Obsession (Fortress Security Book 7)

by Rebecca Deel

Two hours later, his phone buzzed with an incoming text. He checked the screen, his heart rate ratcheting up a notch. Zane had sent results to Jake’s work email.

  A few keystrokes brought up the first file. He watched the whole incident from beginning to end several times, each run through reiterating how close he came to losing Lacey.

  Finally, he clicked on the second file. Jake’s breath caught, fury burning through him.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Lacey shook her head. “This can’t be.” She handed Jake his phone. “Zane’s wrong.” Wasn’t he?

  “I’m sorry, babe. Z double checked everything. He’s the shooter.”

  “But why? I’ve never done anything to him. Will doesn’t have a reason to hurt us.”

  “The picture doesn’t lie, Lacey.” Cade squeezed her shoulder.

  “I’m telling you, something’s wrong. Look at his face. He looks terrified, not like a serial killer out to shoot his elusive target.”

  “I noticed,” Jake said. “Let’s find him and get some answers.” His voice was mild, the look in his eyes anything but nonthreatening.

  From Jake’s expression, talking was only one thing he had in mind when they confronted Will Beckett. Somehow, she had to prevent Jake from beating the crooked cop to a pulp. He would feel justified, but Lacey was sure Will’s fellow officers, not to mention his father, wouldn’t agree with Jake’s assessment. “Shouldn’t we call Todd? He might find Will faster than we can.”

  “We’ll call him,” Cade said. “After.”

  Uh oh. That didn’t sound good. “After what?”

  He just smiled.

  She turned. “Jake.”

  “Trust us. We know what we’re doing.”

  “Don’t give the police an excuse to toss you two in jail. You still have the lawyer’s name on speed dial?”

  Cade chuckled. “I don’t think your future wife has much faith in your self-control, buddy.”

  Jake’s lips twitched. “She’s probably right. He could have killed her last night.”

  “He didn’t, though. In fact, there’s not a scratch on either of you. You think it’s possible he deliberately missed?”

  “That’s one of the many questions I plan to ask.” Jake called Zane.

  “Murphy. What do you need, Jake?”

  “You’re on speaker with Cade and Lacey. I need Will Beckett. Find his cell phone number and ping it. Got a few questions for the soon-to-be former cop.”

  “Hold.” Zane was back within two minutes. “Sent you the coordinates and address. He’s been in the same place since minutes after the shooting.”

  “Thanks. If he changes location, tell me.”

  “Will do. Lacey, how do you feel this morning?”

  “Not bad. A little sore in places. Jake tackles like a linebacker. Since he saved me from a bullet, I’ll happily take an over-the-counter pain reliever for a few sore muscles.”

  “Things in Winston will heat up now. Stick with Jake and Cade. They’ll make sure you return home in one piece.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  And he was gone.

  Jake checked the information Zane sent. “You recognize this address, Lacey?”

  She came up blank. “Sorry.” Where was that?

  “Looks like it’s on the east side of town.” He turned to Cade. “Suit up. Let’s have a talk with this clown.”

  Lacey laid her hand on Jake’s forearm. “I want to go with you.” She saw the refusal in his eyes. “Hear me out. You don’t know him like I do. I’ll know if he’s lying. Besides, nothing will happen to me. Will won’t touch me with you and Cade at my side.”

  Jake listened to her impassioned speech while he strapped on weapons, including a wicked looking black knife with a huge blade. Good grief. “Do you carry that many weapons on missions?” Lacey asked.

  “More plus the ammo.” He smiled as he tugged his black t-shirt over some kind of vest. “Gun stores aren’t handy when we’re in the desert or jungle.”

  When he finished tying his black combat boots, Lacey scanned him from head to toe. Wow.

  Jake’s eyebrow rose. “What?”

  “You look hot.”

  With a laugh, he hugged her. “You’re biased.”

  Only a little. Whew. He and Cade were built. “Take me with you, Jake. I want to hear what Will has to say for myself.”

  “All right. Remember to do everything we tell you without question. I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s more to what’s happening than we think.”

  She hurried to her room to grab a jacket and her cell phone. The two operatives were waiting by the door when she returned.

  Instead of going to the elevator, Jake steered her toward the stairs. “Don’t want to alarm anyone with our gear.”

  Smart. They looked capable and deadly. They climbed into Jake’s SUV. He cranked the engine, entered the information Zane sent him into the navigation system, and drove from the hotel parking lot.

  Lacey’s brow furrowed as they drove from town and headed toward the mountains. They rode in silence until Jake turned into a subdivision with large homes sitting atop acres of well-landscaped lawns.

  “Small-town police work must pay well,” Cade said.

  Jake drove through the neighborhood until he reached a large three-story house with gray stone on the outside and black shutters at each window. “Beckett is in there.” He continued driving to the end of the block and turned the corner.

  Lacey frowned. Weren’t they going to stop? “What are we doing?”

  “Scouting the area.”

  Jake circled the block and parked three houses down. “We’ll walk from here.”

  “Why not park in the driveway.”

  “We don’t want Beckett to know we’re here. He might run.”

  They exited the SUV. “Wait,” Jake murmured. He went to the back of his SUV, rummaged in his Go bag, and returned to Lacey’s side. “Take off your watch.”

  Intrigued, she handed it to him. He flipped the watch over and pressed something to the band. When he was satisfied the object would stay, he buckled the time piece around her wrist again. Jake threaded his fingers through hers as they approached the house. He signaled Cade, and the other operative slipped around the corner of the house, hidden from view.

  The shadows were deep and long in the pre-dawn darkness. If Jake hadn’t been holding her hand, she wouldn’t have been able to see him. His entire body was clothed in black. Nothing on him gleamed or glittered.

  They crept along the side of the house until they reached a corner. Jake released her hand and signaled for her to stay in place.

  Lacey strained to listen for sounds indicating someone saw them creeping along the house although the effort was futile. The only thing she heard was her pulse pounding in her ears. She wasn’t normally skittish at night. Being out here like this, however, was spooky.

  Was Will the serial killer? It didn’t make sense to her. Will didn’t care enough about anyone but himself. He was in law enforcement and knew the chances of being caught were good. Lacey didn’t believe Will was smart enough to elude detection this long. From the discussion she and Jake had with Todd earlier, the killer hadn’t left any clues behind. Will couldn’t have pulled that off. According to rumor around town, he’d failed the detective’s exam twice in the last three years.

  Jake returned to Lacey. “It’s clear,” he murmured. “Cade’s waiting at the back door.”

  She followed him around the corner. The other operative stood near the door, his gaze scouring the area.

  “Yvonne’s SUV is in the detached garage,” he whispered when they reached his side.

  “Door?” Jake asked.

  “Locked. Alarm’s been disabled.”

  A nod. “Turn around, Lacey.”

  She started to question him, then thought better of it. Protecting her again. Lacey spun until her back was to him. A moment later, he said, “Inside.”

  Cade slipped into the darkened house first, f
ollowed by Jake and Lacey. They walked into a dimly lit kitchen. Stainless steel appliances and granite or marble countertops glistened in the low light.

  Jake glanced at her. “Stay behind me.” When she nodded, the two men began a cursory search of the rooms on the first floor. No sign of Will down here.

  They climbed the stairs to the second floor in silence. Cade took the right side of the hallway while Jake angled toward the left. Jake and Cade cleared each room. Nothing.

  Where was Will?

  With a hand signal, Jake led the way to the third floor. On this level were four large suites. Again, the two men split up. Jake and Lacey went into the first suite. Beautiful furniture. And the art on the walls? Exquisite.

  Jake turned toward the door on the right and twisted the knob. He opened the door just enough to see inside, then backed away. Nudging Lacey against the wall by the door, he pressed his lips to her ear. “Don’t move.”

  He left and returned a minute later with Cade on his heels. Jake bent to speak into Lacey’s ear. “Will is in bed in the room on the right. I know you want to hear what he has to say. I respect that, but I don’t want you in his sight. If you wait by the door to the room, you’ll hear everything that’s said. Will you do that for me?”

  Lacey nodded. She had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last compromise she made to accommodate Jake’s protective streak.

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead in thanks, then signaled Cade. The other operative slipped into the darkened room with Jake a step behind.

  Lacey moved to the left side of the door. While she didn’t have a line of sight into the room, she could tell from the shadows on the wall that Jake and Cade had split up and were on both sides of the bed.

  She prayed the nightmare ended and her mother would be safe now.

  A muffled shout reached her ears.

  “We need to talk, Beckett,” Jake said.

  More muffled words.

  “I’m going to lift my hand. Answer my questions, and I’m out of here.”

  “How did you get in here?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “I’m a cop, you idiot. You’re going to jail.”

  Despite his harsh words, Lacey heard the bald fear in Will’s voice. Was he afraid of Jake and Cade, or afraid they knew what he’d been up to?

  “I know your secret, Beckett.”

  “You’re crazy. I haven’t done anything.”

  “I have evidence that says different.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  Lacey frowned, wishing she could see Will’s face. He sounded desperate. What was going on?

  A hard hand clamped around her mouth and something sharp stung her neck. Before she could make a noise to draw Jake’s attention, the world grayed, then faded into black.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Jake glowered at the cowering cop pressing himself deeper into the mattress to put distance between them. “Make me understand.” He saw the exact instant when Beckett decided to brazen it out.

  “You don’t have evidence.”

  “Wrong. Traffic and security cameras caught a great picture of you with a weapon in your hand. You fired at us from Yvonne’s SUV on Magnolia seven hours ago. You’ve been playing a very dangerous game for six years, haven’t you, Beckett? The FBI want to talk to you.”

  “Why did you pull the trigger?” Cade asked, his voice a low rumble. “You could have killed Lacey.”

  “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  Jake analyzed the words, the pitch of his voice, and compared them to his other encounters with Beckett. Lacey was right. Something was terribly wrong. No question Beckett was the shooter, but he acted terrified rather than defiant because he’d been caught. Was he afraid of prison time as a former cop or someone on the outside? “Talk to me or I’ll make your life so miserable, you’ll wish you were dead.”

  “I can’t,” Beckett whispered.

  “Someone is targeting Lacey, and I don’t think it’s you despite that stunt you pulled last night on the street.”

  “She’s okay, right?”

  “Your aim is lousy.”

  A scowl from the sweating cop. “I hit what I aim at.”

  Now they were getting somewhere. “You aimed at the store window and the wall?”

  “That’s right. I don’t want to hurt anyone,” he repeated.

  “But you’ve hurt plenty of people in the last six years, haven’t you? You know we won’t stop until we find the man who hurt Yvonne. Why did you aim away from us? A smart man would have taken out the threat. But you didn’t. Why not?”

  He shook his head, refusing to answer.

  “Come on, man. The game’s up. The only person who matters to me is Lacey. You need to tell us who wants her so we can stop him.”

  “He’ll kill me.”

  Confirmation of what he suspected. Beckett wasn’t in this alone. He wasn’t smart enough to pull off so many murders without detection for six years. No question that he was involved, but he wasn’t the brains behind this operation. Who was the dominant partner? His father? “Where is your father?”

  Beckett shook his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since before dinner last night.”

  Jake had seen the empty police chief’s suite across the hall. “Is he the man after Lacey?”

  “What? No! Dad would never do something like that. He might have been hot for Yvonne, but Lacey’s too young for him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  The cop swallowed hard, nodded.

  The skin at the back of Jake’s neck prickled. He signaled Cade to keep questioning Beckett. He pulled his Sig and, staying in the shadows, approached the doorway into the sitting room.

  He stepped into the room, scanning. Empty. Ice water poured through Jake’s veins. Where was Lacey? As much as she’d wanted to hear the conversation with Beckett, she wouldn’t walk away. Could they have missed someone inside the house?

  Jake hurried to the other side of the suite and checked the other room. No sign of another person. A quick check of the hallway and he had to accept the inevitable conclusion. Lacey was gone. Fear like he’d never known flooded his body. He couldn’t lose her. Lacey Coleman was everything to him. Without her, his life would be an eternity of loneliness and heartache.

  He rushed back into the Beckett’s room and jerked the cop up by his pajama top. “Who else is in this house?”

  Will tugged at Jake’s wrist with one hand, a ring glinting in the dim light. “No one, I swear.”

  He leaned closer. “Try again. Lacey was right outside this room and now she’s gone. Who else is here, Beckett?”

  The other man groaned. “No. Oh, no. You brought her here? You should have taken Lacey back to Nashville. He’s always watching the house. He has a key, and now he’s taken her. You handed her to him on a silver platter.”

  Jake twisted the material in his hands until seams popped. “Quite whining and give me a name.”

  Beckett shut his eyes. “I don’t want to die.”

  “I’ve got news for you, Beckett. If you don’t give me this clown’s name, he won’t have a chance to kill you. I’ll take you out myself in the most painful method possible. Who has my girlfriend?”

  “Noah,” he choked out. “Noah Holt.”

  “He’s the one who killed all those women?” Jake pressed.

  Beckett looked as though he wanted to cry when he nodded.

  “He’ll go to ground,” Cade said. “Where is he going, Beckett?”

  “I don’t know, I swear.”

  Jake shoved the pathetic cop away from him before he killed him. Trusting Cade to keep Beckett in place, Jake grabbed his cell phone.

  Two rings later, a gruff voice answered. “Murphy.”

  “It’s Jake. I need help.”

  “Hold on a sec.”

  He paced to contain the clawing in his gut to do something, anything, to find Lacey. Z was his best chance.

  “Go.”

  “Activate my
tracking tag.”

  Keys clicked. “Lacey?”

  “Noah Holt has her.”

  “He’s the serial killer?”

  “Looks like it.” More keys clicked. “Please, tell me you’ve got her, Zane.”

  “Signal is strong and steady. I sent the link to your phone and Cade’s. I’ll keep monitoring her position from here in case you hit a dead zone.”

  “Thanks. Tap into the traffic cams. I want to know what he’s driving.” He ended the call. “Got her.” He inclined his head toward Beckett. “Secure him and let’s go.”

  Beckett scrambled back. “Wait. You can’t just leave me here. What if he gets away from you? I’ll be a sitting duck.”

  “You better hope he doesn’t.”

  Cade made short work of securing Beckett with zip ties.

  Instead of going to the back entrance, Jake ran out the front door, leaving it unlocked to provide easier access for law enforcement. They sprinted to the SUV. Jake cranked the engine as Cade tapped on the link to the Fortress tracking program.

  “Got it. Turn right at the entrance to the subdivision. Holt just drove onto State Route 1.”

  Though it took teeth-gritting discipline, he kept to the speed limit while in the subdivision. The last thing he wanted to do was injure an innocent civilian in his haste to find Lacey. If Holt was driving, he couldn’t hurt her.

  Once out of the subdivision, he floored the accelerator. Jake activated his Bluetooth and called Todd Jones. “It’s Jake.”

  “Oh, man. I haven’t cleaned up the paperwork from the last encounter we had. What now?”

  “Lacey is missing.”

  “How did that happen? I thought you were keeping close tabs on her.”

  “Never mind that now. We think Noah Holt took her.”

  “Holt’s the serial killer?”

  “You can get answers from Will Beckett. He’s the one who shot at us last night. Also, he hasn’t seen his father since dinner last night.”

  “You think the chief is involved in the murders?” His voice was incredulous.

  “Don’t know. At this point, I don’t care. That’s your problem. I have a tracker on Lacey. Cade and I are going after her.”