“All right, Deputy Marshal. You win. I’ve got what I came for anyway. I’ll pack it in and grab a cab or an Uber back over to the hotel.” She pushed a couple of buttons on her camera, and he could hear it powering down. “Thank you for making the arrest. Now that you’ve captured Beckett, I’m sure the danger is over for me. I’ll be perfectly safe from here on out.”
Jake wasn’t sure that he agreed with her assessment, but he nodded his approval at her decision to leave. Then, as he turned to go back upstairs with Dominic to continue the investigation, a pang of guilt hit him. Was it risky to send her back to the hotel alone? Sure, they had just captured Carter Beckett, the man who had endangered her life in her apartment and probably been behind the shooting, but did that eliminate the threat against her? He refused to analyze the ball of fear that was clenching in his stomach. He knew he cared more than he should, and that line of thought was dangerous, too. He tamped down those feelings deep within him. He didn’t want to care about Mackenzie Weaver beyond what he would care for any victim, yet he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. He opened the stairwell door and turned to watch her for a moment as she stowed her camera equipment. The pain in his stomach intensified. It wasn’t a good sign.
God, please help me get this woman out of my system. The silent prayer was quick but heartfelt. He needed help to regain his focus. The desire to pray surprised him, though. It had been a while since he had prayed or attended church. Maybe that was why he’d been struggling so much lately. He ran his hand over his jaw and shook his head. Instead of his worry lightening after the prayer, it seemed to intensify. He instantly knew he couldn’t leave her at risk. Maybe God had answered his prayer, but the response was the opposite of what he expected.
He went back over to her side. “Don’t call a cab, Ms. Weaver,” he growled. “Wait here, and I’ll drive you back to the hotel myself. Just give us five minutes to investigate something upstairs. We’ll be back shortly. Can you do that?”
* * *
Mackenzie shrugged in response and then finally nodded. If today was any indication, this movie was going to be the hardest project she’d ever worked on—all because the deputy marshal she was assigned to work with seemed bent on obstructing her efforts at every turn.
She watched him leave, not trusting herself to speak. She knew on some level that he was right—it had been wrong to follow him into the building, and she had put herself in a risky position. A week ago, she would never even have considered following the deputies into a hot pursuit situation without having more of a plan in place. Yes, she had been afraid of the danger, but for some reason, in her drive to succeed and prove herself, she had convinced herself that the risk was outweighed by the necessity of getting the perfect footage. Now she had to admit that following them hadn’t been the smartest move she’d ever made. It had been gratifying to see the man who had pulled a gun on her in her own apartment get arrested, but even that couldn’t justify her actions. She had made a mistake. A big one.
She finished packing up her equipment and pulled out her phone, figuring that as long as she had a few minutes to wait, she might as well answer some work-related emails. She tried to focus on the correspondence, but her thoughts kept returning to Jake Riley. Why was the man aggravating her so? It wasn’t like she hadn’t had difficult clients in the past, but for some reason she couldn’t identify, she wanted Jake to like her. No, it was more than that. She wanted Jake to respect her—and the work she did. She wanted his approval. Was she expecting the impossible? He had never seemed to even like her in the past, but that had been years ago, and she was an adult now with totally different dreams and goals. Was she asking too much?
She stowed her phone. She couldn’t explain why Jake’s opinion mattered so much. It just did. She thought back to her former fiancé, Ted Chapman, whom she had split up with almost a year ago. Ted had loved her but had never really seemed to appreciate her work. In fact, he had always treated her job as a passing hobby rather than a serious profession, just as her parents did. No one except her brother, Jonathan, seemed to truly understand how the movies were a part of her and gave her an ability to express herself on film. And ever since Jonathan’s death four years ago, she’d had no one to give her the support she so desperately craved. Mackenzie locked the camera case and closed the trunk, her thoughts spinning. The lighting, the sounds and the framing—they were all a way to give the world meaning and tap into the consciousness of her audience. She wanted to inspire change and encourage people to see things around them in a new and different way. She wanted to stimulate conversations and touch people with her art. Was it even possible to convince Jake to appreciate her efforts?
She sighed. Jake would only be a memory after this film was completed and she’d moved on to her next project. Yet his opinion still mattered to her more than she wanted to admit. Now she just had to figure out why.
She crossed her arms and clenched her fists in frustration. Had she just blown this opportunity by her thoughtless actions?
SIX
“I don’t want Mackenzie Weaver anywhere near my team,” Jake said emphatically. “She’s out of control, and she’s going to get herself killed.”
Jake’s supervisor, J.T. Austin, leaned back in his chair. “Look, Jake. I understand how you feel, but this assignment came from the assistant director himself. We have to let Weaver do ride-alongs and cover us in the field, at least until this documentary she’s working on is complete. We have no choice in the matter.”
“That’s ridiculous. She’s a liability out there, and if we’re not careful, she’s going to end up in the line of fire. She almost got shot yesterday during the Beckett arrest. Can’t we send her up to Atlanta or one of the larger offices? Maybe they can babysit her.”
“No can do,” J.T. said quietly. “You have to understand the political background here. Funding is tight for all federal agencies, and the US Marshals units have been getting the short end of the stick at appropriations time lately, especially the smaller units like ours. This documentary is going to show everyone how important our job really is and make sure we get the funding we need to do it correctly.”
Jake steamed. He had never been good at playing the political game. “How’s it going to sound on the evening news when Ms. Weaver gets shot by friendly fire? I’m telling you, she has no business being out there. She doesn’t understand how law enforcement works.”
“Didn’t you brief her before you went out for the arrest? What she could and couldn’t do should have been spelled out to her.”
“Oh, it was spelled out all right,” Jake said roughly. “She was told to stay behind the perimeter and in the car until the arrest was completed. She just didn’t do what she was told.”
J.T. rubbed his chin. “Are you upset because she broke the rules or because you don’t want her out there in the first place?”
Jake ran his hands through his hair. “Both. She’s new at this, but she just needs somebody to teach her some basic safety procedures. The problem is, she’s reckless. I’m sure she’s never touched a weapon in her entire life and probably doesn’t realize the danger, even though she’s been shot at repeatedly over the last few days. She seems to just keep coming back for more. She’s either the gutsiest woman I’ve ever met or the most naive lady on the planet.”
“You have a point. What she needs is someone to help her get to know the ropes so she can be an asset to your team, rather than a hindrance. Thanks for volunteering, Jake,” J.T. said with a smile. “It will ease my mind knowing you’ve taken this project on.”
Jake raised his eyebrows and sat down heavily. “Wow. I didn’t see that coming.”
J.T. leaned forward. “Look, Jake, like it or not, we’re stuck with her, and the faster she gets the job done, the faster she’s out of our hair. Think of it this way. By helping her out, you’ll be helping yourself.” He paused. “Is the threat against her neutralized now that Becket
t has been arrested?”
“I don’t know. We’re still trying to connect all the dots.”
“Until you know for sure, she’s probably safer in your company than she would be out on her own. In the grand scheme of things, you’re actually helping out a victim by keeping her close. Isn’t that why you joined the US Marshals in the first place? To protect people?”
Jake closed his eyes for a moment and blew out a breath. Ever since Beckett’s arrest yesterday, he had been avoiding Mackenzie to the best of his ability. He’d had Dominic take her back to her hotel after they’d finished searching the office building, and today he’d done a quick disappearing act whenever she was nearby. He definitely did not relish the idea of spending time with her. He’d even spent hours trying to interrogate Beckett this morning—and gotten absolutely nowhere—just so he wouldn’t run into Mackenzie in the bull pen.
He glanced over at his boss, who had tented his fingers and was waiting patiently for him to sort through his thoughts. Unfortunately, Jake knew that further argument wouldn’t alter the situation. J.T. Austin was a fair-minded and supportive supervisor, but he could also rarely be talked into changing his mind once it was made up.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll try to work something out with her,” Jake mumbled. He shifted in his chair and decided to change the subject before he showed J.T. just how much Mackenzie had gotten under his skin. “You’ll see in my report the details of the Beckett arrest and his interrogation, but we came across something strange that we haven’t been able to figure out.”
J.T. raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“A whole room dedicated to taking apart copy machines. Dozens and dozens of them. The office building doesn’t house a repair shop, so it was really odd. I’m not sure what to make of it.”
“Where did the machines come from?”
“A variety of sources. We started a trace based on their serial numbers, and found that most of them were purchased from an auction a few weeks ago. Some used to belong to a variety of state agencies, and others to medical offices. The purchases are legitimate, but what we can’t figure out is why that company, or any company really, would need so many. Do you have any ideas?”
“None,” J.T. said, shaking his head. “Is it really that big of a deal? So they have a collection of copy machines. So what?”
Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. It may mean nothing at all. It’s just my gut talking. Something seems wrong about the whole thing.”
“Don’t spend too much time on it if it doesn’t pan out. We’ve got too many other cases in the hopper.”
Jake stood, nodded to his boss, and went in search of his new protégé. He knew she was in the building somewhere. The agency had given her a temporary desk for the duration of her project, but he was surprised when he actually saw her sitting there, tapping away on her computer. All morning and afternoon she had seemed to be up and about, asking questions or getting underfoot in some other annoying way. He had even seen her filming in one of the spare conference rooms that morning. Apparently, she had found a few willing participants and had been interviewing them on camera. The fact that he’d noticed her behavior and had been keeping tabs on her annoyed him even further.
He stopped a moment before approaching her and really looked at her. She was definitely quite attractive, with high cheekbones and a full, wide mouth that was usually smiling. Her cheerfulness irritated him, as did the fact that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He noticed how her chocolate-brown hair softly framed her face, and her pale blue eyes were warm and expressive. He drew his lips into a thin line. Attractive or not, she had no business being in his workplace. He wondered just how long it would take before he would be free of her and her interference.
* * *
Mackenzie put a stray strand of hair behind her ear and pushed some more keys on her laptop. The editing software she had installed on her computer was top of the line, but it was nothing like the professional version she’d had to work with back at her home studio. The insurance company was slowly working on her claim, but it would be a while before she could replace her equipment and do the professional editing necessary to fulfill her commitments. In the meantime, she was trying to make arrangements to rent out another company’s editing board so she could finish the video on the homeless by her deadline. She made a few clicks on her keyboard, taking another look at her footage from the Beckett arrest. Even though the software wasn’t the best, it still gave her an idea of what footage she had and what she still needed to record to complete the project at hand. She grimaced and hit the delete button, erasing a section of the film. There was virtually nothing usable from yesterday’s shoot at the arrest, and every time she got to the part with Deputy Riley’s hand in front of the lens, it made her fume.
“Playing video games again?”
The smooth Southern drawl startled her. She jumped and looked up into Jake’s face. She had been so engrossed in her work that she hadn’t even noticed him approach.
Her first reaction was to vent her frustration at his interference, but she smiled at him instead. There was no use making a bad situation worse, and if she antagonized him, her job would get even harder, not to mention the fact that she still needed to apologize for her own behavior yesterday during the arrest. As hard as it was to admit, she had been wrong and needed to tell him so. She motioned toward a nearby chair, inviting him to sit. “Actually, I have the Pac-Man high score. Some of those retro games are pretty cool.”
He raised an eyebrow and then pulled up the chair and sat down in front of her. “You probably remember that I’m an up-front kind of guy. I’m not good at word games or sugarcoating things, so let me just say this straight up. You’re dangerous. You’re gonna make a mistake and land right in my sights if you’re not careful, and you’re gonna get hurt. When we go out on an arrest, we have one primary objective, and that is to capture our target. We use real guns with real bullets. If you get in the way again like you did yesterday, we can’t stop what we’re doing to move you out of the way. You’ll end up being collateral damage. You could get killed.”
Mackenzie closed her laptop with a snap. “Look, I realize I made a mistake yesterday, and I’m sorry.”
Jake didn’t respond, so she pushed forward. “I do have a job to do, though, and a deadline to meet. If you don’t cooperate from here on out, I’ll get way behind with the shooting schedule and won’t be able to fulfill my contract deliverables. Not to mention the fact that the US Marshals office in Atlanta sanctioned this project and promised me full cooperation.”
Jake held up his hands. “True. I was just reminded of that fact. I was also just assigned to be your babysitter.”
Mackenzie narrowed her eyes. “Babysitter? I don’t think so. I’m almost twenty-seven years old. I can handle myself just fine.”
“Apparently you can’t follow directions. Don’t you remember your instructions during the briefing yesterday before the arrest? You were supposed to stay behind the perimeter and in the car until we had Beckett in custody. Instead, you went barging in before we had even cleared the floor.”
Mackenzie drew her lips into a thin line. As much as she hated to admit it to him, she knew he had a point. Unfortunately, her actions had probably destroyed the minuscule amount of goodwill he’d ever harbored for her and her project. “You’re right, and I apologize again. If it helps, I’ll say I’m sorry a third time. If you would cooperate, though, it would save me from having to go to such extreme measures in the future to get this documentary finished.”
Jake’s eyes widened. “Are you saying this is my fault?”
Mackenzie nodded her head. “Partly, yes. I was wrong to follow you. I already admitted that. I realize now my behavior was a serious mistake. I shouldn’t have done that. But unfortunately, I’ll probably have to do something risky again if you won’t support this project. Put yourself in my shoes. What would you do to get you
r job accomplished if someone blocked you at every turn? Would you let a suspect escape just because you had an uncooperative witness? I’ve seen you in action and know you’re good at your job. Very good. And I’m sure you’d do whatever it takes to get the job done. I’m the same way, even if my job is different. I’m committed to this, and this work is just as important to me as yours is to you. When I’m finished, it will have my name on it, and I won’t submit sloppy work.”
Jake looked as if he was actually considering her words. He let a moment pass, then another. Finally, he spoke. “Touché. I haven’t made a secret of the fact that I don’t think we need a documentary, and I guess I haven’t been very helpful.”
Mackenzie raised an eyebrow. Had he just admitted his lack of cooperation? She watched as he leaned back in the chair, his expression thoughtful.
“Why don’t you tell me again what you want? Then maybe we can work something out. I have no idea what happened to that script you gave me.”
Mackenzie blinked. Had he just agreed to help her? That was not the response she had expected. Ever since they’d met as teenagers, he had been trying to get rid of her. She hadn’t expected to make any actual headway. She switched gears. “Okay, fine. I’ll get you another copy of the script and the storyboard, and you can start by looking those over and giving me your comments. I’ve already finished the general background research on the US Marshals unit here and gotten some basic shots that lead the viewer through the fundamentals, but what I really want is to take the audience through one of your typical cases, you know, from start to finish, to give them a feel for what you do. Then I want to get some shots of you guys in action. There wasn’t much from yesterday’s shoot that was usable.”
Perilous Pursuit Page 6