Princess

by Christina Skye

  He glanced up and shrugged. “It’s Bright Creek. Our whole area, actually. Now I’d better get back to work. You’re welcome to rest here as long as you like. By the way, you dropped this paper bag when you came in.”

  Jess reached out for the bag, which she’d found wedged under the front seat of the Jeep Rubicon along with old newspapers and food wrappers.

  “If your friend is taking any of those medicines, I’ll need to know that. Some of them are highly experimental, not approved for general use.”

  “Medicines?”

  The doctor frowned. Opening the bag, he shook half a dozen bottles on the table. “None of these have patient names, so I assume that they are being used for a double-blind clinical trial.”

  “Not that I know of.” Jess turned one bottle in her hand.

  “Very well, I’ll get back to work now.” The door closed.

  As she stood staring out at the street, a wave of exhaustion hit Jess.

  Her fingers closed over a piece of metal she’d picked up from under the tire, forgotten in her pocket. Without thinking, she traced the smooth outlines and then went very still.

  It was a boot buckle, she realized.

  Wavy lines crossed the half-circle, with the letters TEK etched in the middle. Just like the boot ornaments she’d seen in the pictures Hawk had shown her.

  She dug her driver’s cell phone out of her pocket and hit the redial button on the chance that the driver’s last call had been work-related.

  “Central.”

  “Central what?”

  After a pause, the man on the end cleared his throat. “Where is Worthington?”

  “Agent Worthington is in Bright Creek receiving a transfusion. He was shot about twenty-five minutes ago.”

  “What is your name, ma’am?”

  “Jess Mulcahey.”

  “I see.” Papers rustled. “Would you please hold?”

  Jess sighed and sat down in a chair facing the big picture window. Two cars parked. A bakery van lumbered past.

  “Ms. Mulcahey, where are you now?”

  “In Bright Creek at the doctor’s office on Main Street.”

  “I see.” Again she heard the hesitation in the man’s voice. “I’ll have someone sent over as soon as possible.”

  “There’s something else you need to know. The men who attacked us had a bag full of special medicine. It may be important to Lieutenant Mackenzie. Could you call him and tell him that I—”

  “Hold, please.”

  Jess tapped her foot impatiently, glaring at the street as the minutes ticked past. Abruptly the line went dead.

  “Very funny, pal.” Angrily, she stood up, hitting the redial button as she paced in front of the window. The phone rang a dozen times, but no one picked up.

  She was redialing when she noticed one of the dark sedans across the street was the same one she’d seen at the house where Hawk had driven her earlier. The old lady walking toward the car looked oddly familiar.

  She leaned closer, watching the slow, shuffling feet. The blue-gray hair.

  Izzy.

  Jess shoved the phone in her pocket, shifting the paper bag from hand to hand. She couldn’t walk away until she was sure that Hawk had these medicines. They had to be important, and since no one seemed to care about what she had to say, waiting around wasn’t an option.

  She opened the door and walked cautiously toward Izzy.

  Hawk scanned the street, one hand on his earphones. L.Z. was out of the car now, and Izzy had just picked up his bag of “dirty” laundry, which had been placed in the backseat earlier. As he listened, Hawk continued to scan the roof and the nearby alley, assessing threat possibilities.

  A flash of color drew his eyes back to the street. He cursed at the sight in front of him.

  “Something wrong in there?” Izzy asked quietly.

  “This isn’t possible. Jess Mulcahey is walking out of the house behind you. Damn it, what is she doing here?”

  When Izzy kept walking, Jess trotted across the street, cutting him off.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Izzy said curtly.

  Hawk touched his low-profile earphones, picking up every word.

  “I had to talk with you. Your agent was shot by two men in a broken silver Rubicon. He’s at the doctor’s now. They’re sending him off via medevac helicopter.”

  “Are you hurt?” Izzy demanded.

  Hawk realized his hands were clenched. What in God’s name had gone wrong?

  “No, I’m fine. The men took my Jeep, but I got out in time. Then I found this bag that they’d left behind in their car.” Jess held out the brown paper bag. “When the doctor told me that these are some kind of experimental medications, I thought it might be important. I tried using the agent’s cell phone, but they hung up on me.”

  “I’ll take them,” Izzy said tensely. “Now you’d better go. I’m a little busy here.”

  “I understand. There’s just one other thing,” Jess added quickly. “I found this buckle beneath the Rubicon. It’s exactly like the one on the boots that man was wearing in the diner. See the lettering? It says TEK. And they both have that wavy design on the edge.”

  “Okay,” Izzy said shortly. “I’ll relay that information on to the relevant parties.”

  “Consider it relayed,” Hawk said tightly, aware that only Izzy could hear him. “Now get Jess the hell out of there.”

  “Jess, you need to go back to the doctor’s office and wait. Someone will be by shortly.”

  “Sure.” They were almost outside the Laundromat, and L.Z. seemed restless, ears forward, sniffing the air.

  Hawk saw Jess look down. “Is something wrong with your dog?”

  “No, he’s fine,” said Izzy.

  “Get her out of there, Teague.” Hawk saw the manager, Luellen, come around the counter holding a floppy nylon purse. She raised a dirty metal blind and looked out at the street.

  Izzy bent his head toward Jess. “You need to go, Jess.”

  “Okay, I’m out of here.” When Jess turned around, Hawk breathed a sigh of relief. Things were getting too damned complicated without her being added to the mix.

  The Laundromat door opened, and the manager gestured to Izzy. “Honey, you sure you don’t need help with that laundry?” She glared at Jess. “Why don’t you grab the other end? Can’t you see that bag’s too heavy for her to handle?”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Jess glanced uncertainly at Izzy. “Do you want me to—”

  “No, no. I’ll be fine.” Teague’s voice had suddenly morphed back into grandma mode.

  Luellen sniffed and swung her big purse onto her shoulder. “Like hell am I letting a nice old lady like you carry all that laundry.” Sweeping past Jess and the dog, she grabbed the heavy bag away from Izzy. As she did, L.Z. growled and went flat on the sidewalk.

  Holy, holy shit.

  Hawk’s jaw clenched. The dog was signaling a scent trail for the missing lab animal.

  A door opened behind him. “A call just came in for you, Lieutenant. It was a woman named Jess Mulcahey. She said that—”

  “Not now. We’ve got a positive alert from L.Z. Get the other teams over here.” Princess could be locked inside the Laundromat or hidden in the woman’s car, maybe even stashed by Luellen Hammel in a different place entirely. It required only a few molecules to trigger a positive response from the dog. Izzy’s job would be to narrow those possibilities so that Hawk could take the animal alive.

  Mistakes weren’t an option.

  “I need you to scramble two teams,” Hawk ordered. “One for the Laundromat and one for the manager’s house.”

  “When—?”

  Hawk held up a gesture for silence. Outside on the street, Luellen was staring at L.Z.

  “Your dog definitely looks sick,” she said.

  Izzy bent down and stroked the dog sitting at attention. “No, she’s just resting, honey. It’s been a long day for both of us.”

  Amen to that, Hawk thought grimly.
r />   “Well, I’ll be going now. You take care.” Jess gave a little wave to Izzy. “It was nice to see you again.” She cleared her throat. “Honey.”

  “Just get out of there,” Hawk muttered irritably.

  “Hey, wait a minute.” Luellen spun around. “You’re her, that woman from the bar. I saw you on TV today.” The manager pushed open the door with one foot, still holding Izzy’s laundry bag. “Honey, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to give one of those creeps a pool cue right at ground zero. Who were those guys hitting on you?”

  “Well, I never actually found out who—”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Jess, but—”

  “Look, Jess, why don’t you come on in so I can buy you a Coke? I want to hear this story from beginning to end.”

  Jess moved from foot to foot uncertainly. “You mean now?”

  Hawk had a sudden glimpse of Jess’s pale face as she glanced across the street. When the manager put down the laundry bag and pumped her hand, pulling her toward the door, Jess smiled some more, murmuring that her husband was waiting and she really had to go.

  Luellen looked around. “I don’t see anyone. What’s a few minutes in here going to bother him anyway?” As she spoke she withdrew a gun from her pocket and gestured in the general direction of the street.

  “Oh, he’s parked down the street,” Jess said vaguely, staring at Luellen’s gun and allowing herself to be herded into the Laundromat. “He had to get gas.”

  “So you two know each other?”

  “It’s been awhile.” Izzy laughed brightly. “You know how it is.”

  “Damned right I know. And you can let your husband stay worried. Screw all of ’em.” Snorting, the manager leaned down and flipped over the big red sign on her front door. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to close early tonight. Anybody else who comes by can just take a hike. I like things nice and quiet in here. No distractions.”

  Something in the woman’s tone disturbed Hawk. Judging from the slur in her voice, she had been drinking.

  He studied the topo map of the area near her residence and calculated times and distances. Then he hit a button on his walkie-talkie without moving his gaze from the figures inside the Laundromat. “It’s Mackenzie. Here’s what I want you to do.”

  He continued to speak quietly, looking at the map.

  L.Z. was now sitting by Izzy’s leg, his body rigid. His keen eyes were locked on Luellen as Izzy gripped his cane and hobbled toward the nearest row of washing machines. “I think I’d better get started on this laundry.”

  “I’ve got a better idea.” Luellen glanced outside, then began to nod. “Yeah, that’s exactly what we should do.”

  Jess backed toward the door. “Actually, I need to go. I really, really need to go.”

  “Don’t move.” Luellen lurched in front of Jess and slapped one hand over the door. Hawk heard L.Z. growl, followed by the snap of a round being chambered in a gun.

  Jess tried to ease away, a smile pasted on her face. “Is s-something wrong?”

  “Damned right. There’s a man across the street. He’s been over there watching us ever since you two came in here.”

  Shit.

  The manager was clearly nuts, but she was also shrewd and seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. Jess and Izzy would be history if they weren’t careful.

  “Izzy, anytime.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you’re mistaken.” Calm as always, Izzy hobbled across the room, trying to wedge his padded body between Jess and the angry manager. In the process, he drew Luellen’s attention, so that she shifted the gun a few inches away from Jess’s head.

  “I’m not imagining anything. He’s there, damn it.”

  Hawk saw Luellen’s gun twitch. He watched the muzzle waver, still dangerously close to Jess’s head. “Izzy, get that gun away from her. We need to find out if the bear is hidden inside her trailer. I don’t want to storm the place unless it’s necessary.”

  “Honey, you’ll probably want to put that gun of yours away now.” Izzy smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “I don’t want to see anyone hurt by mistake, and I’m not half ready to die.” He spoke as if he were addressing a child.

  “Hurt?” The woman looked down and sniffed. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little jumpy. Fact is, my ex staggered in here drunk last week and tried to slap me around for old time’s sake.” Her voice hardened. “There’s only one way to get rid of a mean, sorry bastard like that, and you’re looking at it right here. As in kiss my .45.” She held up the gun and made a loud popping sound. “Know what I mean?”

  chapter 21

  D amn, damn, damn.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Jess saw Izzy move between her and Luellen.

  “Your ex is giving you problems?” he asked casually.

  “From the first second I met him. If he gets in my face again, I’ll shoot him.”

  “Being a woman can be a trial, by all that’s holy. But that gun is making me nervous, honey.”

  “Sorry about that, but I’m taking no chances. If you’re weak, you’re a target.” Luellen’s eyes were cold. “I’m not going to be weak ever again.”

  Jess had to admit that Luellen made a crazy kind of sense. She almost felt sorry for the woman.

  When Luellen lowered the gun slightly, Izzy nodded. “That’s better. Not that I don’t sympathize, honey. The best day of my life was the day my husband got blind, stinking drunk and fell off a bridge,” he said casually, putting a few more inches between Jess and the delusional manager. “I didn’t even go to the funeral. Told everyone I was overcome by grief, but I was too afraid someone would see I was laughing.”

  “You go, girl,” the manager said, bumping hips with Izzy.

  Jess watched in mute disbelief. Izzy was completely convincing in his role as a bumbling old woman.

  A loud thump echoed from the first row of washers. “Don’t tell me something’s broken.” Izzy fluttered his hands, looking distressed.

  “Hell, something’s always happening to this rotten equipment, not that it gets replaced.” The manager scanned the room and shook her head in disgust. “Matter of fact, this whole place gives me the creeps lately. I could swear that stinking ex of mine has been prowling around here at night.”

  “Any idea why?” Izzy asked casually.

  “Hell no, but I keep seeing lights outside and cars going past at a crawl. Then I get all itchy behind my neck, like somebody’s out there watching me.”

  “Why would they do that?” Izzy spoke very clearly, once again giving Jess the impression that he was speaking for the benefit of people outside. Of course, with Izzy tricked out as Whistler’s mother, and the Laundromat manager acting as if she wanted to harangue every female in sight about the evils of unscrupulous men, the whole experience was becoming a little surreal.

  But the gun in Luellen’s hand was definitely real, Jess thought grimly. So was the urgency she sensed in Hawk’s secret mission.

  “Things have been pretty damned weird around here the last few days. Lotta strangers in and out of town.” Luellen reached across the counter and gripped her handbag with her left hand, keeping the gun in her right. “I’ve gotta go see my kid,” she said flatly. “If that man is bothering her again—”

  “Well now, why don’t I come along, dear? Ride shotgun, you know?” Izzy spoke slowly, leaving Jess no question that Hawk or someone on his team was listening.

  “What do you mean?” Luellen asked suspiciously.

  “I thought if your ex was making trouble, I could be a witness. You could have the bastard arrested.”

  Luellen’s mouth stretched into a slow, nasty grin. “I never thought of it that way. You’d be a witness for me?” She swung around toward Jess. “You, too?”

  “Well, I wish I could stay, but—”

  “If you want to stay, then stay.” Luellen’s face took on a mulish look. “After I pick up my daughter, we’ll go get something to eat. Ruthie can go along with us.”<
br />
  Izzy fingered the shawl that covered his chest. Jess waited silently.

  “Honey, you have got yourself a date.” Izzy picked up his red purse. “I guess my dirty socks are just going to have to wait.” He met Jess’s gaze, as if he were talking to her. “Didn’t you say your husband was waiting for you, Jess?”

  “Um, right down the street.”

  The manager snorted. “That man comes barging in here trying to order you around, I’ll shoot out both his knees.” She waved the gun for emphasis.

  The woman was running on three cylinders, Jess thought. “I can handle him, trust me.”

  “You can never trust them.” Luellen paced the room. “They’re supposed to pay alimony, but do they? No. They’re supposed to pay child support, but do they? No.”

  Izzy touched Luellen’s shoulder gently. “I’m feeling awfully hungry. Maybe we should go.”

  “Yeah, we should.” The manager shifted the gun to her other hand, frowning. “I’m worried about my kid, you know? That creep has been bothering Ruthie. She said he comes out to the trailer when I’m not there. But I got a restraining order after the last time he knocked me around, so I could use two witnesses.”

  Jess didn’t move. “I really can’t come with you right now because . . .”

  “Why the hell not? My car is parked right outside. We won’t be gone much above an hour.” Her hand twitched as she spoke, and the gun waved in the air.

  Jess looked at Izzy, waiting for some hint as to how to proceed. “Well, if she’s coming with us, she should tell him first.” Izzy sniffed. “Otherwise the stupid man is liable to go off without her.”

  Jess gave Luellen a little wave, backing across the room.

  Luellen snorted. “Dumb as cows, most of ’em.” Her eyes seemed glazed and unfocused as she motioned them toward the back door, where a dusty Bronco was parked. “My car is parked right over there. Just call him on your cell phone while we drive.” Her gun was still gripped in her hand.

  Jess was afraid to throw more oil on the fire. Every time she spoke up, the woman’s gun hand got twitchy.

  “Well?”

  Jess cleared her throat, wondering who she was supposed to call, but before she could speak, Izzy dug deep into his purse. “Why don’t you use mine, honey? I swear, I never leave the house without it.” Looking down, he covertly punched two buttons before handing the phone across the seat.