Running Target

by Elizabeth Goddard

“Don’t forget yourself, Bree. You have to think about protecting yourself, too.” He jammed his hands in his pockets and slunk toward the door as if to leave.

  Good.

  Not good.

  “If they see you here, Quinn, then we’re all in trouble.”

  “To be safe, you need to leave Coldwater Bay. At least for the short term.”

  “I’m already making plans. I was on the computer buying tickets for Dad and Stevie to go visit family.”

  “But you’re staying.”

  She nodded. “Yes, and you should know I’m going to tell Sheriff Garrison the truth about what happened.”

  “I see.”

  “I have no choice. That man who broke in tonight also warned me against telling the police. But that just reminded me that I am the police. I’m going to do my job and catch these guys.”

  Quinn had half a foot out the door. Did he think she was going to detain him? Sure. Go ahead and leave when things get tough. You always do.

  “Just go, Quinn. I need to get my family somewhere safe.”

  “I’m not going too far, Bree. We need to stay in touch. I’ll let you know what I find out about who is behind this.”

  “You do that. Good idea. Just be sure not to tell me where you are. I’ll tell my boss that I’m working with you to find out who is behind this. Not that that will help my case any.”

  He hung his head, lingering. “He’ll understand you hesitated because you were afraid for your family, Bree. He’s a family man, too.”

  He approached her again and lifted her hand. Turned it over and pressed a cell phone in her palm. “You can contact me with this. Give me up if you must. I’ll give myself up—but I need to look into a few things first. I’m formulating a plan.”

  Bree eyed the cell, then held it out to him. “I don’t want this. If I have it then I have no excuse to give them that I don’t know how to find you. They could force me to call you and set up an ambush. Something. No. I won’t take this.”

  “You don’t have a choice. I want to know what happens next. I want to know if you need me.”

  If she needed him? She gasped for breath. She needed him like a hiker needed a snakebite. Her traitorous heart had a different idea about her need for Quinn, but she wasn’t listening tonight.

  He started to go out the door, but hesitated. Then stuck his head back in. “You’re doing the right thing.”

  Then he disappeared.

  She realized she still held the cell phone. “Wait... Quinn...”

  But he was gone, and she wouldn’t chase him down to give him the phone.

  Lord, please help me through this.

  New images of Quinn now crept in and superimposed over the old one of him holding her brother—gone to this world.

  She rubbed her arms to chase away the goose bumps that seemed to come and go far too often of late.

  Time to get busy. Get her family up and out of here.

  Back inside the house, she headed down the hallway to Dad’s room first to wake him, though it was much too early. But this was urgent. How did she explain this?

  She made to knock on his door, then smelled coffee just as she sensed a presence behind her.

  “Bree,” her father whispered behind her.

  She released a sigh, then turned to face him. “Dad. You scared me.”

  Though he held a cup of coffee, she rushed to him and threw her arms around him.

  He hugged her back. “Bree, what’s this all about?”

  Not ready to get Stevie up yet, she stepped back and led Dad to the kitchen. Bree pressed her face to her hands. Where did she even start?

  “Just take a deep breath, honey, and tell me what’s got you so frazzled.”

  Bree dropped her hands. “Why are you up so early?”

  “I could ask you the same thing, but the truth is I heard you in the house. I couldn’t sleep so I got up early and made myself a cup of coffee. I see it was the right decision. Now, please tell me.”

  “You know how you’ve been wanting to go to Idaho to visit your aunt Gina?”

  He lowered his cup. “Yeah?”

  “I just bought you and Stevie tickets. Your flight leaves in five hours.”

  “What? Bree, why would you do that? Sure, I’ve thought about going, but not right now. You just got back. Stevie’s birthday party is soon. No one there knows we’re coming and I’m not ready to go. I haven’t packed my bags. What’s going on?”

  “Your lives are in danger, Daddy. A man was in the house this morning. He threatened me.”

  “And you’re sending us away but you’re not coming?”

  “I’m staying here.”

  “I absolutely won’t leave you here to go through this alone. Either you come or I stay.”

  “What do you think you can do, Dad? I’m law enforcement. I’ll have all the backup I need. But Stevie... He’s just a child. The man threatened Stevie. So you’re going to get on that flight and protect your grandson.”

  Grim lines carved through his face as understanding took hold. He had no choice. Stevie was depending on them to keep him safe. Dad slowly nodded. She thought she saw tears forming in his eyes.

  Oh, Daddy...

  Bree wished she could go with him. That they could all just leave the danger behind.

  “You should know, too, that I was warned against telling the police of the threats.”

  “But you’re going to anyway.”

  “Yes. I have no choice.”

  “What do they want from you?”

  Her father didn’t know yet that she’d run into Quinn while escaping the wilderness. Quinn had saved her out there. Dad wouldn’t have wanted to hear that. He had never liked Quinn because he’d broken Bree’s heart, and he probably held him somewhat responsible for Steve’s death. Dad wasn’t going to like the answer she gave him.

  “Quinn Strand, Dad. They want Quinn Strand.”

  ELEVEN

  At the county sheriff’s department, Bree forced herself down the hallway toward Sheriff Garrison’s office. Deputy Bobby Woodbridge stopped her before she reached the door. He’d always liked her. “Hey, Bree. What are you doing back? Sheriff gave you a week off.”

  She knew he cared about her as a person and hoped for more between them, an affection she didn’t particularly return. She didn’t stop as she passed him, saying, “I’m here to talk to him.”

  She forgot about Bobby and focused on her mission.

  I can do this. I have to do this.

  At his office, she lingered in the doorway, knowing the sheriff wouldn’t want to see her, but hoping for an invitation to come inside.

  Sheriff Garrison was on the phone. He eyed her. Scrunched his face as if to ask, “Why are you here?”

  She’d have to wait until he finished the call, so she stepped back and leaned against the wall, letting his unspoken question swirl around in her head. That’s exactly what she was asking herself, only with a completely different perspective. She’d botched everything, starting with the encounter with criminals on the river that had almost gotten both her and Jayce killed. She should have been more cautious. Should always keep her guard up, but she had been unprepared, at best. That wasn’t even counting the fact that she kept to herself that Quinn had been involved.

  Her gut soured. She hadn’t been able to eat a thing, though she’d tried. She’d needed the energy to power through the strain of the day, but her mind and body wouldn’t cooperate.

  The next hour or so might change her life completely. She pushed past the nausea in her stomach and the tightening in her throat and faced the reality that she could possibly walk out of here without a job.

  “Bree.” The sheriff’s gentle voice startled her.

  She offered a tenuous grin. “Sheriff.”

  “Come on in.” Standing in the
hallway next to his office, he gestured wide for her to step inside.

  His expression revealed compassion and concern for her, even though he had so much going on with what had happened out there yesterday. They still hadn’t caught the men who had attacked her and Jayce. They could still be out there.

  “Have a seat.”

  She wasn’t sure she could do this sitting, but eased into the chair anyway.

  “I gave you the week off to recuperate. And by the look on your face, you’re not even close to recovered. Now what’s bothering you?”

  Her frown was painfully deep. “There’s something I didn’t tell you about what happened.”

  The sheriff eased into his seat behind his desk. Steepled his hands. “I’m listening.”

  “Those men out there, they were after Quinn Strand.”

  His eyes were laser focused on hers. “Tell me everything, Bree.”

  So she did. She laid out the details as they really happened. Unfortunately, though she tried to explain in her most professional deputy voice using law enforcement words, she couldn’t stop her eyes from tearing up. At least those tears hadn’t streamed down her cheeks. Yet.

  “I’m so sorry for keeping this from you. I guess I’m not deputy material after all, Sheriff.”

  He said nothing at all. Just leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands over his midsection, and studied her.

  “I can see how you thought you were doing the right thing—protecting Stevie. Even protecting Quinn. Given the circumstances, I’m not sure I would have reacted any differently. I might have taken the time to think it through before coming to the police if my wife or child or grandchild were threatened. And you’ve done that, Bree. You’ve thought it through and even with the additional, personal threat on your life and Stevie’s, you’ve come to me now.”

  “So...you aren’t mad?”

  “If I were to be angry at anyone, it would be at Quinn Strand for putting you in this position. But then again, he didn’t have to step in and expose himself to save your life.” The sheriff sighed. “I’m not sure how the other agencies involved will see it, but that’s their problem.”

  “You’re not firing me?”

  “Firing you?” He frowned, then angled his head. “I don’t have enough smart, able-bodied deputies as it is. Why would I fire one of my best? Let’s just be clear going forward—please come to me with what you learn. You can trust me. I would never put your family in danger.”

  She nodded, taking in all his words. Hoping they would change how she felt about herself right now. This had gone so differently than she had imagined. Still, it wasn’t something she could celebrate yet. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

  “Thank you, Sheriff. I appreciate you believing in me.”

  “Bree, that’s what family does. This county sheriff’s department is a kind of family.” He toyed with a blue glass paperweight on his desk, then looked up at her. “So you got Stevie and your dad off on a plane. Let’s hope and pray that they’ll be safe in Idaho.”

  Bree could hope that some distance would protect them, sure, but these guys came all the way to Washington from Louisiana for Quinn.

  “I guess you don’t want to take some time off, given the circumstances.”

  “No. I want to work. I want to find out who these guys are who have threatened me and my family.” And help Quinn. He wouldn’t share that information because he didn’t want her to put herself into more danger.

  “I have an assignment for you. When Quinn contacts you again, and I have no doubt that he will, try to talk him into meeting. Just you, me and Quinn. I don’t doubt his concerns that someone on the inside could locate him, but I figure they already know he was here by now via their drug running contacts. I want to find out what we can do to help him with the men after him.”

  “I’ll work on that.” Bree stood, feeling lighter than she had in days, though a dark cloud of trouble still hung over her. Maybe she could push it completely away and they would resolve this soon. “I’m going to run home for a bit. Just going to grab some coffee and breakfast. I haven’t eaten this morning. Couldn’t. But now I feel better. Thank you for being so understanding. We’ll get to the bottom of this. I’ll be back up here within the hour.”

  “Take your time. I think it would be best if you could take the week off like I told you, but I understand that you wouldn’t be able to get any rest until this is over anyway. And yes, we will get to the bottom of this, Bree. Just remember that you can trust your fellow deputies and your sheriff to have your back. Now, keep up the good work, but... Don’t forget to take your time. Set up an appointment with the counselor, too.”

  “Will do.” She left his office and was about to head out the door when she decided to grab coffee in the kitchen for the short drive home, even though the department’s coffee wasn’t the best. She needed the caffeine. She spotted a box of doughnuts and grabbed a maple-covered one. Not the best breakfast, but maybe she could eat the doughnut as a way of a small celebration. She’d kept her job. She was in the middle of taking a bite when she heard voices in the hallway.

  Chewing the doughnut, she hesitated and remained in the kitchen. She’d never been one to eavesdrop, but she wanted confirmation that the deputies and sheriff truly had her back, and that she could trust them in this unusual predicament. It involved her family, after all.

  “We’re going to get our man,” the sheriff said. “Quinn Strand is behind this. I just got a report this morning that there’s a warrant out for his arrest for stealing drug money. Bree is going to bring him to us. Be aware, she doesn’t know that’s what she’s going to do. Quinn has some kind of hold over her, and she needs us to free her and arrest Quinn. Once he’s in custody, the threats on her life and her family’s life will be extinguished.”

  * * *

  The morning was getting away from him and all he’d managed to do was hole up in a cheap motel. No need to stay in the woods—that cover had been compromised. Plus, disappearing from that area would mean the men after him would leave as well, and no more deputies would be in danger as they continued their searches. Unfortunately, Jones’s men remained in Coldwater Bay waiting on Bree to turn him over one way or another.

  Quinn stared at the cell on the table, considering all the possible scenarios and outcomes. He hadn’t recovered the backpack and her picture, but things had escalated anyway. The pack, her picture, didn’t matter anymore.

  They knew.

  Michael Jones knew.

  Bree was important to Quinn. She’d already been threatened. And Quinn should have stopped this long before that.

  He thought about the call he needed to make to his boss, Stan Rollins, at the DEA. He never intended for things to go this far. For anyone to be caught in the middle or hurt.

  He thought back to that moment he’d been about to step out of his car to meet up with his “friends”—those he’d befriended during his time undercover within the drug trafficking organization. A transfer of a half a million dollars’ worth of drugs was going to take place. His job wasn’t to arrest anyone but to report back—they wanted enough information and evidence to bring down the whole organization. That kind of operation took years. Unfortunately, he discovered another agent, Declan Miller, and suspected he wasn’t playing by the rules. Declan worked directly under Michael Jones, who was only a leader over the New Orleans region. Quinn suspected Declan, who had moved up in the ranks, was taking money and drugs for himself. Unfortunately, Declan was related to a higher-up in the DEA.

  That didn’t work out in Quinn’s favor.

  And maybe...just maybe, that had been the whole reason he’d been assigned to work undercover—someone had suspected Declan had gone to the dark side, but they wouldn’t suggest it, considering the man’s connections. Just plant another agent within the organization and hope that eventually the truth would come out.

 
Seconds before Quinn was about to exit his car, he received a text from a DEA informant that Quinn had been made.

  His cover had been blown.

  He’d sat in his vehicle, weighing his options. Who knew? Everyone? It seemed clear that Declan had ratted him out, but Quinn hadn’t been able to get evidence about everything Declan had done before he went on the run. Declan couldn’t continue working both sides of the law with another undercover agent in his backyard, so to speak. So get rid of Quinn and Declan was safe.

  In his gut, Quinn had known that if he walked in, he wouldn’t walk out alive.

  The muzzle of a gun had pressed against the window of his car door, aiming at his head, at the same moment he’d shifted into Reverse. He peeled out and away from the parking lot, escaping.

  Images of that day accosted him. He’d barely escaped with his life. Quinn bolted to his feet and paced to shake the memories off. That was then. This was now. And enough was enough.

  He couldn’t let Bree suffer any more because of him. He couldn’t resolve this any other way. He had to come forward with his suspicions, though he had no evidence to back them up, and he would take the risk that he would be believed over Declan.

  Or he would lose his life.

  He reached for the cell to make a call, but it rang with an incoming call.

  Quinn answered the cell phone, surprised to hear from Bree already. His heart rate kicked up. What had happened now?

  “Quinn, is that you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have some bad news.”

  His gut clenched. “Give it to me.”

  “Well, first the good news. I trusted the sheriff and told him everything. I was allowed to keep my job. And just like you said, he understood the reasons why I held back on him. To protect my family.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Now the bad news?”

  “The bad news is also that I trusted the sheriff and told him everything. He asked me to set up a meeting with you that only would include him and us. But he was playing me for a fool. I overheard him in the hall after he thought I’d left the premises. The problem is that he doesn’t trust you. There’s a warrant out for your arrest. Did you know that?”