Witness Protection Unraveled (Protected Identities Book 3)

by Maggie K. Black

  “Son,” Chief Peters said, his voice firm and strong, “give me back my gun.”

  “Look, I know it sounds crazy,” Travis said. “But all I need is his cell phone. It’ll take my buddy Seth here a couple of minutes to prove if what I’m saying is right. If I’m wrong, you can arrest me and I’ll go without argument. If I’m right, Jess’s life is on the line.”

  “Come on!” Alvin said. “You can’t believe him!”

  “Detective!” Chief Peters’s voice rose. “Stop dillydallying, hand me back my weapon and go get his phone.”

  Travis took a deep breath, prayed for wisdom and handed Chief Peters the gun.

  “Thank you.” The chief turned the weapon on the kindergarten teacher. “Give him the phone, Alvin.” Then he glanced around the room. “Show’s over. Everyone get out of here. Quickly and safely. Go.”

  People began to evacuate along the sides of the room as the cop turned to his shoulder mic and called for backup. Travis realized suddenly that Chief Peters could’ve called for backup at any time before, instead of hearing him out.

  Travis started across the floor toward Alvin. But before he’d gotten halfway across the room, Alvin’s hand darted to his side. The kindergarten teacher yanked out a gun and pointed it at Travis.

  “Just let me go and nobody gets hurt!” Alvin shouted.

  Travis rolled his eyes and leaped, feeling years of dormant instincts course through his body as he caught Alvin around the middle, forcing the gun over his head as he brought him to the ground. He pressed Alvin back against the floor hard with one hand. With the other, he pried the weapon from his hand and sent it sliding across the floor to Chief Peters.

  Alvin looked up at him, his eyes wide and manic. “Okay, you’re right. But I can tell you how to reach the Chimera. I can give you the dark web IP addresses he used to contact me. I’ll tell you everything you need to know. All I want is ten thousand dollars cash and that brat’s weird, upside-down picture book.”

  Willow’s favorite bedtime storybook? That’s what all this was about?

  “I’m not negotiating.” Travis pinned him down.

  “You can’t search my phone without a warrant!” Alvin snarled. “You need me to give you the password, otherwise by the time you get a warrant to crack my phone, Jess will be dead.”

  “Oh, I’m a former detective,” Travis said. “Seth’s not law enforcement at all. And if Chief Peters wants to arrest me for snooping through someone’s phone, I will gladly plead guilty and take the misdemeanor.”

  He yanked the phone from Alvin’s sweatshirt pocket and slid it across the floor to Seth.

  “Crack it,” Travis said. “Find the Chimera. Tell him that the RCMP detective who took down his operation, saw his face and missed the shot is very much alive and wants to trade his own life for Detective Jessica Eddington’s.”

  * * *

  The helicopter was turning around. Jess could feel it moving beneath her, but all she could see out the windows was an endless field of sky. She didn’t know how long she’d been sitting in the back of a helicopter with a gun pointed at her face and her hands tied together. But all that time she’d been flying, not knowing where she was going or what awaited her, she’d had something important to hold on to—the others had escaped. Willow and Dominic had been rescued. Seth was okay, would contact her team and they’d mount a rescue.

  Travis would find her. She didn’t know how or when, but somehow she had faith that she would see him again. Her former partner, the one who’d always tugged at her heartstrings, the man she liked, respected and admired most in the world somehow had feelings for her. Just like she did for him.

  The helicopter began to dip. They sank, lower and lower, until she felt the jolt of ground beneath her as they landed.

  She looked out the window. They were in a small airfield surrounded by trees. Were they still in Ontario? Were they in northern Manitoba or southern Nunavut? Had they somehow crossed into the United States? A large black and windowless van was parked on the tarmac. She’d seen enough nearly identical vehicles in photos and case files to know that when someone took an unwilling and non-optional ride in one, they usually didn’t come back.

  The helicopter door in front of her was opened by one masked man in dark fatigues, while another slit her zip-tied hands free from the seat, yanked her arms together, retied her wrists and then practically shoved her so hard she nearly fell.

  These was all scare tactics. Ones that she and Travis had studied all too well. It was all intended to frighten and intimidate people into complying and to keep them from trying to escape. Her jaw clenched as she made her way across the tarmac toward the waiting van. Knowing with every step that no matter what they did to cow her, it wouldn’t work. No matter what, she would never give up hope.

  She was shoved into the back of the van. It was partitioned just like the helicopter, with a wall of what looked like bulletproof glass separating the front seats from the back and a screen mounted behind the driver. She fell onto one of the two bench seats that ran across the van lengthwise and sat awkwardly without a seat belt. Two masked men climbed into the back with her, then two others got into the front and they drove off.

  Her captors were talking both to each other and on their phones in a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian, their words clipped and static. She leaned her head against the wall of the vehicle and closed her eyes, pretending not to listen in or to understand the snatches of words and conversation as they moved around her.

  “...GPS coordinates...”

  “...he’s a high-risk individual...”

  “...Chimera will want visual confirmation...”

  The texture of the ground changed beneath the tires of the vehicle as the van slowed. She could hear the faint sound of rushing water fill her ears as the back door of the van sprang open.

  She opened her eyes and then she saw him.

  Travis.

  Her former partner was standing alone, without any obvious backup, vehicle or weapon, on a long bridge that arched high over what sounded like a river.

  Improbably, and despite all obstacles, her brave, stubborn, impossible and incredible man had found her. One of the masked men bounded out of the back and shouted at Travis to raise his hands and approach the van.

  Travis turned, stretched his strong arms up to the sky, and walked slowly toward them. His chin was raised and his eyes were strong. When he got about twelve feet away, a second masked man jumped out from the passenger-side door and told Travis to drop to his knees and place his hands on his head. He did so.

  One man kept a gun trained on Travis, while the other patted him down, confiscated his cell phone and smashed it on the ground under his feet. Then he slowly waved a metal detector over Travis for good measure, making sure he had no weapons of any kind. And all the while, Travis’s gaze never left Jess’s face. He was ordered back to his feet, his hands were zip-tied in front of him and then he was shoved toward the door and onto the bench seat across from Jess. Travis’s eyes met hers, and although neither of them spoke, she could feel the weight of unspoken words move through the silence between them.

  One masked man shut the door and then went around and got in the front of the van. The other touched the screen mounted behind the driver’s seat. It flickered to life and the featureless silhouette of a man’s face appeared, an indistinct part of a city skyline behind him.

  Even before she heard his distorted voice, she knew it was the Chimera.

  “Yeah,” the Chimera said. “That’s the guy. How you were stupid enough to have him in your grasp earlier and let him get away will be dealt with later. In the meantime, bring them both to me.”

  “Wait!” Travis’s voice rose high and like a shout. “Mr. Chimera, sir! You promised me you’d let her go, if I turned myself in. That was the deal!”

  The Chimera didn’t respond. He just laughed. It was a l
ow, guttural, dismissive sound. Then he ended the video call.

  The vehicle started to rumble across the bridge. Travis leaped to his feet, in a single swift motion, before their captors could even respond. His hands clenched and arms flexed as he raised them above his head and brought them down so sharply the zip ties snapped.

  The mercenaries’ weapons swung toward him.

  “Jess!” he shouted. “Close your eyes! Now!”

  FOURTEEN

  Jess shut her eyes tightly. The light that filled the van was so bright, sharp and blinding that even with her eyes closed she could see the world lighten beneath her eyelids. Voices shouted. The van spun wildly, careening out of control. Then she felt Travis launching himself at her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tight into his chest.

  “Hang on!” Travis shouted. “It’s going to get rough.”

  But even as he said the words, she heard the loud, screeching sound of metal smashing against metal. The van jolted hard, tossing them sideways. The masked men’s shouting and swearing grew louder. They were panicking, their eyes hurting, and she remembered what being hit by that light for the first time had been like, before she’d known it was temporary. Then she felt the world drop out from underneath them as the van flew off the edge of the bridge and down toward the raging river below.

  They struck the water nose-first. The van began to sink.

  “Now to get out of here,” Travis said.

  She opened her eyes. They were sideways, halfway up the back of the sinking van, their feet braced against the end of the bench. She glanced down to see the two masked men, flailing and disoriented, as their eyesight began to recover. Travis reached up and shoved the van’s back door open. Pale blue sky lay ahead. Sunlight filled her eyes.

  “Come on.” Travis wrapped one arm around her waist. With the other he reached up and grabbed the edge of the open door. “You can still swim, right?”

  “I can kick,” she said, “but my hands are tied.”

  “It’s okay, I’ll help you.”

  They pushed off against the seat and Travis shoved his way out of the sinking van, lifting her along with him and leaving the masked men behind as they scrambled for their weapons.

  Travis and Jess half jumped and half fell into the water. The river rushed cold and hard around them, threatening to pull them under. But Travis’s arm stayed tight around her waist as he swam with her toward the shore. She felt the ground under her feet as they stumbled together out of the river and toward the muddy slope. The sound of motors seemed to rumble from all sides, growing louder by the moment. She looked around and counted three RCMP rescue boats coming at them rapid-speed down the river and saw two police helicopters cresting the horizon.

  Her head shook in amazement. “How did you do all this?”

  “It was your team,” he said. “They’re pretty amazing. I probably should’ve listened to you all a lot sooner.”

  Travis helped her up the slope and away from the water’s edge. He didn’t stop until they reached the top of the bank and were back on the bridge. There was a gaping hole of twisted railing metal where the van had broken through. She looked down. The van still bobbed in the water, and it looked like all of the masked mercenaries had made it out and were swimming to shore, only to be greeted by armed officers. A sigh of relief left her lungs.

  Travis slid his hands down her arms and onto her bound wrists. He cradled her fingers in one of his hands.

  “Hang on,” he said. “I have something for that.”

  He pulled what looked like a tiny ceramic blade from deep within his pocket, slid it between the zip ties and sliced through. Her arms fell free. She threw them around his neck and he pulled her close.

  “How did...?” Her words faltered on her lips as she looked into his deep and fathomless eyes.

  “How did I break my own zip ties?” he asked. “A combination of knowing when and how to flex my muscles when they slipped them on me, and some skill in ripping my hands apart. Like I said, I had a lot of free time when I moved here and watched a lot of online videos.”

  She laughed and felt him pull her closer.

  “I meant how did all of this happen?” she asked. “How did you find me? How did you use a tactical light against them? How did you summon the cavalry?”

  “Willow found the Shiny Man,” he said. “It was her teacher, Alvin Walker. There was a cleanup effort at the bookstore this morning and when Alvin put his arms around Willow, she knew it was him instantly. Chief Peters then stepped in to arrest him.

  “For some reason he badly wanted to get his hands on her special bedtime storybook. Hopefully, Seth can research it and tell us why. Alvin was coordinating with Braden when he and Cleo took Patricia to the hospital. Seth got hold of Alvin’s phone, used it to track down the Chimera, and put out the word I was willing to trade my life for yours.”

  Another RCMP helicopter roared over them, drowning out Travis’s voice. They waited while it passed.

  “Liam managed the RCMP side of the operation,” Travis said, “including securing the rendezvous spot. Seth used the Shiny Man’s goodies to rig an explosive light that would pass a metal detector, in case the Chimera’s men scanned me for weapons. Seth is back in Kilpatrick with the kids, coordinating the tech side. He used a cell signal pinging device hidden in the smashed phone to track the Chimera’s signal and triangulate his location. As soon as he gets a location, several RCMP teams are standing by in major city centers to swoop in and take them down. I’m just thankful your team trusted me to be the one to go in and rescue you.”

  “You told the Chimera that you were there to trade your life for mine,” she said.

  “If all else had failed,” Travis said, “I would’ve. One hundred percent. Surely, you know I’d do anything for you.”

  “I do,” she said, “and you know I would for you.”

  A grin turned at the corners of his generous mouth. He brushed his fingers along the line of her jaw. He lowered his face toward hers. Their lips met.

  “Jess!” Liam’s voice boomed to her right. “Travis!”

  They pulled back. Her colleague and friend was pelting down the bridge toward them. The large man paused and glanced at each of them in turn, like he wasn’t sure how to interpret the moment he’d barged into. “We’ve got to go. Patricia Tatlow has woken up!”

  * * *

  An RCMP helicopter flew them straight to Sudbury. Seth and the children were already en route in a different chopper and would meet them there.

  Travis and Jess sat side by side in the back, with their fingers linked. He hadn’t let go of Jess’s hand once since they’d fastened their seat belts, and she hadn’t let go of his, either. He had no idea what would happen next. All he knew was that he never wanted to let go of her hand again.

  “The RCMP division in Victoria, British Columbia, has made an arrest,” Liam said. He leaned toward them and handed Travis a tablet computer. “Hopefully it’s the Chimera. We need you to make a positive identification.”

  Travis glanced at the screen. The face of a stranger with a strong jaw and firm eyes stared back at him. His heart sank. It wasn’t him. Lord, whoever the Chimera is and wherever he’s disappeared to, please may he be caught one day. Travis shook his head and handed the tablet back.

  “No, I’m sorry,” Travis said. “Whoever that man is, he’s not the Chimera.”

  “Good,” Liam said with a chuckle. “That’s my buddy Jacob. If he was the Chimera, we’d have a big problem. Just had to make sure you weren’t eager to finger the first face you saw.” He flicked the screen and two more faces came up. “How about these?”

  More strangers. “No.” Travis shook his head.

  Liam nodded and pulled up two more faces. Travis glanced at the screen. This time he didn’t hesitate for a moment.

  “This one.” He pointed to the face on the left. “This
man’s the Chimera.”

  “You sure?” Liam’s eyebrow rose.

  “Absolutely,” Travis said. “No two ways about it.”

  Liam let out a long sigh of relief and leaned back against the seat. Then he grabbed his phone and dialed a number. “Hey, it’s me. Witness was presented with five photos and identified Alexi Viktor, the man we have in custody.” He grit his teeth as he grinned. “Looks like we finally got him.”

  Travis could almost feel the palpable relief that swept over Jess. But Travis felt oddly cold, as he stared down at the man’s face on his screen. He’d only gotten a glimpse of the man before, but now that he could really study his face, he was struck by how bland it was in its ordinariness.

  Alexi Viktor, aka the Chimera, was slightly overweight and slightly bald. He had the kind of pale skin that implied he spent most of his life behind a desk and an everyday unattractiveness that made him the kind of person who’d be overlooked and ignored, instead of stared at. It was an incredibly unremarkable ordinariness that had made it so hard for anyone to match the police sketch Travis had provided and thus allowed the Chimera to pass through so many international airports without being noticed.

  But there was something else in the face, too. The slight sneer at the corner of his mouth and a glint of arrogance in his eyes that showed he thought whoever the person was who’d snapped his picture during his arrest was so far beneath him they didn’t even count as human. Yeah, Travis had seen that look in the Chimera’s eyes first-hand when he’d missed his shot. He’d never forget it.

  He leaned back against the seat as finally the tension he’d been carrying fell from his shoulders.

  Thank you, Lord. Just...thank you.

  “There’s been a huge sweep of his entire place,” Liam said. “It’s the same holiday complex that Jess was scheduled to work at. Over four dozen people were arrested. We also rescued several others who claimed they’d being forced to work there against their will.”