He found Jess in less than a minute, and after exchanging a status update on the case and arrests, he asked permission to commandeer an unmarked car and go for a drive with Leia.
“Why?” his supervisor asked.
He blew out a long breath.
“To go on a wild-goose chase to try to find a secret Phantom Killer hideout because Niagara Falls reminds Leia of a location from her father’s fairy tales,” he admitted.
He expected his boss to laugh or point out the whole idea was ridiculous.
Instead, she crossed her arms.
“You really care about her, don’t you?” she asked.
“Does that matter?” Jay asked.
She glanced to the sky for a moment and he had the distinct impression she was praying.
“Officially, I can’t authorize a wild-goose chase,” she said, “obviously. If you do find anything you think might be of interest to an active investigation or an ongoing crime, we need to proceed by the book if we want to make a case. But if you want to take a car and go for a quick drive I see no harm in that—just be back in thirty minutes.”
“Okay,” he said, and nodded. “Thank you.”
“Now, unofficially,” Jess said, “it doesn’t take the world’s greatest detective to see that you’ve got feelings for Leia. You’ve got this weird goofy grin that practically shouts it whenever you say her name.”
Did he? Heat rose at the back of his neck. He thought he’d hidden it pretty well from Leia’s sisters, but they’d somehow noticed how he felt about her, too.
“Off the record,” Jess went on, “I know a thing or two about being unable to admit how you feel about someone because of your work as a cop. Travis and I knew each other a long time before either of us were willing to admit how we felt. Then he burned out and quit the police force, while I stayed even more dedicated to my work. It took a long time to admit our feelings and figure out what our relationship would look like. All I’m saying is take the time and pray about what path you want your life to take. There are lots of ways to take down criminals and be a cop without giving up on love and a family. And if you care about this woman, maybe you should think that over.”
His superior’s words were still rattling like a loose screw ten minutes later as he and Leia were driving down the road that ran along the river. He cast a sideways look at her. Her cheeks were flushed with a happiness bordering on excitement. The light in her eyes left no doubt that this was going to work, and he didn’t know how she could possibly have such confidence. After all, a few hours ago she’d been the skeptic and he’d been the one trying to convince her the Phantom Killer had been linked to her family. And now here she was singing little rhymes under her breath, reciting riddles and saying things like “Four giant oak trees, turn right here.”
And here he was following her directions to the letter.
Lush vineyards lined the road to their left with the kind of houses he could imagine Franklin Vamana living in. Instead, she directed him to turn down a derelict service road to their right that ran between the train tracks and ugly buildings advertising cheap drinks and loud music. Then even those buildings disappeared, and they were back to following the river as it wound east away from the city.
“Stop here,” she said. “This place on the right has to be it.”
He looked up to see an abandoned gas station, with oil-stained pavement, shattered windows, dusty pumps and various abandoned car parts scattering the lot. This was the Shadow’s fairy-tale castle? This was where Franklin Vamana, the Phantom Killer, had buried some of his bodies and left proof of his crimes?
He parked beside the building and got out. She followed. The air smelled heavily of gasoline. He wondered what would happen if he called his boss and asked for a search warrant based on no evidence but nursery rhymes.
“Now,” she said, “the ultimate treasure wasn’t hidden in the castle—”
“Derelict gas station,” he clarified.
“Because the Shadow was too tricky for that,” she went on, like he hadn’t spoken. “So he climbed down a steep cliff over the river and hid it in a cave.” Her nose wrinkled. “Actually, it was more like a deep hole in the rocks. So, we have to find the path down the cliff and locate the hole.”
When Jay didn’t answer, she tossed her dark hair around her shoulders and started walking through the parking lot, past the building and all the way to the edge of the cliffside. He looked down at the raging rivers below. Sure enough, he could see what looked like a very narrow natural path that cut about ten feet down along the side of the cliff, where it disappeared into the rock.
“This whole treasure-hunt thing is a bridge too far, isn’t it?” she asked. “I get it. After all, I grew up with my father’s crazy survival drills and stories. It’s okay if you don’t believe it.”
“Maybe I don’t,” Jay admitted. He turned to face her. “But I believe in you. At least, I believe that you’re the smartest, bravest and most extraordinary person I know and that you’d never steer me wrong.”
“And what if I am spectacularly wrong this time?” she asked.
“Then you can join the sometimes spectacularly wrong club,” Jay said. “I’d rather be here and wrong with you than not take you seriously to begin with.”
“Thank you,” she said.
A smile filled her voice, and as she reached for his hand, everything in him wanted to pull her into his chest.
Instead, he gritted his teeth and stepped away.
“Judging by how narrow that path is only one of us can take it at a time,” he said. “As the one with a badge, I’m calling it. After all, I’m the one who’s going to make a case for getting a warrant. You stay up here. I’ll leave you my phone, and if anything happens you call the police. Stay by the road where you’ll be safer. Okay?”
“Got it,” she said. “But what if you need the phone?”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I got a second one from my colleagues just to be sure. We’re well-covered.”
She nodded and her hands twitched like she wanted to throw her arms around him. But instead she stepped back. “Stay safe.”
“You, too,” he said.
He started walking down the narrow path, holding on to jutting rocks beside him for stability, while his mind debated whether or not there was even an actual path beneath his feet. The water below was a much shorter and safer drop than the farmhouse roof had been. The river ran much smoother than it had near the falls and he was a pretty strong swimmer. In fact, what worried him most about falling wasn’t the possibility of drowning but the fact he’d be away from Leia for however long it took him to make it to shore somewhere he could pull himself up.
The path grew narrower until it completely disappeared not far ahead. He’d have to turn around somehow and head back soon. A wry grin crossed his mouth. Or he’d just have to walk up backward.
The police department’s annual physical obstacle course, which he’d once been so worried about passing, was nothing compared to what he and Leia had faced in the last few hours. But somehow everything was different when Leia was around.
Loose rocks slipped underneath his feet. For a moment he lost his footing and had to grab on to a bush jutting out beside him to keep from falling. Okay, not a cave in sight and time to turn around. Jay shuffled his feet, trying his best to pivot on his toes. But stones kept sliding out from underneath him. He turned to face the cliff and tried to shimmy back up sideways.
Too late he saw the hole in the rock opening up beneath his feet, no wider than a plastic playground tunnel slide. His footsteps stumbled, then he slipped inside and tumbled into the darkness.
FIFTEEN
A long and sleek black town car pulled into the parking lot in front of Leia, blocking off the exit. Two large men in crisp black suits sat in the front seat. She’d never seen them before. But she knew they were the type
to be incredibly professional and polite up until the moment their boss ordered them to hurt someone.
The back door opened, and Franklin Vamana leaned out.
“Get in,” he said. “We need to talk.”
It wasn’t a question; it was an order. And somehow she knew that if she got in the car, this one conversation would be her last.
“No, thank you,” she said, and stepped back. “I’ve already been abducted far too many times in the past few hours. If you have anything to say to me, you can come out here.”
He smirked. It surprised her how angry and hateful a smile could be. She glanced back over her shoulder toward the cliff where Jay had disappeared.
Jay, where are you?
Franklin got out of the car slowly, leaning on a walking stick. Immediately, he was flanked by the two scary-looking bodyguards in suits. Leia reached slowly into her pocket for the phone Jay had given her to call the police.
“Get your hands up!” Franklin snapped. “Whatever you’re carrying, drop it.”
He signaled the men in a swift, sharp moment. In an instant, one had turned a gun on her. The other stepped up and patted her down, taking the phone away.
Then Franklin just stood there and stared at her coldly for a long moment, with a look that she somehow knew had terrified and intimidated countless people before her. And to her surprise she crossed her arms and stared back at the man dressed in the suit that cost more than she’d ever make in a year. She thought about the billions of dollars he was worth and the people he’d ruthlessly killed. She considered the threats and taunts that Jay said he’d made when police had raided him a few hours earlier.
She thought of Jay.
And as she did, courage flowed over her. She realized, for the first time in a long time, that she wasn’t afraid. Not of the killer in front of her who was probably her biological father. Not of the things he might be capable of, or the fact she might not make it out of his clutches alive. Because no matter what happened to her now, Jay would make sure he saw justice and was stopped.
“What are you doing here?” Franklin asked. He sounded genuinely puzzled. “How did you even know about this place?”
So, this was something here.
“My mother told me,” she said. Her chin rose. “She left clues to this location in fantasy stories she wrote for my sisters and I before she died. The police have those stories now. It’s only a matter of time before they find this place, too.”
Not that she had any idea where exactly she was or why it was so important. But from the way Franklin’s face went pale it was clear he did. She watched as his eyes darted from her, to the river, to the car and back, like he was doing some kind of recalculation.
“So, you really are Ann-Margret Herber’s daughter,” he said finally. There was a faint hint of disgust in his voice, like he’d apprised Leia and found her lacking. Something menacing flickered in his gaze. “To be honest, I don’t really remember her and didn’t know she’d had you.”
Somehow she knew he was lying. That he’d never forgiven her mother for defying him and was too proud to admit that for all the success he’d had in life one woman, her mother, had escaped his clutches. This was a man who expected to be feared and obeyed. He wanted people to fall before him in pain and fear. And somehow she knew that the best weapon she had against his attempts to scare her right now was the stubborn defiance the father who’d loved and taught her had instilled inside her heart.
Franklin Vamana might try to break her, but she would not fall. He was the Shadow and she’d spent her whole life knowing that evil men like him existed. She also knew that evil could be beaten and always would be in the end.
Franklin turned and walked toward the abandoned building. The bodyguard to his right was carrying a silver briefcase and the other was nudging her along with the muzzle of a weapon at her back.
“I have to admit I wasn’t expecting to find this place,” Franklin said, “let alone you. But your mother remembered enough about this place, after she ran out on me that she was able to actually guide you here. Seems I pegged her all wrong. I thought she was too smart and obedient to tell anyone what she’d seen. What else did she tell you?”
She didn’t answer. His scowl deepened. Franklin signaled to the man with the briefcase, and he brought it over. Franklin opened it slowly to show the high-powered explosive device lying within.
Her heart stopped. What could possibly be hidden here that was worth detonating a bomb to erase? Where was Jay?
Help me Lord!
“Cat got your tongue?” he sneered. “It doesn’t matter. Everything you’ve found here is about to be destroyed. Every piece and scrap will disappear into dust and fall with the rockslide into the river. Because neither you nor your mother will ever bring me down.”
* * *
Slowly Jay opened his eyes. The air around him was dark, clammy and as silent as a tomb. He looked up to see a grey circle of light far above him from the hole where he’d slipped through. How far had he fallen? How long had he been unconscious? He didn’t know. But his chest ached like his heart was being squeezed by an invisible fist at the thought that he’d left Leia alone up there. He forced his sore limbs to stand. He could feel his fake beard was half-hanging from his face and he tore it off the rest of the way.
“Hello! Leia!” He shouted up toward the light. “I need help! I’ve fallen into some kind of hole!”
His voice echoed around him. Silence came from the hole above and he realized he couldn’t even hear the river anymore.
Lord, help me find my way out of this!
Thankfully his gun was still in its holster, but his phone was missing from his pocket. Desperately, he searched the floor and found his phone a moment later. But he could tell in a touch that the glass screen had shattered, and he couldn’t get it to turn on. The pain tightened in his chest.
He felt for the wall, hoping to find a way to climb back up. But damp earth broke off in his hands.
“Hello!” he called as loudly as he could. “Leia!”
No answer came but his own voice echoing back at him from every direction. Whatever hole he’d fallen into sounded much bigger than he’d realized at first.
He pressed his hand against the wall and followed it in the darkness, planning to get a feel for just how large the hole was and anything like roots or rocks he could use as hand and foot holds to climb back out. Instead, as he walked the room seemed to expand beneath his touch until he found himself in what seemed to be a hallway. The walls turned from wet earth to rough brick. The tiny pinprick of light disappeared leaving the air pitch black around him. He reached up and felt a roof barely a foot above his head.
His heartbeat quickened. Each thud was so painful they seemed to momentarily steal the breath from his lungs.
Come on man! You’re already afraid of heights. Since when do closed dark spaces rattle you, too?
But even as he chided himself, he knew exactly what it was that had made him able to climb up a roof or go up the side of a building in a window-washer basket.
Leia.
Her face floated before his mind’s eye in the darkness. He remembered the strength and courage that had flashed in her beautiful violet eyes as she’d stood in the living room when he’d been captured and demanded the criminals leave her house and let him go. He thought about the deep and ferocious compassion that filled her face as she’d run from the flames with her sister’s baby in her arms. And how she’d stood up for herself and challenged him when she thought he was out of line.
He felt braver, bolder and capable of being a better man when she was near than he could ever be without her. And now, with nothing but darkness around him, there was nothing left to distract him from letting the full impact of the myriad feelings he’d been pushing away hit him like a wave. Starting with shame at how he’d treated her. How had he let himself selfishly p
ull her into his chest so many times all while telling himself that he was going to let her go again? She deserved so much better than a man who was too afraid of how his own heart felt about her to admit it.
The truth was that he loved her. Over the past few hours since she’d first collided into his arms in the passageway, the small seeds of attraction and care that he’d been harboring in his heart for her had taken root and started to grow into the kind of feelings a man could risk his future on.
That he wanted to risk his future on.
Lord, I want to love Leia and let myself be loved by her. I’m so used to shutting my heart down I don’t even know if I’m capable of it. And I don’t have any idea what this means for my career and my future. But I don’t want to be the man who pushes her away or hides the truth from her anymore. If I make it out of here alive, help me be the man who loves her the way she deserves.
The wall turned sharply at a left angle, and he stumbled into what felt like a cellar. Okay, now what was this? He ran his hands along the brick until he hit what felt like a tall metal shelf mounted to the wall. If he got it loose maybe he could use it as a ladder. He gave it a hard tug, then barely managed to leap back as it gave way and crashed to the floor ahead of him in a deafening clang, spilling its unseen contents across the floor.
He crouched down, felt around the mess and came up with some kind of rope, a pipe, a small shovel and finally a heavy-duty flashlight. He switched it on and blinked at the sudden bright light.
He was standing in a small room, about five feet wide. Then he shone the light around the room and his heart stopped—there were piles of smooth white bones arranged neatly on shelves. A heavy and reinforced door lay to his right, but there was no doorhandle on his side and no way to budge it open. A large and dusty metal box, like a huge mechanic’s toolbox, sat in the middle of the room. It was fastened shut with a lock, but it only took a few good stomps to break the latch off. He nudged it open with his foot. It was full of wallets, name tags and keys.
Undercover Protection Page 16