Explosive Force

by Lynette Eason

  When he turned back to Heidi, he caught sight of a man in a hoodie just outside the shop window. He was just standing there, his face shadowed by the hood, his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans. Nick frowned as he pulled out his debit card and passed it to the clerk. She swiped it and handed it back to him.

  He took a second to scrawl a tip and signature. When he looked back, the man was gone.

  He sighed. Paranoia was not a good thing. Then again...

  Picking up the bags, he nodded to the door. “Ready?”

  “Sure.” She unwrapped a piece of the fudge and took a bite. Then gave a piece to him.

  He chewed and smiled, but his attention was on the window. “Stay behind me, okay?”

  Her eyes sharpened and she frowned. “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe nothing.”

  “Maybe something. What?”

  “A guy watching through the window. Could have been nothing, but it’s making me nervous.”

  “You think someone followed us here?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I was watching and didn’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean someone couldn’t have trailed us.”

  They stepped out of the shop and Nick made sure to angle himself in front of her. People walked on the sidewalk to his right and to his left. Across the street, a family sat outside at one of the tables belonging to the little café.

  But he saw no man in a dark hoodie.

  While he knew he hadn’t imagined seeing the man, maybe he was overreacting. Nevertheless, he gripped the bags tighter with one hand and slipped his other under her elbow as they walked.

  “You’re making me really nervous, Nick.”

  “Sorry.”

  They made it to his car with no incident, but the whole way he felt like he had a target on his back. Or Heidi did. Once they were on the way back to the base, Nick watched the rearview mirror.

  “Do you see someone?” Heidi asked him.

  “Maybe. A car pulled out of the parking lot behind us.” He flexed his fingers on the wheel. Then relaxed. “And it just turned off.”

  “I’m sorry you’ve gotten all caught up in this,” she said softly.

  “Not your fault.”

  “Maybe not, but I still feel bad about it. When do you think you’ll hear something about the explosions? Like whether or not they’re related?”

  He shrugged. “Probably in the next day or so.”

  She fell silent and he continued to watch the road, the mirrors, the surrounding area. The shopping center wasn’t too far from the base, and soon, he was turning into the entrance.

  Back at his house, he helped her unload the bags and led the way inside.

  He found his grandfather talking to Felicity James. She stood. “Hello, Heidi, I just stopped by to check on you.”

  Heidi set her bags on the end of the sofa and gave her friend a hug. “Thank you. I’m doing all right. I’m just in the process of replacing my wardrobe. I’ll be sure to get your clothes washed and back to you soon.”

  “There’s no hurry on that. Any news on who was responsible for the explosion?”

  “No, not yet.”

  She nodded. “Well, I brought a casserole and pie for you guys for dinner. I won’t stay. I just wanted to check on you.”

  “Thanks, Felicity, I appreciate it.”

  “And...”

  “And what?”

  “Have you seen the latest blog post?”

  Heidi groaned. “Seriously? There’s more?”

  “Yes. Westley and Justin are fit to be tied. This anonymous blogger is causing everyone on the investigative team a lot of grief. Are you sure you don’t know who it is?”

  Heidi froze. “What are you saying?”

  “Nothing. And I’m not accusing. I just thought maybe a name might have occurred to you, or—”

  “Westley told you to come over here and ask me this, didn’t he?”

  * * *

  A flush crept up her friend’s neck and into her cheeks. She groaned. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not Heidi,” Nick said from behind her.

  Felicity stilled, then looked past Heidi to meet Nick’s eyes. “I don’t think so, either.”

  “Then convince your husband and tell him to leave her alone. Please.”

  Biting her lip, Felicity gave a slow nod. “All right. I’ll do my best.”

  “Thank you.”

  She rose. “Well, I guess I’ll take off. Heidi, if you need anything, you’ll call, right?”

  “Of course. Thank you.”

  “No hard feelings?”

  “None toward you.” She scowled.

  Felicity gave her a small smile, then left. Heidi’s shoulders wilted. An arm slid around them. “She means well.”

  “I know.” She sniffed. And then she followed her nose into the kitchen. “That smells amazing.”

  “Guess we know what we’re having for dinner.”

  “So,” the colonel said, “who’s up for a game of Scrabble?”

  Heidi grinned. “I love that game. And I’m good at it, too.”

  Nick raised a brow. “Hmm. We’ll see about that.”

  “Is that a challenge, First Lieutenant?”

  “It is, First Lieutenant.”

  “You’re on.”

  It was a fun evening. They played two games and ate half the casserole and the entire apple pie before calling it a night.

  On his way to his room, Nick cupped her cheek. “I’m glad you’re here, Heidi.” He paused. “Let me clarify. I’m not glad for the reason you needed a roof over your head, but I’m glad Gramps and I were able to provide this one.”

  “Thanks, Nick.” He smiled, and she watched him disappear into his room before slipping into hers.

  She lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. She’d enjoyed today. She’d actually had fun in a way she hadn’t had in a very long time. Scrabble had been her dad’s favorite game and playing tonight had resurrected memories she’d thought she’d tucked away forever. Good memories, but still painful because they brought home how much she missed her father.

  But Nick’s grandfather was clever and smart. He’d won the first game before Heidi had trounced them in the second. Nick had simply shaken his head and declared the tiles had been against him. “How am I supposed to come up with a word with six vowels and a Z? No one can win with that.”

  His good-natured grumbling had endeared him to her even more, and she’d been astonished at how fast the time had flown.

  While she’d been granted more time off due to the explosion, Heidi planned to get back to work on the story of the stolen medals first thing in the morning.

  Fatigue pulled at her and she gave in to it. Feeling safe and well guarded, Heidi let her eyes close.

  Only to have them fly open after what seemed like seconds, but according to the clock, was two hours. One in the morning. What had awakened her?

  She sat up and listened.

  Voices.

  Nothing that sounded alarming, but the reporter in her perked up. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a new pair of jeans and a lightweight sweater she’d purchased on the shopping trip with Nick.

  She opened the window and the voices sharpened. “...just sitting here. I say you need to call the trainer. It’s probably one of the still-missing dogs. Call Westley James. He can be here in no time.”

  Heidi shoved her feet into the tennis shoes next to her bed, grabbed her recorder and notebook, and hurried into the living area, where she found Nick standing in the foyer, hand on the doorknob. “I’m just going to see what’s going on,” he said. “You can go on back to bed.”

  Heidi laughed. “Right. Let’s go.”

  “Heid—”

  She slipped around him, turned the knob an
d was on the porch before he could blink. She thought he might have emitted a low growl, but she was more interested in what was happening over near the entrance gate. Since Nick and his grandfather lived in the end unit of the row of houses, they were closest to the gate entrance.

  Which explained why she heard the commotion. With her voice-activated recorder in her pocket, notebook in hand and a protesting Nick right behind her, she hurried to see what was going on.

  Nick pulled up beside her when she stopped near the growing crowd of onlookers. “What is it?” she asked the airman nearest her.

  “A dog showed up.”

  “One of the working dogs that are still missing?” Heidi asked.

  “That’s what they’re trying to figure out. Master Sergeant James should be here soon as well as Rusty Morton.” Rusty was one of the trainers from the K-9 center.

  Rusty arrived first, followed by Westley and Felicity. “What do we have here?” Westley asked.

  A young airman stepped forward. He was one of the guards who monitored the base entrance gate. “Sir, I was on duty when I noticed this dog just outside the gate. He simply walked up and sat down as though waiting for someone to let him inside.”

  “Does he have a collar?”

  “I didn’t get close enough to check, sir.”

  Westley nodded and approached the open gate. “That looks like Patriot.” The German shepherd watched him, ears up, tail wagging. “He’s friendly like Patriot.” Westley murmured, “Stay.”

  He reached for the tag and Heidi moved so she could see while describing the scene into her voice recorder. Nick stayed by her side and she thought he was looking everywhere but at the action in front of them. It hit her that he was nervous about her being out in the open.

  But she was surrounded by people.

  “His tag says Poco.” Westley looked back at Rusty. “Call him.”

  “Poco! Come!” The dog’s ears twitched, but he didn’t move.

  “Try Patriot,” Westley said.

  “Patriot, come!” The dog bounded over to the trainer, who scratched his ears. Rusty looked up. “This is Patriot, all right.”

  Other than his coat needing a good brushing, he looked healthy enough to her.

  Rusty looked up. “Someone’s been feeding him. Or he’s found a well-stocked trash can. Not sure what made him come home, but I’m glad he’s here.” Westley nodded. “This gives me hope. Patriot’s one of the best. One of our superstar dogs. If he found his way home, then maybe the other three will, too.” He spotted Nick in the crowd and waved him over. Heidi stayed on his heels. Westley’s brows rose at her presence, but she simply shot him a smile. He turned his attention to Nick. “I want to meet with the investigative team as soon as possible. We need to go house to house and see if anyone has noticed who’s been taking care of this dog. Tell them his name is Poco since that’s what the person would have called him.”

  Heidi’s jaw dropped. “It’s one in the morning. You’re going to wake people up?”

  “We do what we have to do in an investigation. You know that.”

  “Of course.”

  Zip it, Heidi.

  Heidi stepped up to Westley. “Where do you think he came from?”

  “I don’t know. We’re working on finding out.”

  “So, if Patriot got off the base, then did the other dogs get off, too?”

  “Working on that, too. Wish I had the answers to those questions.”

  “And why is he wearing a different collar?” Nick asked. “Someone changed it.”

  “So, this guy has been missing for months and now he shows up out of the blue,” Westley said. “He’s on the skinny side, but not starving so he’s getting food from somewhere.” He ran a hand over the dog’s coat. “Needs a good brushing.”

  “Someone’s been taking care of him,” Heidi said.

  Westley examined the dog’s paws. “And probably someone who’s fairly close to the base. He didn’t walk too far to get here. Paws are in fine shape.”

  “What’s being done to find the other twenty dogs, sir? Especially the three others that Nick said were so special?” Heidi held her pen over her notebook.

  “We’ve got people looking for them.”

  Heidi wasn’t going to be deterred by his vague answer. “Looking where, sir?”

  “Off base.” He quirked a smile at her, not at all fazed by her persistence. “Is this going to be the headline in the morning?”

  She shrugged. “Of course. It’s news.”

  “Yep, I guess it is.”

  “Are you planning to offer a reward for the safe return of the other dogs now that you know it’s possible they could be nearby?” she asked.

  “We were hoping it wouldn’t come to that, but it’s possible we’re going to have to do that. That’s enough questions for now.”

  He started to walk away, but she kept up with him. “Just a couple more, if you don’t mind.” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Has anyone discovered Sullivan’s motive in releasing the dogs a few months ago? Have you figured out what reason he could possibly have?”

  Westley sighed. “Come on, Heidi, you’ve already asked me these questions. I didn’t have answers then, and I still don’t. I wish I did. Now, that’s enough. I’ve got a case to work.” He turned to the young man who’d clipped a leash on the collar. “All right, Rusty, get him to the vet and have him checked out, will you? The rest of you fan out and let’s see if anyone’s going to admit to missing a dog named Poco. Someone put that collar on him, and I want to know who it was. Don’t let on that he’s a base dog. Just act like he’s a stray.”

  Rusty left with Patriot, while several members of the investigative team who’d been called in left to begin knocking on doors.

  Westley nodded to Nick and Annie. “Are you still on Heidi duty?”

  “I am.”

  Heidi duty? She grimaced, but let it go. Already, she was forming the article in her head while she continued to watch everything play out.

  She finally nudged Nick. “Come on, let’s go. I want to get the reaction of the neighbors being questioned at one in the morning.”

  He frowned. “I don’t like that we’re out in the open like this.”

  “I don’t like it, either, but honestly, I’m not going to let this guy keep me from doing my job. I’ve got a story to write and I need something to put in it.” She scanned the area and, across the street, spotted two MPs on the front porch of the closest house. She headed that way and heard Nick’s exasperated sigh. “Fine, I’ll go and watch your back.”

  “Thanks.” Although, she knew he might not spot a sniper. That worried her, but what was she going to do? Put her life on hold until whoever was after her was caught?

  She grimaced. It might be the smart thing to do, but...” My dad wouldn’t let this stop him,” she said softly. “He’d go right into the fray and get the story.”

  “But—”

  She cut off his words and shot him a sad smile. “I know. But he ended up dead. That’s what you’re thinking, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged. “Thinking, yes. Saying, no.” He absently scratched Annie’s ears and the dog leaned into him.

  “It’s okay. I can say it.” She sighed and shook her head. “I just can’t sit back and do nothing.”

  “I know. Let’s just be careful.”

  “You’re still sticking with me?”

  “Those are the orders.”

  “Right.” She looked at the ground. “Of course.”

  He tilted her chin to look her in the eye. “And if they weren’t orders, I’d request them.”

  “You would?”

  “I would.”

  “Why?”

  “Because.”

  With another roll of her eyes, she did her best to hold back the smile that wanted to sprea
d across her face. “All right, then. Let’s go.”

  They approached the nearest MP speaking to the sleepy-looking woman who’d opened the screen door. She shook her head. “I don’t know anyone who owns a dog named Poco. Sorry. Can’t believe you woke me up for that.” She slammed the door.

  Heidi shook her head.

  They walked to the next home and for the next hour they got the same response—and several more slammed doors.

  Nick cupped her elbow and brought her to a stop. “Are you ready to head back yet?”

  With a sigh, she nodded. “I guess so. This is looking pretty pointless.”

  Nick turned her back toward his house. “What would you think of leaving the base? Going into hiding until all of this is resolved?”

  “What do you think I think about that?”

  “Right. I kind of figured that would be what you thought.”

  She bit her lip. “I can’t hide, Nick. Even though that’s my first instinct, I just can’t do it. This guy wants me scared and cowering.”

  “No, I don’t think he does.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think he just wants you dead, Heidi, and that’s what scares me.”

  TEN

  “Come on, Heidi,” Nick said. “There’s nothing more to do here tonight.”

  She looked up from the little black notebook, then tucked it into her pocket with a sigh. “I guess you’re right, but I’ve got some good stuff to work with.”

  “I suppose you’re going to write this up for tomorrow,” a voice said from behind Nick. He turned to see John Robinson looking at Heidi. That man was as annoying as a sandstorm.

  “No, John, I’m going to ignore it—and my job. What do you think?”

  The man’s eyes flashed and he stepped closer to Heidi. “I think you’d better watch your step or I may have to go to Lou.”

  Nick ventured forward. “Hey, Robinson, you’re out of line. Watch your space.”

  John looked back over his shoulder at Nick, then brushed past Heidi. She stumbled back a couple of steps and Nick reached forward to grasp her forearm. “You’re dangerously close to assault, Robinson.”

  “Sorry, sorry.” He held a hand up. “I stumbled.” He smirked and stalked off.

  Heidi stood glaring after the man and Nick turned her toward his house. “Forget him for tonight. Let’s go home.”