“We think the man on the roof is the person who helped Ramirez escape. We also believe he’s the one who called Ramirez when he climbed over the fence. He probably told his boss to get out of there because he’d seen Dade and Mel driving out of the ranch. In other words, he’s Ramirez’s eyes and ears, and we want to feed this guy some info.”
“Bad info,” Grayson explained. “We want Ramirez to believe this storm has knocked out both the power and the security system for the ranch. We want him to come across that fence again. And when he does, we’ll have Kade and a half-dozen federal agents waiting.”
Darcy nodded but then thought of something. “What if Ramirez doesn’t use the fence? What if he uses the road and comes directly to the house?”
“Mason and I will be waiting for him,” Nate assured her. “And if he’s managed to hire more goons to come with him, then we’ll know because Kade will have someone watching the road.” He paused again. “It’s the fastest way to put an end to this.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Darcy couldn’t argue with the plan, either. Nate was a good cop, and she trusted him with her life. But she couldn’t discount that Ramirez was as driven to kill them as they were to stay alive and keep their children safe.
“How much time before you and the children leave for the safe house?” she asked Grayson.
He glanced out the window. “Not long.”
So, she needed to say her goodbyes. Darcy got up, forcing her legs to move, and she got down on the floor next to the children. Both Noah and Kimmie were still involved with the story, but Noah climbed into her lap. Kimmie babbled some happy sounds and did the same.
Everything was suddenly better.
And worse.
They had so much at stake. Darcy hugged the babies close to her. Kimmie might have sensed something was wrong because she kissed Darcy on the cheek and put her head on Darcy’s shoulder. The moment was pure magic, and Darcy realized she’d come to love this child as her own.
“I’ll just freshen up and get ready for the drive to the safe house,” Grace offered, and she disappeared into the bathroom, no doubt to give them some time alone.
Grayson mumbled something about having to make some calls and walked out, as well.
Nate sat down beside her, and Darcy expected Kimmie to switch to his lap, but she stayed put. It was Noah who made the shift when he spotted Nate’s shoulder holster. But Nate distracted her son by unclipping his badge from his belt and handing it to Noah.
“Oooo,” Noah babbled, obviously approving of the shiny object. He looked up at Nate and offered him a big grin.
The moment hit Darcy hard, partly because her son had never had a male figure in his life, and partly because everything seemed to fit. Kimmie in her arms. Noah in Nate’s. Her heart and body, burning for this man.
A man she couldn’t have.
Nate was just now healing from his wife’s death, and he needed his family to help him and Kimmie through the rest of that process. She couldn’t put that wedge between them.
She kissed the top of Kimmie’s head and ran her fingers through those fiery curls. The little girl had her mother’s looks, but that smile and those silver-gray eyes were genetic contributions from her daddy.
“Me,” her son said, and he handed the badge to Kimmie. “Me,” he repeated.
“I think he’s trying to say her name.” Nate smiled.
But the smile and the moment ended when Nate’s cell phone buzzed. He took the phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen.
“It’s the SAPD crime lab.” Nate put the call on speaker. “Lieutenant Ryland,” he answered.
“Sir, we got that handwriting comparison you requested on the faxed pages,” the tech said. “It’s a match to the sample of handwriting we have for the deceased, Sandra Dent.”
So, the diary was real. Of course, that created more questions than answers. Had Dent really just found it, or had he known all along where it was?
“The handwriting is consistent through all the pages,” the tech added.
And that meant Sandra had written the entry about quarreling with her son and planning to cut him out of her life. Maybe Adam knew that. Maybe not. But Dent might have just given them a motive for Adam to kill his mother.
“What about the pages that were torn out?” Nate asked.
“We can’t get anything from the paper itself. There’s not even any partial letter there, but there could be some DNA or trace fibers. The lab has it now and has started the testing. They’re also looking at the indentations on the pages following the ones that’d been torn out.”
“And?” Nate prompted.
“It doesn’t look good, Lieutenant. It appears someone has actually rubbed or applied pressure to flatten out the indentations, but the lab will do what it can.”
Nate wearily dragged his hand over his face, but then smiled when Noah attempted to do the same. “Call me if you find out anything else,” Nate instructed the tech, and he ended the call.
The phone grabbed Kimmie’s attention, and she dropped Nate’s badge so she could go after it. Just like that, Nate had both kids in his lap, and he adjusted, giving them both room, as if it were second nature for him. However, even the half smile he gave the children didn’t mask his frustration.
“It would have been nice to know what Sandra wrote on that last page,” Darcy said. “She might have named her killer, or at least given us some hint of who that person might be. I mean, why else would the pages have been torn out?”
Nate didn’t answer her, but something flashed through his eyes. He took out his phone again and put it on speaker.
“Grayson,” he said when his brother answered. “Is our guest still on the roof of the hardware store?”
“Still there. He’s getting soaked, but he hasn’t moved.”
Darcy hoped he’d stay put. And catch pneumonia.
“I just finished talking with the lab,” Nate explained to his brother. “The handwriting matches Sandra’s, but the indentations probably won’t give us anything. What I want is for all four of our suspects to believe otherwise. I want them to think the lab uncovered what Sandra had written and that SAPD is making arrangements for an arrest.”
Grayson made a sound to indicate he was contemplating the idea. Darcy thought about it, too. If it worked, they could have Sandra Dent’s killer in custody within hours.
“You think this’ll flush out her killer and cause him or her to go on the run?” Grayson asked Nate.
“Yeah, I do. But I don’t think it’ll cause the killer to come after Darcy, me or the children again. He or she must have figured out by now that they can’t use us to fix the murder investigation.”
Grayson made a sound of agreement. “I’ll make some calls and have the roads and airports watched. And then we’ll have to make the suspects believe that one of them is about to be outed. That’ll be easy to do for Marlene since she’s already here.”
“Why?” Darcy and Nate asked in unison.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but she’s insisting that she talk to Darcy and you, too.”
Nate groaned and looked at her. “You up for this?”
Darcy nodded. She didn’t want to waste any more time with Marlene, but the woman might actually be there to confess to orchestrating the kidnapping. If she was, then Darcy very much wanted to hear what she had to say.
Darcy gave both babies a kiss, and Nate did the same. Then she knocked on the bathroom door to signal Grace should come out. Once Grace was back on the floor with the kids, Nate and Darcy headed downstairs to confront Marlene.
They didn’t have to go far.
Marlene was in the hall, just outside of Grayson’s office, and the moment she spotted them, she walked toward them. Grayson stepped out of his office and joined them, too.
“I didn’t help anyone kidnap your children,” Marlene volunteered. “When I heard the kidnappers say they were taking us to the Lost Appaloosa, I wrote the initials so you’d find us.”
“But the van where you wrote them was a decoy,” Nate pointed out.
“I didn’t know that, either. That’s the van they put us in when they first took us, and then they moved us to another one. I wouldn’t have done anything to help them take Noah and Kimmie, and you have to believe me.”
“Maybe I will believe you,” Nate told her, “if you’ll explain what you did with the fifty thousand you got for selling the land you inherited.”
Marlene flinched as if he’d slapped her. “That has nothing to do with the kidnapping.”
Darcy folded her arms over her chest and stared at Marlene. “Then where’s the money?”
Marlene looked around as if she wanted to be anywhere but there, and for a moment Darcy thought she might bolt. Would that mean Marlene was guilty?
“You’re wasting our time,” Nate accused.
Marlene shook her head, but it still took her several moments to say anything. “Someone’s trying to kill me.”
And she didn’t add more. Just that little bombshell.
“Who’s trying to kill you?” Darcy asked. “Ramirez?”
“No.” But then Marlene paused. “Well, maybe it’s him, but I don’t think so. If he’d wanted me dead he could have killed me when I was his hostage.”
“Were you?” Nate demanded, and then he clarified, “His hostage?”
“Yes. Those gunmen took me when they took the children, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the money I got from selling the land.”
Nate huffed. So did Grayson. “Look,” Grayson warned, “either you explain about the money now, or I arrest you for obstruction of justice.”
Marlene’s eyes widened, and it seemed to hit her that she was in big trouble. “I gave the money to my sister in San Antonio.” She paused again. “She was in debt to a man who was threatening to kill her. I had to pay him off.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Let me get this straight—someone’s trying to kill both you and your sister, and not once did you consider telling Grayson about this?”
“I couldn’t.” Again, she shouted, but then she blinked back tears. “The loan shark would have killed my sister if she’d gone to the cops. And as for me, I don’t think this man has anything to do with the threats on my life.”
Darcy could practically feel the frustration coming off Grayson and Nate. She felt it, too, and only wanted this woman to spill it and get out of there. Soon, very soon, the children would be leaving for the safe house, and she wanted to spend a little more time with them.
“Explain why you think someone’s trying to kill you,” Grayson insisted, and it wasn’t a gentle request.
Marlene hiked up her chin and clearly wasn’t pleased that Grayson and Nate seemed to doubt her. If she was innocent, Darcy would apologize to the woman, but for now she wanted the same thing Nate and Grayson did—the truth.
“Someone’s been following me,” Marlene started. “And before the kidnapping, I was getting hang-ups.”
Grayson, Nate and Darcy all looked toward the front of the building when the bell jangled, indicating someone had opened the front door. Nate stepped in front of Darcy. Grayson, too. And they both slid their hands over their guns.
Darcy held her breath, praying the man from the roof hadn’t decided to come in and try to kill them. But the person who walked through the door was a familiar face, although not a welcome one.
It was Edwin.
He used his hand to swipe the rain from his face, and he stormed toward them. He didn’t make it far. Tina, the dispatcher, stepped in front of him to block his path. Edwin did stop, but he aimed his index finger and a scowl at Marlene.
“Whatever she says, it’s a lie,” Edwin growled.
Marlene frantically shook her head. “It’s true. Someone is trying to kill me. Or scare me at least. And I think it’s you.”
“Please.” Edwin stretched out the syllables. “You were a cheap fling, nothing more, and I never gave you a minute’s thought until that damn kidnapping.”
Edwin’s anger seemed genuine enough, and it seemed genuinely directed at Marlene. However, Darcy wasn’t about to cross either of them off her list of suspects. Judging from Nate’s expression, neither was he.
“Are you trying to kill her?” Nate asked him.
Edwin cursed. “She’s not worth killing.” He pointed at Marlene again. “I plan to do everything in my power to find proof that you set up the kidnapping so that Dent would be tossed in jail. Trust me, I want him in jail, but I don’t need or want your help for that. You’re a stalking, obsessive wacko, and I want you out of my life.”
Marlene opened her mouth, no doubt to return verbal fire, but Nate put up his hand in a stop motion. “In a few hours we’ll know who killed Sandra.”
Edwin and Marlene both seemed to freeze, and each stared at Nate. “What do you mean?” Marlene asked Nate.
“Dent found Sandra’s diary—”
“It’s a fake,” Edwin interrupted.
Nate shook his head. “It’s not. The lab just confirmed that the handwriting is hers.”
His voice was so calm. He was all cop now, and Darcy watched as he took one menacing step closer to Marlene. But the woman wasn’t the only one to earn some of his attention. Nate turned those suddenly cold gray eyes on Edwin, too.
“The next step is for the lab to lift the indentations Sandra made when she wrote the page that was torn out,” Nate continued. “The page that sealed her fate and named her killer.”
“Someone could have planted information to make me look guilty,” Edwin snarled.
“Or me,” Marlene piped up.
Nate lifted his shoulder again. “Then maybe you two should call your attorneys. Because I’m betting one or both of you will need a good lawyer before the night is over.”
Edwin stood there, glaring, as if he would launch himself at Nate or Marlene, but then he cursed again, turned and walked back out into the rain.
“Excuse me,” Grayson mumbled when his desk phone rang.
Marlene, however, didn’t storm out with Edwin. In fact, she didn’t budge an inch. “I believe Edwin is trying to scare me. Or worse.” She groaned. “He’s trying to make me look guilty because he’s the one who put all of this together. He killed his ex-wife, and he wants Wesley Dent to go to jail because he hates him that much.”
All of that could be true.
Or none of it.
“You got proof?” Nate asked.
Marlene groaned again, more softly this time, and she stared at Nate. “You really believe Sandra wrote her killer’s name in her diary?”
“I do,” Nate said, sounding totally confident.
“Good,” Marlene whispered. Then she mumbled a goodbye and hurried down the hall.
Darcy didn’t release the breath she’d been holding until Marlene was out the door.
“Lock it,” Nate instructed Tina. “We’ve had enough surprise visitors today. Besides, I don’t want anyone walking in when we’re transferring the children into the van that will take them to the safe house.”
Darcy shook her head. She’d thought it was too early for the children to leave, but she was wrong. It was still an hour or so before actual nightfall, but the rain and the iron-gray clouds made it seem like night.
The darkness was closing in.
And so was her fear.
Nate must have sensed what she was feeling because he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. He was still doing that when Grayson threw open his office door.
“Everything is ready for the children,” Grayson told them. There was both sympathy and concern in his voice. “It’s time.”
“Come on,” Nate whispered to her. “We need to tell Kimmie and Noah goodbye.”
Darcy swallowed hard. Goodbye. It hit her then that while their children would be safe, Nate wouldn’t be. They would have to face the devil himself and somehow come out of it alive.
Or this was the last time they would ever see their children.
Chapter Fourteen
The plan was in place. Nate knew he’d done everything possible to make this work.
Well, logically he knew that.
But in the back of his mind, he hated that he couldn’t guarantee all of them would come out of this unscathed.
He ended the call with Kade. One of many calls Nate had made over the past hour since Darcy and he had arrived at the ranch. More would no doubt have to be made.
“Well?” Darcy asked the moment he hung up.
She was in the doorway of his office, her hands bracketed on the door frame. All the lights in the house were off—that was part of their plan, to lure Ramirez with a fake power outage—but Nate didn’t need to see her face to know she was worried and on edge. He could hear it in her voice. In that one word. In the air zinging around them. The storm brewing outside only added to the menacing feel.
“The children are fine,” he assured her. “They’re all tucked in for the night at the safe house.”
Her breathing was way too fast, and he thought he could even hear her heartbeat. “Thank God,” she whispered.
Nate echoed that. “So far none of our suspects has shown up at the airport or the border. None has withdrawn any money from their bank accounts. No suspicious activity of any kind even though Adam is out driving around. Dade is watching him, and we have surveillance on the others’ houses.”
Darcy shook her head. “But they could sneak out.”
“They could,” he admitted. “But if that happens, and the killer heads in this direction, we’ll know. Kade and his men are scattering out all over the ranch to set up surveillance equipment.”
“What about the man who was on the roof of the hardware store?” she asked.
“He left right after we did. On foot. He disappeared into the alley behind the stores.”
That didn’t help her breathing.
“We figure he’s already joined up with his boss, Ramirez.” He walked closer to her. “When all the equipment is set up and everything is in place, the ranch hands will pretend there’s an emergency. A fence down from the storm. And they’ll appear to leave the area. If Ramirez is watching the ranch, and we’re almost positive he is, then he’ll believe that’s his opportunity to strike.”
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