.

  “No,” Nina and Cody replied in unison.

  Felicity huffed out a breath. “I know the landscape better than either of you—and God knows you can’t see, and Nina...”

  “I can handle it. I can do it.”

  Though it went against everything he wanted, Cody knew what had to be done. “You’ll both do it.”

  He’d expected immediate retorts and arguments, but there was nothing but heavy silence in response.

  “You hate that I keep reminding you,” Nina began softly. “But how can we leave you here when you can’t see?”

  “I’m the distraction,” Cody replied. “It doesn’t matter if I can’t see if I can distract.”

  “It does if he gets to you,” Felicity pointed out.

  “Not if you guys are right behind. Listen, I don’t think he’ll kill me. Ace wouldn’t want him to kill me.”

  “That doesn’t mean he won’t. He kind of sucks at his job, if you haven’t noticed.”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t know what his job is. Now, you guys have to take off and get behind him. If he starts coming for me, no matter how slowly, you need to get going.”

  Though he couldn’t see, he had no doubt Nina and Felicity were sharing a wordless look as they decided what to do.

  He heard shuffling. Then Felicity spoke. “He’s up, but he’s moving slow. If we hurry, I think we can get around him before he makes it here.”

  “You have to make sure he doesn’t hear you.”

  “And what are we going to do if we do sneak up on him? Tackle him?” Nina demanded.

  “Why not?” Felicity replied with a shrug in her voice. “It wouldn’t be the first guy I’ve had to tackle out here.”

  “Really?” Nina replied, clear awe in her voice, which didn’t make any sense to Cody, considering Nina had done way more than tackle a guy.

  “Get his gun off of him. And any other weapons he has. Whatever ways you’ve got. Then we want to know who sent him, how he’s getting orders from Ace. Once he’s incapacitated enough, someone come back here and get me so I can question him.”

  There was another silence that Cody had no doubt included silent communication between the women. He couldn’t say he trusted them to follow his orders word for word, but he didn’t have other choices.

  “All right,” Felicity said at length. “Nina, follow me.”

  There was shuffling and rustling and as Cody tilted his head toward it, he realized he could make out shadows again. There was even almost a hint of color when he held his head just so.

  Nina’s mouth brushed his. “Be careful,” she whispered.

  He gave a nod, his vision going back to gray then everything too bright so he flinched back. He tried to play it down. “You too.”

  She didn’t move for a second, but she didn’t say anything else. Then he could hear them moving out. Situated in rock the way they were, it made an awful lot of noise. Though he imagined a man who’d been shot would make a lot of noise on approach.

  He was counting on it anyway.

  He felt around for the backpack, made a lot of noise drawing it onto his lap. He blinked three times when he realized he could see the shape of it.

  He took a deep breath, willing himself not to get overexcited that his sight might be coming back at the exact right time. He felt around in the pack, because though he could see it he couldn’t make out the details of what was inside. That was all shadow. Out of focus.

  But he found what he wanted and pulled the sheathed knife out of the pack. He set the pack aside and then moved onto his feet, crouching low. He reached out, felt the cool, jagged rock in front of him, slowly inching up and up until he found the top of the rock.

  He held up the tip of the knife, bit by bit, higher and higher, keeping his breathing even so the pounding of his heart didn’t interfere with his hearing.

  Once he’d extended his arm fully, he moved the knife back and forth, hoping it would catch in the sun.

  Because it was daylight. He could tell the sun had risen.

  Focus.

  There was still no response to him holding up the knife, and it made him nervous that he wasn’t being the distraction he needed to be. Still, he couldn’t stand just yet. He strained to listen over the wind whistling through the canyons.

  He thought about banging his knife against the rock, but that would be an obvious attempt for attention. He had to do something that might draw fire without actually getting caught in said fire.

  Then Cody heard it. The distinct sound of rubble crumbling under careful pressure. As if someone was climbing up the other side of the rock.

  A tough climb with a gunshot wound to the thigh, but when he heard a pained grunt that definitely came from a man, he knew that’s exactly who was trying to make the climb anyway.

  Cody positioned himself farther back, hoping he was facing the right direction to have a sense of when the man first saw him. He held the knife loosely at his side. If he trusted his sight more he’d try to look for the man, get an advantage and knock him down, but it was too risky.

  Besides, Nina and Felicity were supposed to be sneaking up behind the man. They’d have time—and guns—Cody would be fine.

  There was a low chuckle, and Cody kept himself still and poised. He couldn’t make out an exact outline, but he could sense the position of the man, get a sense of light and shadow. He only needed another sound cue and he could reach out and land a blow.

  God, he hoped.

  Chapter Twenty

  Nina and Felicity didn’t talk. Felicity walked at a breakneck speed through rock formations, pausing only when they had to cross fields with no cover. She’d look, then cross at speeds faster than breakneck.

  Nina didn’t complain, though she was out of breath and had a stitch in her side as she hurried along after Felicity. The longer they left Cody alone, blind, the more she worried.

  There’d been a sense that maybe he’d been able to see for a moment, but he hadn’t said anything. So she hadn’t. Besides, even if he did regain his sight it wouldn’t just magically appear right when it would come in quite handy.

  “Crap,” Felicity muttered, coming to a quick stop. She pointed to a ridge. Nina was all turned around after the fast-paced, zigzagging run Felicity had taken her on. In front of them rock and grass stretched out as if fighting each other for purchase, but there was a man climbing up that ridge, and Nina had no doubt it was the outcropping of rock they’d been on the other side of.

  The gun the man held in one hand glinted in the ever-increasing sunlight.

  “Run,” Nina ordered. They both did. Because on the other side of that rock Cody was a sitting duck.

  Just as they reached the bottom of the rock the man was scaling, he fell straight back with a howl.

  All Nina could do was watch him fall, and wince when his body landed with a thud.

  “He’s still got the gun,” Felicity warned, already leaping forward. Nina did the same even as he brought that arm up, struggling to roll over and point it at them.

  They both lunged at the same time, and the weight of two women had no problem knocking the gun out of the man’s grasp. It skidded across scrubby grass and rock and Nina sucked in a breath as pain had her seeing stars. But she quickly scrabbled to her feet as Felicity did—though Felicity did it much more gracefully in Nina’s estimation.

  Since the gun was closest to her, Nina hurried to pick it up. Then looked up at the rock the man had been climbing.

  In wordless agreement, Nina handed Felicity the gun, then turned away from her and the moaning and thrashing man. Felicity would handle him while she attempted to climb up and check on Cody.

  It was a hard climb, and she was shocked the man had done it with a bullet wound to the leg. Still, despite a few slips and slides she
managed to get to the top.

  Cody was slinging one of the packs onto his back. He turned slowly, blinked a few times. “Where’s Felicity?”

  “Can you see?” she breathed.

  “Not...exactly. I don’t know. It clears up then goes back. Where is he? I assume he’s alive from all that racket?”

  “He fell. Straight down. Felicity’s got the gun on him. How...”

  “I hit him. Didn’t mean to knock him over, but it’ll do. Get me down there.”

  She shouldered the bag she’d left behind earlier and then took his hand. She looked dubiously down the sharp rock. “We could go around—”

  “Quickest way, Nina. Let’s end this.”

  She liked the sound of the word end too much not to do her best to help him down the climb. She figured he had to be seeing at least a little bit because he didn’t stumble.

  They made it to the bottom where Felicity stood over the man, who was still lying on the ground but was mostly still except for the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Felicity had both the gun Nina had handed her earlier and the gun they’d gotten off the stalker pointed at him.

  Cody studied him before he said anything, but his gaze wasn’t directly on the man—it was a little to the right. So whatever pieces of sight were back, it wasn’t total.

  “Gotta name?” Cody asked.

  The man’s moaned response was vulgar.

  Cody’s response kick to the ribs was vicious—and surprisingly on target for a man with limited sight.

  “We could just leave him,” Felicity offered casually, studying the man on the ground as if he were an interesting piece of roadkill. “Rattlesnakes. Bobcat. Coyotes. Hell, the elements’ll get him before any of the animals start nibbling.”

  Cody’s mouth quirked. “We’d have to tie him down or something though. Just to make sure he couldn’t crawl his way out.”

  “Or you could shoot his other leg,” Nina offered.

  This time Cody smiled, though it was sharp and feral at the edges. “Bloodthirsty. I like it.”

  “You think I’ll live if I tell you anything?” the man demanded, but his eyes went back and forth between them and then to the harsh surroundings.

  “I could make sure you do.”

  The man snorted. “You don’t get in my position and live. So shoot me.”

  Cody held out a hand and both Nina and Felicity stared at it.

  “You can’t—”

  He sent Nina a glare that had her snapping her mouth shut. On a shrug, Felicity handed one of the guns to Cody. He held it right to the man’s skull and Nina sucked in a breath, bracing herself for the sound of a gunshot even as her brain screamed that this couldn’t actually be happening.

  The man tried to scoot away, eyes widening and sweat popping up on his forehead. “Okay, okay. Wait. Just...wait.”

  “Name.”

  His eyes darted around to all three of them, then beyond, as if calculating his chances of survival. He licked his lips.

  “How exactly can you make sure... How are you going to protect me? Why are you going to?”

  “If you give me the information I want, your identity will cease to exist. I’ll get you a new one. I don’t need your life. We both know you’re a low man at best. I don’t care about you. I care about information.”

  The man gestured helplessly at where his leg was bleeding pretty profusely.

  “You’ll get medical attention and a new identity. Or you’re dead. So, make a choice.”

  “I don’t know anything. I just get orders and I follow them.”

  “Who from?”

  He looked around again. “I don’t have a name.”

  Cody stepped closer, crouched down, got the gun right up in the guy’s face. “I don’t have much patience left. You will give me his name. Now. Or...”

  “Fine. Andy. Andy Jay.”

  Nina watched as Cody immediately stood, still with the gun pointed at the man. His expression was rage. “Don’t lie to me. Andy Jay is dead.”

  The man started to shake, held up both hands in supplication. “That’s the name I got. That’s the only name I ever heard. Andy Jay. I swear it.”

  Cody didn’t lower his gun, and the cold fury in his gaze made Nina shiver. But then something mechanical echoed around them. It was coming from the rocks. She supposed it was Cody’s phone, though she would have thought it would be on silent. But the look on his face had her body going cold.

  “What is it?”

  Cody’s expression had changed, turned to that stone that only meant trouble. Deep, horrible trouble. “We have to go. Now.”

  * * *

  THERE WAS ONLY one reason his phone would make that sound—especially if it was on silent.

  Brianna had pushed her necklace button.

  He shoved the gun into Felicity’s hand. “Call...one of my brothers.” He swore internally. If something was going down at the ranch, they should all be there. “If you don’t get anybody, just call the sheriff’s department.”

  “Hey! You said you’d get me a new identity. You said—”

  Cody aimed a killing look at the man—what he could make out of his sprawled-out body. He’d been planning on helping the guy, but Cody was almost certain the name he’d been given was bogus. And he was quite certain Brianna was in trouble, so he didn’t concern himself with the lowlife who would have happily killed all of them.

  “Never trust a Wyatt,” he told the guy flatly.

  He turned back to the tall, willowy shadow that he knew was Felicity. His brain was scrambling. He couldn’t leave her alone with this guy. Sweet, nervous Felicity, who’d handled all of this without even the hint of a qualm.

  Maybe she could handle it. She had to. Brianna was in trouble and that came above everyone else. He looked over at the figure that was Nina. Some of his vision sharpened, and he swore he could make out the bright beacon of blond hair in the sunlight.

  He wanted to leave her with Felicity, but he didn’t have enough of his sight back to drive. And he knew she wouldn’t appreciate being left behind without good reason. Protecting her would not be considered a good enough reason.

  “What is it?” she demanded again.

  “Trouble at the ranch. We need to—”

  “Here,” Felicity interrupted. He heard a jangle, got the impression she’d tossed keys that Nina had caught. “Drive my truck. I’ll take care of this guy. You guys go. Once you get to the other side of that ridge, there’s a trail. You’ll catch it and follow it to the trailhead. Once you’re there, my truck’s in the lot. Should be the only one. I’ll handle this here. I’ve got my phone plus radio if I can’t get ahold of who I want to—I can get another ranger out here. You go.”

  Cody nodded. No time to argue or think of a better plan. He needed to get to Brianna.

  Nina’s hand curled around his arm and she began to lead him, presumably where Felicity had instructed. He still couldn’t see much of the ground except a broad swath of light, with the occasional blip of something he assumed were the rock outcroppings the Badlands were known for.

  He wanted to hurry, but hurrying would likely end in him tripping and falling flat on his face, probably bringing Nina with him. No time for falls or stumbles, even if it meant the walk was slow and steady.

  He hadn’t had time to climb back up and get his phone, so he could only hope to God it had been a mistake, or his brothers were taking care of it. But he couldn’t gamble with the time it would have taken to recover the phone and be sure.

  The walk seemed to take forever, and even once Nina helped him into Felicity’s truck—then climbed in the driver’s seat herself—they still had a forty-five-minute drive to the ranch.

  But Nina started to drive, and he doubted she was paying much attention to the posted speed limits.

  “Who’s Andy Jay?” she asked. />
  Cody shook his head. “He’s dead.”

  “Okay. Who was he then?”

  “I’m not sure exactly. Part of the Sons. One of Dad’s main guys back in the day. I don’t particularly remember him, but I know of him from stories. When Brady and Gage escaped to Grandma’s... He caught them and let them go instead of bringing them back to Ace. Then he was found dead a few days after Gage and Brady made it to the ranch with Jamison. The twins always blamed themselves. So, that guy’s lying about Andy Jay.”

  Nina was quiet, but he could hear and feel how quickly she was driving. Still, she was calm. Probably because he hadn’t mentioned the alarm would have come from Brianna—not one of his brothers.

  “If the guy out there with Felicity was part of the Sons, or involved, he’d know Andy Jay was dead and that you’d know who it was.”

  “Yeah. Probably Ace trying to twist the knife.”

  “Or someone purposefully using that name.”

  Cody shook his head. He couldn’t work it out, but he could only think about Brianna. Who was in trouble. “When we get there...” He trailed off, because he didn’t know how to broach the subject. His sight was coming back. Not near what he needed though. But he could hardly send Nina into a dangerous situation to yet again handle the saving of their daughter all on her own.

  “When we get there what?”

  He blew out a breath. “We have to be careful.”

  “What did that noise mean? It was some kind of signal from the ranch?”

  Cody shifted in his seat. He didn’t want to lie to her. Even if he’d be in the right, she’d blame him for it. Which struck him as ironic, considering she’d kept Brianna a secret from him.

  But a secret was different than a lie. Especially when it involved their daughter’s life.

  “I don’t know what exactly is going on. That sound from my phone just means someone was alerting me to an emergency.”

  “Help, you mean. Someone at the ranch needs help. They’re in danger. And, knowing all they knew about where we were and what we were doing, they still need help from you.”