So did Scott. He didn’t hear what anyone was saying, but a lot of people talked to one another. Telma, across the table, only looked at them, her expression hard as if she didn’t particularly agree, but she fortunately didn’t say anything. Alice sat beside Telma, and after talking to Bibi, at her other side, and Warren, beyond Bibi, she stood and clapped and said, “We’re glad you’re staying, Nella. And we’ll all be fine.” Then she glanced at Scott and asked, “Right?”
“Look, everyone,” he said. “None of us knows who this person is or what his intention really is, so as Nella said, please be careful and let us know if you see anything unusual. No matter what’s out in public, you’re all still under our protective custody. So let’s all protect each other.”
Later, as everyone left, each stopped briefly by Nella and sounded supportive, although Scott would have liked to know what each of them was actually thinking.
Nella made a phone call outside the dining area to her visiting friends Dan and Jon, then let Scott know the two LAPD cops would be at the shelter again that morning. They arrived, as they told her, only half an hour later since their hotel was nearby. Scott didn’t hang around while they talked to Nella as they all wandered around the shelter again for a couple of hours. Nella, Spike beside her, apparently pointed out more details regarding the animal—and people—care.
Scott was in the central court of the shelter when the two men got ready to leave a while later. They came over to say goodbye.
“Like we said before, this place is really something,” Dan told him. “And though we’d really like Nella’s physical presence while helping us, she’s promised to advise us via phone and internet as much as possible—and said you would, too.”
That wasn’t really a question, but Scott figured that acknowledging he’d be happy to provide what guidance he could would help them leave without attempting to twist Nella’s arm any further. “Absolutely,” he agreed.
He joined Nella, who had put Spike into an enclosure, in walking them back to the reception area. They all shook hands and said goodbye. Scott noticed Jon’s doleful look as he told Nella they’d be in touch soon. Apparently he had really hoped Nella would go with them and help in their planning, but though both these guys had apparently had some role in the gang task force Nella had been involved with, he didn’t fully trust them to take care of her—at least not the way he would. After all, they hadn’t saved her partner.
Of course, not trusting them was also his unvoiced excuse for urging her to stay, he recognized. But, though she could still change her mind, he was relieved to see Nella send them on their way without joining them.
Then she turned to him. “I just hope I did the right thing, especially for everyone here. But those damn threats, especially the last one—if I was certain it was completely true, I’d have gone with them.”
“I know you would,” he said, then, since they were alone in the reception area, he took her into his arms. “I wish we could predict the future—and, most of all, lay our hands on that damn menace and end this once and for all.”
Then he kissed her.
Despite wanting it to go on forever, he soon pulled away. “Let’s go upstairs to my office. I want to call Vince again and see what’s going on from the Chance PD’s perspective now—since you didn’t comply with the terms of the latest threat. Not that they wanted, or expected you to.”
“I get it,” Nella said. “And let’s also push Vince to tell us what we should do now to help them find that horrible jerk.”
* * *
Nella couldn’t know whether she had made the right decision, at least not yet.
And if it turned out to be the wrong one? Well, there was no way she could guarantee she would be the only person to get hurt.
Not that she could have been certain all would be well if she’d gone with Dan and Jon back to L.A., either.
For the moment, she walked through the cat house alone. Not even Spike was with her, though she figured she would go get him out of his enclosure when she left this building. She appreciated his K-9 company—plus the idea that he would protect her, if he could.
As would Scott.
But could she adequately protect both of them?
She heard some fierce meows from behind the chain-link fencing of the nearest enclosure and reached inside to stroke the two cats, one gray and the other sable. Both cute. Both needing real forever homes, rather than having to stay here for such a long time.
At least some staff members took them out of their enclosures for a while every day and let them explore the small indoor garden at the back of the place. But that wasn’t enough.
They needed freedom.
So did Nella—even though she had asserted her own ability to make decisions. But with those threats looming over her—and others—she didn’t feel free.
While she stroked the kitties, Denise and Leonard came in. Denise seemed quite relaxed these days despite knowing about the threats, and even wore her long, dark hair loose, unbound like the rest of her. Nella had seen young Leonard playing with cats before, so she wasn’t surprised.
Knowing the cats would now have company, Nella left to go get Spike and walk him around a bit more. When she had put him on his leash, her phone rang.
It was Jon. “Hi, Nella. We were just about to leave town but came up with another question, something else we’d like to see at the shelter before we go. We’re in the reception area now. Could you come out and get us?”
“Sure.” Nella would of course do all she could to respond to their latest questions—but hoped they wouldn’t try to get her to change her mind and leave with them. As she headed toward the front building with Spike, she didn’t see a lot of staffers outside with dogs, but some of those who were out appeared to be working with them, training them the way she’d demonstrated. She smiled and waved, and continued on. Of course Jon was one of those she could take through the shelter with staff members out and about, but she’d have to decide if that was appropriate now.
Inside the building, Spike and she passed the interior enclosures and the few dogs within them, which today included Jack and Cheesecake. Spike and she soon reached the front, where Nella used her keycard to open the door into the main reception room. Then, she locked it behind them.
Inside, she only saw Jon, dressed as casually as before, his short blond hair somewhat messy. Assuming Dan was still outside, she asked, “What do both of you want to see? And where’s—”
“Dan? My buddy, fellow cop and boss on this shelter project?” There was a nasty tone to Jon’s voice and a sneer on his face. “Like we told you, we drove here separately. He’s already on his way to L.A. And I’m here to pick you up and bring you along.”
“But I told you before—” Nella began, then saw him draw a gun from his pocket and aim it at her. She blinked, looked him in the eyes and asked, “What’s this about?”
“Oh, I think you know. I’ve been interested in you for a while now, and you ignored me. Even worse, you were one of those designated to run that special antigang task force, even though I’d requested the post and I’d been with the LAPD a lot longer than you. Even my assistance to you was hardly recognized. And now, with our dear Deputy Chief Dan’s stupid shelter idea. I wanted you to at least notice me as more than a fellow cop. To care for me. And to be there to support me if there was another task force formed or something similar where I could be in charge. Be my backup this time. But you didn’t even promise to come back to our department, let alone show that you liked me or would do anything to help my career. I even sent those damn text messages, to get you back to L.A. But you’ve been stupidly stubborn, and now I’m going to smarten you up. Now, tie up that damned dog, and let’s get going.”
Jon. He had been the one to send all those threatening texts and undoubtedly drove the car at her, too. Had he intended to follow through and kill her, and reveal everythin
g about this shelter, if she didn’t go back to L.A. today? And pay attention to him? And—what? Engage in a romantic relationship with him? Get her support somehow for bettering his career? Both?
No matter what, that wasn’t going to happen.
And now—Spike was sitting beside her as she still held his leash. He was quivering, the wonderful K-9 aware something was wrong.
At least he wasn’t growling. But if he did, if he leaped on Jon or did anything else, would Jon shoot him?
She couldn’t let that happen.
But she wasn’t armed.
All she could do was hope that Scott was on alert, was—
She heard a keycard scrape against the door behind her and turned slightly. The door opened, but it wasn’t Scott who stood there.
No, it was Warren.
“Go back!” she yelled, unsure why he was there but not wanting him to get hurt. “Tell Scott what you see here.” Like, this man holding a gun on her.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Gray-haired Warren grinned maliciously, then closed the door as he came into the room. What was going on?
Who was he?
Nella stared at him. “But—you’re one of our staff members. You need to leave here for your own safety.”
“Nah. I’m fine. Should I tell her what’s going on?” Warren was looking at Jon now. And Jon hadn’t moved the gun toward Warren. It was still aimed at Nella.
“Sure.” Jon shrugged as if he didn’t give a damn.
Warren explained he’d only become a staff member a short while before Nella’s arrival. “My partner was after me, so I didn’t lie. I was just lucky to learn about this place when I did, got here not long before you did. What I didn’t say—but had been able to hide—was that while my partner and me were both in the car business—not real estate—we provided cars to the gang members you were after.” He giggled. “Now, thanks to Jon, I can stay here, out of sight. I’ll help the new LAPD task force catch my former partner and the rest of the gang, then still stay here and let Jon know who to send to the shelter as a staffer and why. I’m fine hanging out at this wonderful—” he exaggerated the word “—shelter.” Nella shuddered as he winked at her. “Or maybe I’ll go back to L.A. and join what’s left of the gang after my former partner is in jail, although if Jon winds up in charge that might not work. Still, lots of choices. And they’re partly thanks to you, since I got in touch with Jon after he came to see you. I told him who I was. And I even helped him already. Guess who stole and drove that car at you at his request, at a time I knew you’d be returning to the shelter. Plus, that little dog, Jack, just happened to be wandering the street at the right time. It was fate, right? Of course I had to aim him in the right direction. But it worked, though I wished I’d been able to run you down. Even so, Jon said he’d honor his promise if I helped again now, that he’d lead his fellow officers to my partner and bring him down, so I can finally return to my car business if I want.”
Nella moaned inside. She should have thought about the fact that Warren had claimed his business partner had driven a car at him when she’d had the same thing happen to her. It should have been a clue—even though she had no idea how this staff member had gotten outside the shelter. But seeing what he was like, he had probably stolen a key and somehow gotten away with it.
And she hadn’t thought that was who Warren was. He’d seemed to be a good guy, a staffer who liked animals, had a fun attitude sometimes and needed protection.
He wasn’t what he seemed.
Neither was Jon. She might not have seen him as dating material, but she hadn’t thought he would resort to something like this to get her attention. But more important, and she hadn’t realized it before, he’d been jealous about her running the task force despite his apparent attempts to help her. He certainly couldn’t think she would ever give him positive attention after this, or that she’d ever support him as head of a task force or anything else. But he’d certainly seemed to want her back in L.A. Why? So he could dispose of her there? But rather than insist she get in his car with him, it looked like he might kill her now. Then, despite his apparent promises to Warren to ensure his safety here, would he reveal the shelter’s purpose to the world?
Whatever he planned, she had to stop him.
And now Warren, too, aimed a gun at her. Where had he gotten that? She figured it had to be one of the weapons hidden for the managers at the shelter. This man had certainly found ways around a lot of the safeguards here.
“What, you’re going to shoot me, too, Warren?” Nella knew she sounded not only skeptical but furious. And she was angry. With both of them.
If only she’d realized before who her threatening foes were.
“Sure,” the senior said, smiling. He looked ready to shoot—so Nella did the only thing she could.
“Spike, attack!” she shouted, letting go of her dog’s leash as she leaped toward Jon, knocking his arm aside and then making sure Spike had Warren’s wrist in his mouth. He did.
And now Nella hoped that her belief in this shelter, her belief in Scott, would all be realized. Fast.
But she couldn’t count on anything. She had to act.
“You damn—” Jon began, but Nella got hold of his arm and attempted to wrest the gun away. But he was a cop, too, and wasn’t about to let go.
Only—the door into the shelter opened again. This time, Scott came through it holding a gun, followed by Telma and Camp, also armed.
Scott got control of Jon and handcuffed him, and Nella told Spike, “Drop it.” The wonderful K-9 let go of Warren, and Camp then handcuffed him, too.
“How the hell did you know I was here?” demanded Jon.
“You forgot, this is a very special shelter,” Scott said with a large smile that Nella ached to kiss. “We’ve got lots and lots of hidden security cameras.” He motioned toward a couple of them, one hidden at the side of the floor and more in the upper corners of the room. “They also provide alarms if they’re filming anything. So—Jon whatever your name is, I’m still a member of the Chance Police Department—and you’re under arrest. Warren, too.”
Chapter 25
Scott couldn’t have felt more relieved. It was over.
He had Nella in his car beside him now, with Spike in the back seat, and he was driving them all to the Chance PD.
Immediately after subduing the suspects, he had called Vince, who’d had cops in a couple of the cars already patrolling the area come in and take Jon and Warren into custody.
Now Nella kept looking over and smiling at him. She’d already thanked him, several times.
“I can’t believe it’s actually over,” she said to him, not for the first time and echoing his own continuing thoughts.
“Believe it,” he said. “Although we’ll all still have to stay on guard. I figure Jon was telling the truth, but we’ll need to remain careful in case there’s more to it than that. We’ll need to continue to both protect our staff members and to watch for any indication that someone else is making the purpose of our shelter public.”
“Our shelter... I wonder if Dan will continue to try to start one in L.A.”
They’d already called him from Scott’s car to let him know what had happened.
“What?” he’d blasted. “Damn! I’m turning around. Will be back there soon.”
After further conversation, it didn’t sound as if he was going to stick up for his fellow LAPD officer Jon.
In addition, Dan let them know that he’d already increased the number of officers tracking down the remaining gang members, formed another, experienced, task force, but now he’d make sure they focused on their assignment even more. “It’s way past time to bring that whole thing to an end,” he said before they hung up.
Scott soon parked along the street near the police station. Nella didn’t seem quite ready to run inside.
“I can gues
s how you happened to walk into the reception area right at the critical moment,” she’d already told him.
“Like I said, security cameras.”
Now she apparently wanted to talk more about it as she continued to sit beside him. “The shelter you started is so wonderful in so many ways,” she said. “I was happy before about those security cameras you’d installed, and now I’m thrilled. They’re all over the place, as they should be.”
“Not in the rooms where people sleep.” He winked at her, and she flushed a little—appearing even prettier than usual, if that was possible. Yes, she wore a Chance Animal Shelter manager’s T-shirt, as he did. But the fact she’d put hers on early that morning when she’d still been considering leaving made him recognize even more the turmoil she’d been going through.
Before she made the right decision.
And dealt with the consequences.
“Of course not,” she said. “So I gather you were checking the videos they were taking—but why right then?”
“I think you know. I’ve been keeping an eye on you while I could.”
“Because?”
“Because I’ve been worried about you. I’m always worried about you, and when you made public this morning the fact you were staying—” and he was definitely glad she was staying “—I was concerned that the person issuing the threats would finally act. Not that I knew who it was or how they’d find out, but I didn’t want to take any more chances than I had to.”
Her Undercover Refuge Page 23