Expired Game (Last Chance County Book 5)

by Lisa Phillips

  He crouched as Conroy had done and looked into her eyes. “Our dad was really here?”

  “Yes.” Jess’s voice was shaky. “Ellie is still inside. She was waking up when I came out.”

  “I know,” Dean said. “I see her in the doorway.” He turned to Ted. “She needs to see a doctor, but the effects of the flashbang should pass.” Dean got up and moved to the doorway, where Ellie stood leaning against the door jamb.

  “Help me up.” Jess shifted to stand.

  “Is that even a good idea?” As he spoke, Ted braced her weight with his hands on her elbows. But when she stood, it was clear her balance was unsteady. “We should get you a chair.”

  “Not while your father is still out there.” She twisted to face him and lifted her chin. “I think I nicked his neck with my knife.” Her brows crinkled together.

  “You got him? What did he say?”

  “He wanted to get a look at me and Ellie while you guys were busy.”

  Ted nodded. “We tracked his call to the source and wound up busting into Basuto’s apartment. I thought for a second that he was involved, but now I’m not so sure. The FBI can figure it out.”

  “Is he even a suspect? I mean, could he be West?”

  “That’s crazy, right?” He shook his head. “This is Basuto were talking about, right? No way is he under West’s thumb, let alone the criminal we’ve been chasing for months.”

  “He has been acting weird lately, but I never would have thought this.” She shut her eyes and gave herself a minute.

  “We should get you to a doctor so you can be checked out.” There was no way she was in a state fit to debate what had happened. She needed to give a statement so they could have it on record exactly what his father had said to her.

  The idea that his father had targeted her hit way too close to home. There was supposed to be a line of demarcation between his dad’s life and his life, the understanding being that they didn’t bother each other. And now this is happening. Ted was supposed to be dealing with this in his way and in his own time. Now his dad had dragged in Jess. Not to mention the fact that he’d probably seriously scared Ellie.

  Ted glanced at his future sister-in-law, standing with his brother inside the open doorway. Their forms were silhouetted by the light coming from inside so he could see them in an embrace. Kind of like the hug he wouldn’t mind sharing with Jess right now.

  “I’m fine,” Jess said. “I don’t want to slow down anything. If I need to get checked out, I will, but I’m just bruised from when I hit the table.”

  “And your arm?”

  She winced. “Yeah. How’s your arm?”

  Ted pulled her to him in a quick side hug, ignoring her question. He figured they were neck and neck on bruises after everything that had happened so far. Too bad for them it wasn’t a competition, because having faced down a flashbang, she might be in the lead right now.

  “As long as you do,” he said.

  She stared up at him. “Are you trying to tell me what to do?”

  “If it sounds like that, I’m sure it’s only because I care about your state of being.”

  “That’s gonna go both ways.” She eyed him. “Because now that I’ve met your father, I think I might be entitled to understand exactly what happened between the two of you.”

  “I thought you were busy trying to catch West?”

  One of her brows lifted, and she managed to almost hide the wince. “I asked your father who he was. It sounded like your dad might’ve been…not exactly scared to tell me, but more like West is holding something over his head. He said he was sent here to warn me to stop looking into West.”

  “Meanwhile,” Ted said. “We’re out on a wild goose chase running up against what’s probably going to turn out to be a red herring.”

  “Unless Basuto really is working for West.”

  He shook his head. Just the idea that someone they had all trusted could be dirty seriously rubbed Ted the wrong way. Even though he hadn’t always done the right thing, he’d always figured he could trust the others in the police department. They were good people. Good cops. The kind who tried to help as much as they could, knowing that some people genuinely needed the assistance.

  And now West might have wheedled his way into the department? That meant Ted was no longer the weak link. He hadn’t been targeted or blackmailed. It may have been someone else, namely the sergeant who had been running the department after Conroy was shot by the sniper. Mia was the lieutenant, but she was also Conroy’s fiancé. She’d divided her time between the hospital and helping him convalesce and the department and her duties there.

  Basuto was the one who had been taking the lead. If he had been targeted, that would make sense.

  None of them could have anticipated this.

  Ted needed to get back to his computer so he could pull his thoughts together and figure out where they should look next. “We have nothing now. At least, no more idea of who West is today than we did yesterday. Unless Basuto can tell us specifically who targeted him.”

  “We’ll figure out who contacted him and dragged him into all this.”

  She started to move. Ted went with her, but Jess’s gait quickly faltered. She stumbled as she headed toward the house. He wanted to support her, only Jess was the kind of woman who tried to do everything on her own. Like facing down his father while also making sure her sister was entirely protected while she took the brunt of a flash-bang impact.

  “I can’t believe he got away,” she muttered as they walked toward the open door and their siblings. “Who brings a flashbang to the conversation anyway?”

  Ted’s lips twitched, and he couldn’t believe he was amused by that. There was nothing funny about his father. Or the damage that Pierce had done to people that he cared about. That thought served to sober him up.

  He looked around to see where the cops and federal agents who had come with them had gone to search for his father. Would they even catch him? It had taken years the first time. They’d wound up amassing evidence against a prominent government figure, the CIA director, and headed into his office with a warrant. It had all been bad enough. Considering what his dad had done to Stuart and Kaylee that was probably an understatement. But the truth was that the feds didn’t even know the half of it.

  Ellie was the first at the doorway, holding her hands out to grasp her sister’s as she entered. “Are you okay?”

  The expression on Dean’s face was soft as he watched Ellie embrace her sister. Ted hung back, trying to figure all this out in his head.

  “I need to get back to the office.” If Basuto really was involved with West, then his number would be among the ones Ted had pulled together from the evidence so far. The FBI would need to know so they could ask him more specific questions.

  Dean said, “I’ll stay with the two of them if you want to head out.”

  The look he shared with his brother said more than either of the women would know. Dean was about as happy as Ted that their father had been here. That he had confronted the women his sons were in love with.

  Because yes, Ted had fallen for Jess. Probably months ago, if he was honest with himself. Since then, he had practically followed her around like a puppy, looking for scraps of attention while she worked the case trying to find West.

  When she finally turned her attention to him, he found himself too preoccupied with his father’s escape.

  The truth was, it was probably all just bad timing. Maybe they were never supposed to have a relationship. This could all just be God proving to them that it would never work anyway. After all, why was it so difficult? Right things should click into place in a way that felt like they had somehow always been like that. Timeless.

  Or maybe he’d just watched his brother fall for a woman who was perfect for him, and Ted had finally realized that he wanted that same kind of love for himself—and that it would be just as easy.

  He turned away from them and saw Conroy headed toward the house. The ch
ief of police shook his head.

  Pierce Cartwright had gotten away. And if he’d wanted to, he could have killed Jess and Ellie here tonight. The way he’d killed Sally Peters in her holding cell.

  That realization rolled through him, and he stumbled. Nearly went down.

  Conroy said, “Whoa. Easy.”

  “I’m okay.” Ted shook his head. The last thing he wanted was sympathy when the whole reason his father was here was because of him.

  “Hold up.” Conroy held out a hand, and Ted stayed where he was. The chief answered his phone and had a low conversation. He finally said, “We’ll be right there.” Then to Ted, he said, “Don’t go anywhere. Donaldson just called in a body drop. A woman was tossed out of a car in front of the police station.”

  The rest of them hurried over. Jess said, “What on earth?”

  “We’re all headed back to the police station.” Conroy indicated Dean and Ellie. “The two of you as well.”

  After everything that had happened tonight, now there was a murder also?

  Before anyone could ask more, Conroy said, “Donaldson says the dead woman has Officer Ridgeman’s uniform on.” He turned to face Jess. “Her ID says her name is Nicole Collins.”

  Jess gasped.

  Twenty-five

  Jess set her hands on her hips and stared down at the deceased young woman. All the aches and bruises on her body from falling backward and hitting the table before she landed on the floor didn’t seem quite so bad considering a life had ended. Her scratched-up arm still hurt though.

  Conroy stood beside her. “The medical examiner is on his way here. But I think it’s pretty safe to say she was strangled, given the bruises on her neck.”

  “This is the part where I explain to you who Nicole Collins was. And this woman is not her.”

  “I read your personnel file from the NYPD. I know you were undercover with vice, working to take down a trafficking ring. I also know that Nicole Collins was your informant from inside, the woman you were trying to save.”

  “And the strangulation?”

  “I know it wasn’t your fault,” Conroy said. “You couldn’t have anticipated the people you were trying to bring down would react like that to finding out the police were closing in.”

  “So I’m not supposed to feel guilty that they killed her instead of me?”

  “Of course you’ll feel that way. Because you’re a good cop, one with drive and a heart. That’s why I hired you. Not because your grandfather was the previous police chief.”

  It felt good to hear him say it, even if Jess didn’t all the way believe him. She had built a career in New York City on her own merit and abilities as a police officer. However, coming to a department where her grandfather’s legacy had proved long and strong was something completely different. Though he was one of the town founders, a group who had proven to be the thorn in the side of the department lately, Alan Ridgeman had been one of the best cops she’d known.

  “I’m not going to let this go.” She looked at the woman who had been thrown from a moving car—tossed on the ground like a piece of trash. “This was West’s doing, and it was because of me. This is yet another warning that I should back off this case. And now that a woman is dead, he has to know there’s no way I’ll do that.”

  Conroy twisted to face her. “He’s trying to bait you into losing your cool. Yes, a woman is dead, and that’s a tragedy. Because she didn’t deserve to have her life end like this. But it’s not on you. And you can’t let this get to you, Jess. Because if you do? It’s only going to end with you dead as well.”

  “I get that you don’t want me to die over this. I don’t want that to happen either, but West can’t be allowed to get away with this.”

  She spotted the medical examiner’s van pulling into the parking lot, driven by a local doctor who had been on call tonight.

  Jess turned and headed into the police station. The reception desk, usually with Kaylee seated behind it, was empty. She was safe, and Jess was glad her friend wasn’t here right now. Pierce Cartwright had targeted her for his twisted desires, and with the man currently on the loose, it was better for her to be protected.

  However, that didn’t make the space where Kaylee should have been any less...empty.

  Jess let herself in through the door and headed for the break room where she filled a glass with water and chugged it back.

  “If I ask you whether you’re okay, will you give me a straight answer?”

  Jess turned to her sister and could only shrug. She didn’t even know what to say, let alone where to start with all this. “Where’s Dean?”

  “With the lieutenant in Ted’s office.”

  Jess nodded. “Good.” She moved to Ellie and squeezed around her sister, kissing her on the cheek as she moved. But Ellie wasn’t fooled. Her sister rolled her eyes as Jess headed for the hall where the interrogation rooms were located.

  She found the room where two FBI agents were talking with Sergeant Basuto.

  Jess pushed the door open. She lifted her phone and showed Basuto the screen. The three men in the room all flinched as though she’d drawn a weapon. “This woman is laying on our doorstep, dead because of West.”

  The skin around Basuto’s eyes flexed.

  “We’re being targeted. Baited into getting distracted, losing our cool, and putting our focus in the wrong place.”

  One of the special agents lifted a hand. “Officer, please—”

  Jess ignored him, speaking to Basuto. “Are you working for West—or Cartwright—by your own volition, or because they’re forcing you to do it?”

  “No.” Basuto’s jaw hardened. “I am not.” He looked at the two FBI agents with intent.

  “Then we all need your help out there, because things are unraveling fast, and we can’t let him tear us apart.”

  She almost couldn’t believe she was defending him without substantial evidence otherwise. But the truth was, Basuto had been a good cop longer than she had. And she had gone off on her own too many times. Right now, what they needed was to band together.

  Would she be able to convince Ted of that fact?

  Basuto stood. One of the FBI agents reached out his hand and said, “Hold up a minute. You want to just tell us you had nothing to do with this, and we’re supposed to believe you?”

  Before Basuto could retort, Jess turned to them. “You guys are here to find Pierce Cartwright. So why don’t you do that, and let us worry about our problems?”

  She thought she heard Basuto swallow a choking laugh but didn’t turn to find out if she was right. They might not always see eye to eye. Their methods differed considerably sometimes. But at the end of the day, they were both Last Chance cops.

  That meant something to her.

  Basuto nudged her toward the door. The special agent said, “This isn’t done. You aren’t out from under suspicion, Sergeant. Not until you’ve proven that what you say is correct.”

  Basuto said, “I hear you, Jenkins.”

  They strode down the hallway. She kind of thought the sergeant would have maybe thanked her, but he said nothing. That was fine with Jess. She had enough thoughts swirling around in her head. She’d partly stormed in there to see if Basuto had something on West she didn’t already have. Some kind of intel, or lead, she could use to find him.

  After that, hopefully things would go back to normal, and she’d have the time to figure out what her feelings for Ted meant. And why they couldn’t seem to get on the same page at the same time about where they were going.

  Until then, she had to stick with her priorities and do her job.

  Conroy was the first to speak when they made it to the main office. He waved them both over. “In my office. Now.”

  Basuto nudged her before she could step in. “I’m not working for West.”

  She stopped and turned to him. “But I’m guessing there’s enough evidence in what we have that someone could make a case for it.”

  His expression darkened.
“It’s going to be a long road for me to convince everyone I’m not dirty. But if you believe me, then it’s a start at least.”

  She figured she would likely have her doubts at some point. Especially if, between Pierce Cartwright and West, they had planted enough evidence to convince not only cops but officials and the general public as well.

  Basuto would have a long road to walk if he wanted to get back in good standing with everyone.

  They headed inside Conroy’s office, and she found Special Agent Eric Cullings in a chair in front of the desk. He was looking at his phone.

  “Are you going to tell me that Pierce Cartwright got away again?” Jess planted a hand on her hip. She knew she was skirting the line of insubordination. Hopefully Conroy would give her some grace, given everything that had happened to her. Not only today but also in the last few days.

  Conroy waved her to a chair and Basuto leaned against the wall with his arms folded.

  Jess realized just now that she hadn’t seen her sister or Dean. “Where’s Ellie?”

  “She and Dean decided to get some air,” Conroy said.

  Since her future brother-in-law was a former Navy SEAL and most likely carrying a gun, she figured her sister was in safe hands. “I would dearly like to know how West managed to get into my NYPD personnel file. My captain kept what happened pretty quiet, and I know they never released the woman’s name.”

  Special Agent Cullings looked over. “So you decided to interrupt a questioning and find out the answer for yourself?”

  Jess said, “Pierce Cartwright is under West’s thumb. Whether you like it or not, figuring out West’s identity could get Cartwright right back into custody.”

  She didn’t bother reiterating to him the fact they’d taken so long to capture him in the first place and had now lost him. More than once West had proven himself one step ahead of them.

  “Yeah, we know that,” Cullings said. “And not only that, but we’ve had an undercover trying to identify West for months.”

  Conroy leaned back in his chair, pressing a hand against the spot where he had been hit by a sniper. The bullet had done a lot of damage, but he seemed to be healing well enough. “I miss the days when criminals made dumb mistakes, and we got them easily. This guy has slipped through our fingers more times than I can count.”