Kentucky Confidential

by Paula Graves

  “I think we’d already be under siege if that were so.”

  Risa lay in the dark, her skin tingling. Suddenly every moan of the wind in the eaves, every rattle of winter-bare tree limbs brushing against one another, sounded like an invasion waiting to happen.

  “What if they’re out there right now, preparing to make their move?” she asked in a whisper, waiting for him to tell her she was crazy.

  But his only answer was to roll out of the bed and pick up his Ruger from the bedside table.

  * * *

  IF THERE WAS anyone outside the cabin, they were extremely well-hidden, Connor decided after going from room to room in the dark, checking their surroundings through the window. Without night-vision gear and thermal imaging, he couldn’t be absolutely sure, but he didn’t think they were in immediate danger.

  But Risa was right about one thing. If the person who was looking for her was in the government, with access to some of the government’s resources and secrets, it would be only a matter of time before they figured out where Risa was hiding.

  There was only one option to keep her totally safe. They had to cut all ties to their pasts.

  “No,” Risa said flatly when he brought up the topic when he returned to the bedroom. She was standing at the window, gazing out into the darkness, her arms wrapped around her body as if she were cold. “That’s not a life I want to live. It’s not a life I want for my child.”

  “Our child,” he said. “I don’t want you or Junior dead, and if this is the only way to be sure you stay alive—”

  “It’s not. You know it’s not. It’s not any kind of life to live, looking over your shoulder all the time. I spent the past seven months doing just that, Connor. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life that way.”

  “Then what the hell are we supposed to do?”

  She turned to look at him. “We meet with Brannon tomorrow, as planned. Pick his brain about Akwat.”

  “Even though he’s connected to Campbell Cove Security?”

  “Your people know they have to be circumspect when they meet with us. I’m sure Heller probably spent hours drumming that fact into Eric Brannon’s head.” She turned back to the window. “We just have to keep taking precautions. We’ll be okay.”

  He wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his palms against her belly. The baby wasn’t kicking, exactly, just sort of rolling, but the feel of that small life beneath his hands was reassuring. He thought he could stay here, just like this, for the rest of the night.

  Until Risa’s body went stiff against his, and she uttered a soft profanity.

  “What?” he asked, his own nerves instantly on alert.

  “There’s somebody out there in the woods,” she whispered.

  Chapter Fifteen

  In the darkness, there was a flash of movement. A shape, fractionally darker than the shrouded woods surrounding it, moved laterally from one tree to another. Then there was a second shadow gliding through the dark. And a third.

  “Three,” he murmured, his brain already going through a checklist of defensive actions. The doors and windows were all locked—he and Risa had made almost a ritual of the lock-checking process.

  “Four,” she corrected as another shape slipped briefly into view.

  “And that’s just one side of the cabin.”

  “So maybe as many as sixteen?” Risa’s voice shook a little.

  “Maybe. Check the window over the deck. I’ll take the bathroom.” Connor headed for the roomy bathroom with its enormous tub and separate shower. The window there was set higher on the wall, forcing Connor to pull up the dainty chair that went with the vanity table next to the sink. He peered out the window, looking for more signs of movement. He spotted only one dark-clad figure out this window after watching for several minutes.

  He went back into the hall and found Risa returning from the room at the back of the house that overlooked the back deck. “Two,” she said quietly. “They seem to be taking position just beyond the clearing.”

  “I guess we should check the front.”

  “Let’s get dressed first. And armed.”

  Neither of them needed prodding to dress for warmth. They chose their sturdiest shoes—hiking boots for Connor and a pair of trainers for Risa—and armed themselves with the weapons they had—the Ruger and a folding combat knife from his Marine Corps days for Connor, and the Glock and a canister of pepper spray for Risa. Connor tucked extra ammo for them both in the inner pocket of his fleece jacket as they edged quietly toward the front windows of the cabin.

  They had almost reached the front when Connor’s cell phone hummed against his hip. Adrenaline spiked through him as he eased back into the middle of the cabin, pulling Risa with him.

  He didn’t recognize the number on the phone display. Warily, he answered. “Hello.”

  “Mr. McGinnis?” It was a vaguely familiar male voice. Connor couldn’t place it immediately.

  “You must have the wrong number.”

  “It’s Jesse Cooper,” the other voice said quickly, stopping Connor as he reached for the End Call button.

  Connor placed the voice now, but he remained wary. “Jesse who?” Risa leaned closer to listen, and he lowered his head to hers so she could hear.

  “Cooper. We met this afternoon. After our discussion, we received intel from some of our sources in the US government that your location may already be compromised.”

  “I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “We contacted Maddox Heller by way of a secure channel and he agreed it was time for an extraction.”

  “Extraction?” Connor eyed the front door. Though it was made of reinforced wood and had a sturdy dead-bolt lock, there was also a four-pane window in the upper half of the solid wood, covered on the inside by simple plaid curtains that blocked their view of the other side of the door, though the curtains were thin enough that light from the outdoor spotlights seeped through the fabric.

  Suddenly, he thought he saw a shadow move across the squares of light. Was that a footfall on the wooden porch?

  A second later, there was a brisk knock on the front door. Beside Connor, Risa gave a start, and Connor’s own heart rate rocketed upward.

  “I’m outside your front door right now.” Jesse’s voice filtered through the whooshing pulse in Connor’s ear. “I have assets surrounding the perimeter of the cabin in case something happens before we can extract you safely to a new location.”

  Connor found his voice. “Extract us? Extract us where?”

  “Please answer the door, Mr. McGinnis. I’ll explain everything.” The call ended abruptly.

  “This is insane,” Risa whispered.

  There was another knock at the door, a little more forceful this time.

  Risa looked up at Connor, her eyes wide and glittering in the low light. “What do we do?”

  “Cover me,” he said, and moved to the front door. Edging to one side, he flicked the curtains and took a quick look outside.

  Jesse Cooper stood in the doorway, dressed all in black. A grim smile curved his lips as he spotted Connor.

  Connor leaned against the wall and took a couple of bracing breaths, then opened the door. “What the hell, Cooper?”

  Jesse shrugged off his heavy jacket as Connor locked the door behind him. Beneath the jacket, Jesse was armed for combat, Connor saw—a Glock in a shoulder holster, and a combat knife similar to the one strapped to Connor’s leg. “Sorry for the cloak-and-dagger. I didn’t want to risk a call until my people were in place.”

  “Your people?”

  “Heller agreed it was too risky to bring company assets into the mix, since it looks as if Campbell Cove Security has been compromised.” Jesse nodded at Risa. “Sorry to handle things this way, without givi
ng you any warning, but we thought the fewer communications flying through the atmosphere, the safer it would be for everyone.”

  “How many people are outside?”

  “I brought a force of ten agents. They’re all trained for close combat and asset protection. We know how to get you out of here safely.”

  “This is moving really fast.” Risa’s voice was soft but intense. “We met you for the first time this afternoon and now you expect us to just go with you to God knows where on your say-so?”

  “I wish I had time to give you the full Cooper Security sales spiel, but I left my PowerPoint files at home,” Jesse drawled. “Meanwhile, there may very well be some very dangerous people headed your way.”

  “How could they have found us?”

  “Your vehicle is registered to a rental company, who gave me the name Daniel Hartman as the person who rented the SUV. Got his billing information in the same call, and it took little effort to discover he’s married to a woman named Rose Browning Hartman. Rose Browning’s name came up on a news search, connecting her to a woman named Iris Browning. Who’s married to Maddox Heller, co-owner of Campbell Cove Security.”

  “You knew all that already.”

  “That’s why I gave the task to one of my researchers, who knows nothing about Heller or the Brownings or anyone else. She came up with the information pretty quickly.”

  “But you had to know my car tag number to begin.”

  “You think that information couldn’t be reversed? Start with Maddox Heller and start making connections until you found a Daniel Hartman who’d rented an SUV and a cabin in the Kentucky mountains?” Jesse shook his head. “They know about Campbell Cove Security. So anyone connected to your company or the people there is a liability at the moment. Heller agrees.”

  “Aren’t you connected to Heller?” Connor pointed out.

  “Not anymore. Not for over a year now. It was worth the risk, but we’re still using burner phones and vehicles that can’t be directly connected to Cooper Security.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Risa asked. “We can’t pay you.”

  “Let’s just say this is personal and leave it at that.”

  “Because you think it might be connected to Barton Reid?”

  “If it is, my company needs to know. We have a long history dealing with Barton Reid and his happy clan of lunatics.” Jesse’s voice darkened. “I really hate loose ends.”

  * * *

  A MALE VOICE crackled over the handheld radio in response to Jesse Cooper’s terse query. “East quadrant clear.”

  “So far, so good,” Jesse said as he hooked the radio onto his belt again and leaned his hips against the dresser. “Can I help you with anything?”

  “Tell us where we’re going, for one thing,” Risa suggested, stuffing the last of her borrowed clothes into a rucksack Jesse had supplied, apparently at Maddox Heller’s suggestion.

  “My brother-in-law and sister are acquaintances of a family who runs a small motel and tavern not far from here,” Jesse said, checking his watch. “But there’s not a known connection between them, so it should be perfectly safe. They’ve agreed to rent us a block of rooms for the next few days, no names given, no questions asked. We’ll be paying in cash. We’ll be traveling in cars rented by people with only the loosest of connections to my family and no connection at all to Maddox Heller or Alexander Quinn.”

  “You think of everything,” Risa muttered.

  “I know you two aren’t sure you can trust me,” he said quietly. “I wish I had time to prove you can. But time is something we just don’t have.”

  Connor zipped up his bag. “I’m done.”

  Risa closed her bag as well. “Me, too.”

  “Okay, good. Now, here’s where it gets a little harder.”

  Risa exchanged glances with Connor. “Harder in what way?”

  “For this next short trip, we’re going to have to separate you.”

  “No,” Risa and Connor said in unison.

  “We don’t want to go in a full motorcade out of here. It’ll be too obvious. I want to split you up so that you’ll both have a lead vehicle and a vehicle in the rear. If something goes wrong with one package—the package being each of you—we can still whisk the other package to safety.”

  “With all due respect to your obvious planning and preparation,” Connor said, “Risa and I just spent the past seven months apart. I’m not letting her out of my sight that long again. Not even for an hour.”

  “I agree with Connor,” Risa said firmly.

  Jesse pressed his lips into a thin line. “And you won’t budge?”

  Again they spoke in unison. “No.”

  A faint smile curved Jesse’s lips. “I now owe my wife fifty dollars. She said you’d never go for the splitting up idea.”

  “Wise woman,” Connor said.

  “So, there’s a plan B, I hope,” Risa said.

  “Well, it’s basically plan A, but instead of there being two packages, there’ll be one real package and one decoy,” Jesse told them. “My sister Isabel has a similar build and coloring to you, so she was going to play the role of you anyway, if we’d split you up from Connor. Under a coat, with some extra padding, she’ll pass for pregnant. Her husband, Ben, looks enough like Connor to make a decent decoy, too. So they’ll be the other package.”

  Risa looked at Connor, not sure she was happy about so many people being in harm’s way just to protect her. Dal was already dead. Malcolm Faris might already be in danger because she’d chosen to work at the restaurant where he was already undercover.

  Now Jesse Cooper and ten other agents were about to put their lives on the line to protect Risa.

  But why? Did they know something they weren’t telling her?

  “Wait,” she said as they reached the front door. “I need to know something.”

  Both Connor and Jesse turned to her with questioning looks. “We’re already running out of time,” Jesse warned.

  “You know why I’ve been targeted, don’t you?” she asked. “You must know, or you wouldn’t have put your people on the line this way. What have you found out? Where are we really going?”

  Jesse sighed. “I was going to explain it all when we got there, but yes. I do think I know why you’ve been targeted. I just don’t know who’s pulling the strings.” He nodded toward the door. “Let’s get on the road. I’m your driver anyway, so I’ll tell you everything on the way.”

  Risa looked at Connor, trying to gauge what he was thinking. Were they crazy to trust their lives to a man who was, despite his reputation as a security expert, a stranger to them?

  Connor flashed her a smile that she suspected he meant to be reassuring. It might have worked if he’d looked a little less queasy.

  But she steeled her spine, took his hand and fell into step with him as they followed Jesse Cooper to the big black Explorer parked outside the cabin.

  * * *

  SUNSET MOUNTAIN WAS one of the few towns in the county with its own police department, a holdover from a time decades ago when it had been one of the larger towns in the area. The Sunset Mountain PD had slowly downsized over the years to its current staff of eight uniformed officers, four detectives, an assistant chief and Chief Kenneth Halsey.

  Halsey was a big man, tall and broad-shouldered, his steel-gray buzz cut giving him the air of an aging but still-fit drill sergeant. He knew his time at the head of the police department was limited; already the town council was making a lot of noise about disbanding the department to save money. Sooner or later, they’d vote to turn over policing duties to the county sheriff’s department, and Halsey would either have to go to the county boys, hat in hand, in search of a job that probably wouldn’t be there, or retire.

  But he’d worry about that when the time came. Meanwh
ile, he had a whole other kind of headache that had just landed on his desk.

  “What kind of terrorists are we talking about?” he asked the well-dressed stranger who’d barged into his office a few minutes earlier, asking for help in setting up a roadblock.

  “We believe the woman is planning to set off a bomb at Kingdom Come Park as soon as it opens this spring. She’s one of those immigrants causing all that trouble up in Cincy.”

  “Ah.” Halsey had heard about the protests. “But weren’t those people up there the ones protesting against the terrorists in their country?”

  The man, who’d identified himself as Garrett Leland, flashing Department of Homeland Security credentials to prove it, arched his eyebrows as if surprised the police chief knew even that much about the immigrant protests.

  What, he thought Halsey was some sort of inbred hillbilly cop who hissed and spat at the mere thought of foreigners in his neck of the woods? Halsey’s wife was from Nigeria. His kids were half-black. Ol’ Garrett Leland had picked the wrong yokel if he thought he could play the foreigner card.

  “She was involved with four terrorist bombings in Kaziristan, and another in France. We believe she’s radicalized the father of her unborn child and they should both be considered armed and extremely dangerous.” Leland placed a photograph on Halsey’s desk. It looked like a security camera image, a little grainy, showing a very pregnant woman wearing a shabby overcoat and a gauzy scarf over her dark hair.

  Pretty girl, Halsey thought. Didn’t look like a terrorist, but looks could be deceiving. And if there was any chance the woman was up to no good in his neck of the woods...

  He released a sigh. “Okay, tell me what you need.”

  He didn’t like the smile that flashed across Garrett Leland’s face.

  * * *

  “HIS NAME IS Garrett Leland,” Jesse Cooper said. “He’s an agent with Homeland Security.”

  “You’re kidding me,” Connor said.

  “I wish I were.”

  “We haven’t made a direct link between him and Barton Reid.” The speaker was a dark-haired woman with intelligent blue eyes and a quirky smile. Evie Cooper, Jesse’s wife. Like Jesse, she was dressed in dark clothes and well-armed, though she confessed, as she buckled herself into the passenger seat, that she worked in Cooper Security’s accounting office.