“It was all God.”
She shifted in her chair, her unbelief evident on her contorted face. “Not sure I believe that.”
“It’s the only answer, Kaylin. He made me fumble with my keys and drop them. That’s not something I normally do.” Why did she have such a hard time believing?
She shrugged. “Well, I’m not so sure. Why did He allow it to happen in the first place?”
How could he make her understand? “Listen, I don’t have all the answers. I just know He loves me. You, too.”
She bit her lip and looked away.
Clearly something had happened in the past to steer her from a loving God. Would she ever tell him what it was?
I want to know more about you, Kaylin.
He cleared his throat. Time to change the subject. “What have the authorities said about the bombing?”
“They questioned me here at the hospital and I gave them my statement, which wasn’t much to go on.” She leaned in, resting her elbows on the bed. “How did they know where we were to get access to your car?”
He raised the bed and eased himself up. “I don’t know, but we’ve obviously struck a nerve with someone.” His head pounded. He needed some of his migraine medication to stop it from getting worse.
Kaylin suddenly sat back and crossed her arms over her middle.
He studied her tight expression. Was it anxiousness or fear showing on her pretty face? “What are you thinking?”
She twirled a ring around her finger. “This is all my fault. They’re targeting me. Maybe Dad is right. I should remove myself from this task force.”
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re getting closer and we need you. You’re determined and capable.” He lowered the railings and swung his legs over the side. “I need my phone.” It was time to get moving. He couldn’t lie around all day.
She jumped up and stood in front of him. “Get back into bed. You’re in no condition to be leaving this hospital.”
Their eyes locked for a moment. Why did he have the sudden urge to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay? He shook his head to clear the image rolling through his brain. Where did that come from? She was messing with his head. Hudson, focus. You don’t need to fall for another woman. He would not surrender to those chocolate brown eyes.
He looked away to break his concentration. “I need to call my sergeant to get you protection. Twenty-four/seven.”
She pushed him back into the narrow hospital bed. “You’re not going anywhere, and I can take care of myself.” She handed him his cell phone. “But you can have this back. Your fiancée called.”
The disdain in her voice revealed the reason for her sudden mood change.
He blinked. “My who?”
“You know, Rebecca.” Her lips flattened.
“She’s not—”
“I gotta run and get a new cell phone since mine was destroyed. Talk to you later, okay?” She rushed from the room before he had a chance to explain.
His cell phone buzzed. His boss. “Hey, Sarge.”
“How are you feeling? I heard about the bombing.”
“My head throbs.”
“Just wanted to let you know they found the trigger. Looks like remote detonation. They were watching you.”
Chills danced along his skin, forming goose bumps. Someone had indeed targeted them.
Now they were in more danger.
He needed to call Kaylin.
But how? She didn’t have a cell phone.
* * *
Kaylin spotted a man wearing a baseball cap low over his eyes. He stood behind a column in the cellular store, watching her. She felt a chill at the back of her neck. Was he following her? She stepped away from the counter and circled around him. He moved to a kiosk and fingered the phones, keeping his head dipped. Seconds later he exited the store.
She let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and stepped to the counter and pointed to a cell phone to purchase, giving the clerk her information.
An hour later, she arrived back at her apartment and looked right, then left before inserting her key into the lock. She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her, but there hadn’t been a tail on her drive home. She circled her subdivision just in case. And an officer was camped outside her building. Again.
Get a grip.
She walked inside her two-bedroom apartment, placed her keys on the foyer table and removed her gun before locking it in her hidden safe. She had received special permission to bring her weapon home and she couldn’t be too careful.
Sassme greeted her by rubbing around her legs. Kaylin scooped the cat up and snuggled into her soft fur. It tickled Kaylin’s nose. “Hey, girl. You hungry?”
The cat meowed as if in agreement.
“Okay.” She carried her pet into the kitchen and set her on the floor before filling the dish with food.
Her mind raced back to Hudson. They’d had a moment in his hospital room. She struggled with feelings she never thought she’d have for someone again.
Stop it. He’d never go for you.
She had too much baggage and she’d have to share more than she wanted to.
And besides, he had Rebecca.
Kaylin needed to get her mind off him. Perhaps a call to her friend was in order. She turned her cell phone back on and selected her best bud’s number. Hannah Morgan now lived in Whitehorse, Yukon, patrolling the border along Yukon and Alaska.
Hannah answered on the third ring.
“Hey, friend. It’s me. Good to hear your voice. I miss you.” Kaylin had met Hannah on the streets of Windsor and they’d both ended up living with Diane. Hannah was the sister Kaylin never had. They’d been inseparable during her high school years and had also gone to CBSA college together.
“How’s it going at the Windsor-Detroit border?”
“Interesting. Dad has ordered me to work on a doda drug smuggling ring with police officer Hudson Steeves.” Kaylin moved into her bedroom and plunked herself on the bed.
“Him again? Didn’t you have issues with him on Jake’s case?”
“Yes. He seems different this time, though. Kinder.”
Hannah whistled. “Do I hear admiration in your voice?”
Kaylin removed the radio from her shoulder. “Maybe.” She grabbed her pajamas from a drawer and headed to the bathroom. “Doesn’t matter, though. He has a fiancée.” The contempt in her voice surprised even herself. Had she developed a crush on the constable in only two days?
“You sound bitter.”
“Just tired.” Tired of being targeted. She pulled a towel and washcloth out of her linen closet, dropping them on the bathroom vanity. “What are you working on?”
“We’re having issues of children being kidnapped and smuggled across different border crossings between Yukon and Alaska. I guess they’re putting together a task force to deal with it.”
“Will you be on it?”
“I hope so. It breaks my heart. All those kids torn from their families. For what? To work in sweatshops?”
“Sad.”
“How’s your dad?”
She walked back into the living room and flipped on her TV. The newscast replayed her father’s attempted abduction. Sassme jumped on her lap, circled a few times and then lay down. Kaylin buried her fingers in the cat’s fur. Its softness soothed her. “The same.”
“You need to forgive, my friend. It’s what God wants.”
Kaylin huffed. “You sound like Diane.”
“It’s true. God is calling to you. Surrender your life to Him.”
“Oh. Guess what? Hudson is a Christian, too. I’m surrounded.”
Hannah laughed. “Good, maybe he can knock some sense into you.”
Kaylin kicked her feet up on the coffee table, disturbing Sassme, who scurried out of the room. “I doubt it.”
“Kaylin, the bitterness is holding you back from a life of freedom. You need peace and the only way you’ll get it is through forgiveness.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ward off a tension headache. “How can you say that after knowing what my father did to me?”
“I know it’s hard, but living the way you are is eating you up. He’s trying to make amends.”
Kaylin couldn’t listen to her friend anymore. She didn’t understand. It wasn’t that easy to forget the past. “Listen, I gotta run. Good chatting with you. Talk again next week?”
Hannah sighed. “Sure. Sorry if I overstepped my bounds. I only want the best for you.”
“I know. Love you.”
“You, too, my friend. Bye.”
Kaylin hung up and snapped off the TV. She texted Hudson and let him know her new number.
Within moments, her cell phone buzzed with a message from Hudson.
Tks 4 ur new #.
NP. How r u feeling?
Better. Sarge says bomb set off by remote. Be careful.
Will do. Nite.
C u 2moro.
Kaylin walked to her bathroom, tossed her cell phone on the vanity table and grabbed her hairbrush. She pulled the elastic from her ponytail and massaged her head. The blast had thrown her and now she was feeling it. She rubbed her arms where the glass had sliced her skin. Was that just a few hours ago? The long day had taken its toll and she needed sleep.
Sassme trotted into the room and jumped up on the vanity, watching her with wide eyes.
Kaylin rubbed the cat’s head before squirting toothpaste onto her toothbrush. She turned on the faucet.
Creak.
She paused. What was that?
Creak.
She snapped the faucet off and listened.
Drawers opened and closed in her bedroom.
She clamped her hand over her mouth and grabbed Sassme, squeezing her tight. Someone was in her apartment.
And her gun was locked away in another room.
NINE
Hudson thrashed about, exhaustion consuming his battered body. He tried to get into a comfortable position on the narrow bed but wasn’t successful. He wanted to go home and crawl into his own comfy bed, but the doctor wanted him kept overnight for observation. If all was well in the morning, they’d release him. He couldn’t get out of there quick enough. His sister had visited him earlier and given him an update on Matthew. Nothing new.
Hudson thought back on the events of the past few days. Their investigation into this drug ring was obviously getting closer and the team’s lives were at stake. If not, then why bomb his cruiser and destroy the only evidence they had of a drug smuggling ring? The journal was lost in the flames.
Why, God? Can’t You give us a clue as to where this ring originates?
His cell phone buzzed on the night table. Kaylin.
He sat upright. Why would she be calling this late? “Kaylin, what’s wrong?”
“Someone’s in my apartment,” she whispered.
He flung the covers off and jumped out of bed. Dizziness overwhelmed him, so he braced himself against the wall to let it pass. “Where are you?”
“Locked in the bathroom. My gun is in the other room. I’ve called 911. The officer stationed outside should be here any moment.”
Lord, protect her.
“Text me your address. I’ll be right there.”
“Be careful. They might be after you, too.” She clicked off.
He changed his clothes and called for a car as he ran out of the room and down the corridor.
The nurse at the station yelled. “Where do you think you’re headed, Mr. Steeves?”
“Emergency. I’ll be back.”
She frowned. “You shouldn’t leave.”
He ignored her and kept running. He had to protect the woman he’d grown to care about so quickly. The thought raced by him without him even noticing.
A few minutes later, he rushed out of the Uber in front of Kaylin’s apartment. Out of habit he reached for his sidearm, but it wasn’t there. How would he keep her safe?
The front door was propped open and he raced up the stairs to the second floor. He checked the numbers as he ran by.
289. The door was ajar, lock broken. He eased it open and almost tripped over something in the darkened room. The only glow came from the moonlight shining through the window.
A Windsor police officer was face-down on the floor.
Hudson knelt and felt for a pulse. Steady. Thank You, Lord.
A shadow skulked by the living room entrance.
Hudson straightened. Had the intruder done anything to Kaylin? He stood and forced himself to concentrate, tightening his fists for battle since he didn’t have his gun. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. “Police! Stop!”
A man barreled through, knocking over a chair and an end table.
Hudson reached out to grab him, but the beefy figure shoved him out of the way. Hudson caught a glimpse of the man wearing night goggles.
Hudson turned on the lights and the room flooded with brightness.
The man yelled and removed his goggles. He fumbled for the door and swung it open, racing out into the hall.
Hudson returned to the downed officer and gently shook him.
The officer moaned and rubbed his head.
Hudson pulled out his credentials. “Constable Hudson Steeves. You okay?” He helped the man sit up.
The bald officer nodded.
“Can I borrow your radio?”
He pulled it off his shoulder and handed it to Hudson.
Hudson spoke into it, identifying himself. He explained the situation and asked for additional units to search for the suspect, giving them a brief description. Of what he saw of him anyway. “We also need an ambulance at the victim’s apartment. Your officer is injured.” He gave the necessary details and clicked off.
“Where’s Miss Poirier?” the officer asked. “The attacker knocked me out before I could get to her.”
Hudson ran to the bathroom. “Kaylin? Are you in there?”
He turned the doorknob. Locked. “Kaylin?”
The door swung open and she collapsed into his arms. “Thank God you’re here.”
A cat hissed and sprang out of the room.
Hudson held her tight. “I’ve got you. He’s gone.”
She exhaled, air whooshing through her teeth. “Did you see his face? Who was it?”
He shook his head. “He got away. We’ve called for backup. The assailant knocked out the officer.” He released her. “Are you okay?”
“It sounded like he was looking for something.” She hurried into the bedroom.
Overturned drawers lay on the floor with clothes strewn about the room. The covers were ripped off her bed and the table lamp knocked over.
“What was he searching for?” Kaylin took a step, but Hudson pulled her back.
“Wait. We need Ident down here to check for prints. Don’t touch anything.” He pulled out his cell phone and called Bianca, asking for the forensic unit.
Kaylin wandered into the living room.
He followed, not letting her out of his sight.
“I can’t believe he got through my locks.” Kaylin massaged her neck.
“Obviously, a professional. Did you notice anyone following you tonight after you left the hospital?”
“No one followed me home. But I saw a man in a ball cap watching me at the phone store, but then he left, so I thought it was my overactive imagination.”
“How tall?”
She chewed on her lower lip. “About six-four. Heavyset.”
“Sounds like the same guy. Anyt
hing else?”
“No.”
“Do you have a place where you can stay tonight? I don’t want you to be alone.” He wouldn’t take that chance again. Not when she’d been targeted. Definitely not on his watch. “Your dad’s?”
“No. I can call my friend, Diane. I used to live with her.”
“Good.” He walked to the window and turned. “I’ll see if—”
He stopped. An object on the foyer table caught his eye. “What’s that?”
A decapitated stuffed bear sat in the middle of the table, its head to the side, smothered in a red substance.
Blood?
* * *
Kaylin grabbed the table to steady herself. Who was this person and why had they targeted her? She glanced around the damaged living room. The couch was torn to pieces, her TV smashed and books knocked off their shelves. Fear kicked her in the stomach and her hands shook, but she would not buckle. She was stronger than that. Her pulse throbbed in her head. Whoever was doing this would pay. She’d see to it that they be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Hudson clicked off his call and stepped beside her.
“I want you to arrest whoever did this. It’s unacceptable.” She spaced her words slowly, gritting her teeth.
“Agreed. I’m just glad he didn’t get to you.”
She raised her eyebrow. “Why not force his way into the bathroom? He must have known I was there.”
Hudson stroked his five o’clock shadow. “Good question, but thank God he didn’t. Perhaps he only wanted to scare you.”
Sassme’s bright eyes glowed from under the living room chair. Kaylin pulled her out and snuggled the cat next to her cheek. “It doesn’t make any sense. He wouldn’t have known I was in the bathroom when he entered.”
“He probably figured you were in bed at this hour.”
She nodded. “Perhaps.”
He scratched the cat’s head. “I was worried when I got your call. You sounded frantic.”
She stood resolute, ready to take action. “I had a moment of weakness, but I’m okay now. I want to catch this guy.”
“I spoke to Bianca. She’s on her way with the team to do a full sweep of your apartment. However, I noticed the suspect wore gloves, so I doubt we’ll find any prints.”
Border Breach Page 9