“Really.” Mischief laced the single word and all traces of suspicion fled. “So he was trying to find you, is that what I’m hearing?”
“It kinda sounded like it.”
Scraping a chair out from the small kitchen table, Alex dropped into it and nodded at the empty chair across from her. “Anything else you aren’t telling me about this conversation?”
“Nothing pertinent.”
“As the one in charge here, I’ll decide what’s pertinent.” A grin stole across her face. “Now I want details. Every word.”
Great. Knowing Alex, she wouldn’t let the matter drop until she heard the whole story. And probably not even then. She recapped the conversation as succinctly as she could.
As usual, Alex didn’t disappoint. “So. Sounds like the two of you have a lot in common.”
“A bit of an overstatement, don’t you think? Besides, I have a job to do.”
“You’re not on duty 24/7. You should take advantage of your time off. Go into town. And if you happen to meet a certain photographer for coffee, so be it.”
“You’re hopeless, you know that?”
“One of my many charms. If it makes you feel any better, you can even call it work. You’re assessing a potential threat, okay?”
This argument would get her nowhere.
She pushed herself up. “I’m going to touch base with Reilly.”
“Coward. But I’m serious about this, Lana. As long as you’re cooped up here, you’re going to think like a deputy. It’s not healthy to always be on high alert.”
“I’ll think about it.” She slid the chair back in and skirted the table.
“Do more than just think about it.” Alex’s voice followed her to the door. “I expect you to actually do it.”
₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪
“Okay.” Alex came down the stairs, pocketing her cell phone as she reached the bottom.
Activity stilled. Everyone was in the living room, except Peters, who had security room detail, and Beckman, who was patrolling the exterior. The call from Alex’s superior had come about ten minutes earlier and Lana had no doubt all of them were anxious to hear what progress had been made.
If any. It was only Monday; how much progress could’ve been made over the weekend?
Alex surveyed the group. “They found the weapon. Buried in the suspect’s backyard.”
Not exactly the brightest place to hide incriminating evidence.
“Ballistics confirmed that it’s the murder weapon. Between that and Reilly’s testimony, the prosecutor’s office is confident they can secure a conviction.”
The unspoken words rang just as loudly in the suddenly silent room. Because Reilly’s testimony was still critical, none of them would be headed home soon. Unless the suspect pled guilty.
Unfortunately, she doubted that would happen.
Only four days in this house and she already felt trapped. What would her sanity look like if this lasted for months?
At least she could leave the house. What about Reilly’s sanity?
She couldn’t worry about that right now. They had more pressing concerns. “Any word yet on who’s been hired?”
“Not so far. We’ve been instructed to carry on as usual.”
Watch and wait. Oh, and pray that an assassin’s bullet didn’t penetrate their carefully constructed hedge of protection.
₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪
Lana drew in a deep breath of the fresh sea air, relishing the feeling of the low-slung sun on her skin.
Time on the beach was the one thing she had to look forward to every day and tonight didn’t disappoint. On the downside, the unusually still evening had brought out more people than average, giving her more people to watch.
Four families, a few couples, and three loners.
Odds were that an assassin wouldn’t drag a family – or a date – along with him on a hit. So while she kept an eye on the groups, she zeroed in on the three individuals.
Two men and one woman. Running, walking, just watching the sunset.
She jogged until the families packed up, until the couples left, until the lone people were little more than ants on the horizon.
The beach was empty. And Nate Miller hadn’t made an appearance.
She couldn’t deny the disappointment shafting through her, even as she counted the reasons why it was actually a blessing in disguise.
Maybe turning down his invitation had sent him on his way.
A part of her wished she hadn’t said no.
But really, what did she think would happen? A point would come when Nate had gotten the pictures he needed, or the threat against Reilly had abated, and they’d head their separate ways.
Oh, they might talk about keeping in touch, might even exchange phone numbers or email addresses, but she’d said good bye to enough friends to know that staying in contact rarely happened. Lives filled, people got busy, and time slid by.
Just as well.
A friendship formed under these circumstances would be doomed to failure anyhow.
The last traces of sunlight faded and, with one final glance around the beach, she turned toward the house. After circling it, she updated the team and headed for the back door.
Another night without incident. But how long would peace last?
₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪
Man, did he hate down time.
Soft cloth in hand, Stevens rubbed the barrel of his rifle. Not that it needed cleaning. Heck, it hadn’t been used all week. But cleaning his weapons felt productive, so that was just what he did.
The so-called inside source had yet to make contact, which left Stevens doing a lot of legwork as he tracked his target. Not an easy task. The trail grew colder by the day and the marshals protecting the target were skilled at masking their tracks.
Masking them, but not completely erasing them.
In fact, he’d made good headway today. He’d located a few houses that fit the profile. His next step: set up surveillance and see who was living there.
No matter the steps taken to hide him, Tanner hadn’t disappeared. One way or another, he’d track Tanner down and do the thing he did best.
Kill. With no hesitation, no mercy, and no regrets.
Seven
Another day that had lasted way too long.
If she were in prison, she could see herself drawing hash marks on the wall. She’d be up to a whopping six by now.
Had it really only been six days since they’d arrived in Lincoln City?
Lana shut her Bible and pushed it aside. While she’d thought scripture would calm her nerves, she still felt ready to snap.
The team had avoided her all day.
Even Alex, who could usually cheer anyone up, kept her distance.
Reilly was the only one who seemed unconcerned by her melancholy mood. His nonchalant attitude helped, but she was still on edge and had no clue why.
Maybe it was the nightmare that had awoken Reilly the night before. He’d refused to talk about it, but it had upset him enough that he’d given up on sleep. She’d opted to stay up with him and the sleep deprivation wasn’t helping.
The weather might also have something to do with it.
She glanced out her bedroom window, looking at the overcast sky. It had rained off and on all day, with a bit of thunder and lightning in the afternoon. The sun never once penetrated the curtain of clouds, leaving a bleak, gray mist hanging in the air.
If she were a sniper, she’d choose to act on a night like this one. Between the empty beach and the clouds blocking most of the natural light, conditions were ideal for a hit.
Stop it!
So far there’d been no hint of trouble and with Chow watching the monitors, they’d see an attack coming before it happened.
She just needed to do something, anything, to keep her mind busy.
Maybe she’d patrol the yard. It would give her a chance to run off some steam, spend some time alone.
Alex had moved the evening patrols
indoors tonight due to the storm, so going out there would actually feel productive. She pulled a black sweatshirt over her head, put on her tennis shoes, and headed downstairs.
The TV blared and Peters slouched in one of the leather chairs with his gaze glued to the screen. Beckman sat on the sofa, feet propped on the coffee table, head back, eyes closed. The banging in the kitchen told her that Reilly and Alex were still cleaning up from dinner.
Her eyes narrowed as she descended into the living room. Who left the drapes open?
Walking toward the window, she froze when she caught a shift in the shadows beyond the glass. She plastered herself against the wall, her eyes trained on the large shrub bordering the property.
“Hey you. What’s going on?”
Reilly’s voice registered in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from the shape outside.
Barely discernible through the veil of shadows, the silhouette of a man crouched by one of the shrubs. In his hands, a long narrow object pointed at the house.
Her gaze whipped to Reilly, standing right in the line of sight.
“Down!”
₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪
She slammed into Reilly as the shot rang out. They tumbled to the floor. Pain seared her arm; glass rained around them.
“You okay?” she asked, her head only inches from his.
“Yeah.”
Acid ate at her right arm. She hadn’t been fast enough.
But Reilly was fine. Nothing else mattered.
“Light!” she yelled to Alex. Another gunshot thundered as the room went dark.
Had to get Reilly locked in the panic room.
If the shooter had any kind of night vision equipment, he’d likely see them opening the closet door.
That left the entrance in the master bedroom.
She whispered in Reilly’s ear. “Upstairs. Stay low.”
“Got it.”
She eased off him, pulled her gun. Fire blazed through her arm with each movement but she couldn’t focus on that now.
Boom, boom!
The gunshots sounded like cannon fire in the living room. She reached the stairs, risked a glance behind her. It looked like someone – probably Alex – was drawing the assassin’s fire.
Going around Reilly, she led the way to the top.
She pulled him into the closet, shut the door, and hit the light switch.
The all-too-familiar sound of Reilly’s inhaler froze her movements. “Ri, how you doing? Do you need your pills?”
He shook his head. “I’m okay.”
“Try to stay calm. Alex is the best there is. She has everything under control.”
As she knelt in the back corner, she listened to his breathing. A bit raspy, but not bad. She jabbed the button on the floor. The door swung open.
The florescent lights flickered to life and she led the way to the ladder. Clenching her teeth against the pain stabbing her arm, she descended with all the speed she could muster.
At the bottom, she keyed in the code and jerked the door open. Even though it felt unnecessary, she swept the room.
Empty.
She pulled Reilly inside and pointed to a lever on the wall to the left of the door. “This disables the keypad so the door can only be opened from the inside. Don’t open the door until one of us comes for you, got it?”
“Got it.” His fingers landed on her arm. “Be care–”
He yanked his hand back as if she’d burned it and stared at the blood staining his fingers. “You were hit?”
“Just a scratch.”
His face paled a few shades.
His breathing shallowed. A shaky hand brought up the inhaler and forced a few puffs into his mouth.
“Ri, look at me. I’m fine. I’ve cut myself worse slicing vegetables.”
“You’re sure?”
“Definitely.” Grabbing a handful of her sweatshirt, she gently wiped the blood from his fingers. “Hey, would I have been able to handle that ladder or open this door if I was bleeding to death? It’s no biggie, really.”
A bit of an exaggeration, but it seemed to help.
Another puff on the inhaler.
She needed to get back upstairs, but didn’t want to leave Reilly when he could so easily have a massive attack.
Turning her head toward her collar, she got on her communicator. “What’ve we got?”
“No more shots. I think he’s gone.” Alex’s whispered voice carried through her earpiece. “Chow, can you see anything on the monitors?”
“No, it is too dark.”
Finally, some good news. Assuming the shooter really had left.
She met Reilly’s eyes. “The shooter’s gone. I’m going upstairs to help secure the scene. Stay here. And only open the door for someone on the team, okay?”
“Got it.”
“Are you going to be alright?”
“I think so.”
Not good enough. She unclipped her communicator and removed her earpiece. “If you need help, push this button and speak. It goes straight into our earpieces and someone will be right down. This,” she held up the earwig, “will let you hear what’s going on so you’ll know we’re all okay.”
After waiting for his nod, she shoved the door closed and headed for the ladder.
Scaling it hurt even worse than going down had; she stopped at the first floor.
Turning off the light, she closed the access panel and felt her way toward the closet door.
Once in the living room, she crawled over to where Alex crouched by the wall. “I gave Reilly my com device in case he has an attack. What’s the plan?”
“Lana, Rodriguez, outside. Beckman, guard the front door, Peters, the back. I’ll cover Reilly from the living room.” Alex spoke through the com device so the whole team could hear.
Lana scurried through the kitchen, snagged an extra earwig and communicator from the security room, and backtracked to the hallway where Rodriguez waited. They slipped into the closest bedroom.
The window slid open silently and she pushed the screen out.
Her feet hit the sandy soil with a soft thud. Rodriguez landed behind her and she motioned for him to take the front of the house while she checked the rear.
The back yard was deserted, the beach beyond void of life.
That left the far side of the house. Assuming the shooter had remained in the area.
She crept toward the corner, her heart drumming a frantic rhythm.
The assassin could be watching her right now, lining her up in his crosshairs, tightening his finger on the trigger.
She reached the corner, stopped, and listened.
An engine roared. A dog barked. Waves crashed.
Behind all that, growing louder by the second, she heard the most beautiful sound of all. Sirens.
Scanning the brush for any sign of movement, she cautiously approached the fence.
Rodriguez came around the other side of the house and she lowered her gun.
The fact that the two of them were in plain sight and still standing proved that the shooter was gone.
She approached the shrubs the shooter had used for cover.
The flattened area suggested that the shooter was a larger person. A man, judging by the shadow she’d seen. Several shell casings littered the area, but the would-be killer had vanished.
“He’s gone, but the local PD is here.” Rodriguez’s voice came in stereo as he relayed the message through the com devices.
Chow was the first one to speak. “There is a reason I did not see him. There is a narrow section of the yard that is not covered by a camera.”
Impossible!
She’d checked the camera positioning herself and knew that the area covered by each camera overlapped with the area covered by another one. How could this spot not be on any monitors?
Alex’s voice came through the earpiece. “So you can’t see Lana or Rodriguez right now?”
“Not at all. There is a whole strip there, I would gu
ess maybe several meters wide, that I cannot see on any monitor.”
“Good to know. Rodriguez, you’re sure we’re clear?”
“Oh yeah. This dude’s long gone.”
“Okay. I’m gonna let Reilly out. You two stay down there and smooth things over with the locals.”
“Got it.”
Dealing with the police was the last thing she wanted to do right now. Snooping in the camera room currently topped the list.
Scratch that. Downing a handful of pain killers would be her first priority.
Red and blue lights chased shadows across the yard as a police car whipped into the driveway.
Holstering her gun, she withdrew her badge and started toward them, Rodriguez right behind her. The first car jerked to a stop, with two others close behind.
What’d they do? Dispatch half the police department?
The doors on the closest car flew open.
Blinding light bathed the area and she could barely make out the shape of an officer training his gun on her. “Drop your weapon!”
The voice came from the passenger side of the car and she focused her attention there. “Deputy Tanner, US Marshal’s office.” She held her badge a little higher.
The officer eased forward, weapon still drawn and ready, and inspected both her badge and Rodriguez’s. He slowly lowered his gun. “Got a report of gunfire. Is the situation under control?”
“Yes. The shooter escaped before we could get to him.” Lana glanced over as another officer joined them. “Who called this in?”
“A neighbor. Was outside smoking and heard the shots,” the first officer said.
Rodriguez put his badge away. “Thanks for getting here so quickly. I don’t suppose you saw anyone leaving.”
The officers exchanged a brief look. “No. What happened here?”
“Some dude shot at us.”
The first officer snorted. “You don’t say. Know who it was?”
“No idea.” Lana stepped in before Rodriguez could offer another snarky reply. “Is CSU on the way?”
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