by R E Gauthier
A
PROMISE
KEPT
MACGREGOR FBI SERIES BOOK 4
R. E. GAUTHIER
Blue Dawg Press
2020 © Nova Scotia, Canada
Copyright © 2020 by Blue Dawg Press
All rights reserved.
Published by Blue Dawg Press
First edition
Blue Dawg Press
C/o R. Gouchie
597 Torbrook Road
Torbrook, Nova Scotia, Canada
B0P 1R0
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is in the case of a brief quotation embodied in reviews.
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloging of Publication information is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-9958794-7-8
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies. Events or locales are entirely coincidental.
Cover design by R.E. Gauthier and Blue Dawg Press
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
About the Author
I dedicate this book to my Anam Charaid, my wife. When life gets busy, and you need to set aside time to do the things that mean the most to you, you need a person to hold your hand and offer the support to allow you to stand and take risks. If it were not for my wife, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to put pen to paper and let this journey begin. Thank you, Edith, for always allowing me to stand even if it means I may not succeed. I love you more than life itself, and with you by my side, I believe I can do anything.
I would also like to thank another essential woman on this journey, my aunt and number one fan, Donna. You offered to help, and you’ve done so much more. Thank you for being a sounding board and spending countless hours figuring things out. The journey is less lonely with you tagging along; I appreciate it more than I could ever express.
There is one more woman I need to mention, my mother. Glenda Gouchie has been my number one fan since my birth. My mother allowed me to become the person I have become by being supportive, loving, and selfless. If not for her, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to grow into the independent, intelligent, and capable woman I am now. My mother taught me never to quit and persevere even when things are not easy. Not having an easy life as a single mother, my mother showed me through her own struggles that life isn’t going to give you anything, you don’t work hard to achieve.
Without the strong women in my life, I would not be able to write my books. Lastly, I want to thank the people who have bought, read, and shared my books. If it were not for you, I would have stopped at book 1.
Chapter One
Racoon Creek State Park, Pennsylvania, April 2, 2012
“Jesus, Nikki, we cannot go into this half-cocked,” Deb swore again as another branch hit her in the face.
“We’re not going into this half-cocked. SWAT is meeting us at the coordinates the park ranger sent them.” Nikki hollered back at Deborah Norman as she ran through the dense brush. “He has more than an hour on us, and we cannot let him get away.”
“We don’t even know if it’s Washburg,” Deb yelled as she caught a branch with her hand before it hit her. Unable to see Nikki’s face, Deb could imagine the intensity in those golden eyes. Smiling, Deb remembered those eyes glowing with passion the night before as Deb did everything she could to convince Nikki to let go of her worries and concerns. Nikki didn’t believe that Senior Special Agent Kelsey MacGregor (Mack) died in the fiery crash three days ago. For three days, Agent Deborah Norman spent every moment trying to get Special Agent Nikki Hyland to eat, to sleep, and to accept the theory that SSA MacGregor died in a horrible accident in North Western Pennsylvania. The sting of the small alder limb striking her face brought her back to the present. Deb swore under her breath. “Nikki, please, we don’t know if the man the park ranger saw is Paul Washburg.”
Nikki growled. “Why must you question everything I do or say? You could have stayed behind; I don’t need someone with me who will only slow me down.”
Nikki’s accusations stung, but Deb didn’t react in kind. She knew the pain Nikki felt ran deep, and it would do no good to throw that back at her. Deb grabbed the material of Nikki’s ballistic vest, halting the redhead's progress. “Nikki, please stop. We need to discuss this before we reach, whoever this man carrying a gun is.”
Nikki whirled around, and Deb faced the mottled skin, nostrils flaring, and flashing eyes of an infuriated Nikki Hyland. Bracing herself for the verbal assault she knew would come, Deb leaned in and locked her lips onto the thin line of Nikki’s mouth. From the connection through their lips, Deb felt some of Nikki’s tension melt away. Nikki’s tongue entered Deb’s mouth harshly, and gloved fingers dug into the back of her neck.
Deb forced the immediate feelings of guilt she felt from using the chemistry between the two of them to again stop Nikki from losing control, out of her mind. Three days ago, after spending several emotionally filled hours waiting for the fire officials to remove Mack’s body from the scene, Deb had taken the opportunity to seize Nikki’s attention with a kiss.
From the moment the two women met in Baltimore, Deb felt the connection between her and Special Agent Nikki Hyland. When fate brought them together again in Lansing a few weeks ago, Deb knew it wouldn’t be easy to keep from that connection from drawing the two of them together. Last night, Deb allowed the chemistry between them to reach a whole new level to make one last-ditch effort to keep Nikki
from imploding emotionally. Luring Nikki to her hotel room, Deb plied the red-head with food, booze, and talk to keep Nikki from spending another night at the Cold Case Behavioral Unit’s Pittsburgh office. Nikki ended up crumbling into Deb’s arms. The emotional weight upon Nikki’s shoulders couldn’t take anymore. The two women landed in Deb’s hotel bed, a tangle of frustrated limbs, and pent-up sexual energy.
Earlier that day, Deb woke up to an empty bed and note from Nikki. In the note, Nikki explained that she should never have taken advantage of Deb and allowed them to have sex. Allowed? Deb wasn’t sure anyone could have prevented the explosion of emotions that resulted in the passion-filled night she spent with Nikki. The two of them had been heading down the path to shared sexual gratification since they met seven months ago.
***
Nikki welcomed the total surrender that came with the kiss. Much like the other two times Deb used this tactic to calm her or diffuse her rage, Nikki felt the burgeoning flames of desire lap at her center and threaten to engulf her. Nikki’s fingers tingled with the need to touch Deb’s skin. She yanked on the front of Deb’s vest to bring her even closer. Her breath quickened until she was panting, and a shiver ran through her body. Deb’s scent assaulted her nose with its sweetness, and lights shimmered behind her lids. The memory of last night’s passion sent tendrils of heat to her core. Another shiver shook her. Pulling away, Nikki turned and thrust her hands into her hair. Grabbing clumps of the loose strands, she looked to the sky and swore silently. “I told you we could not do that anymore. I promised Mack I would keep it professional between you and I. You’re not playing fair.”
“Fair? I’m not the one who is clinging to hope that Mack is still alive. You don’t have to keep a promise to a dead woman.”
Like a slap to the face, the passion faded. Nikki knew Deb thought, like all of the first responders and most of the FBI, that Mack was dead, but the blonde hadn’t said aloud what she had been thinking. How many times had Nikki shut out the negative thoughts running through her mind? Every practical, forensic, fiber inside told her that the charred remains removed from the Lexus SUV registered to Kelsey Laren MacGregor, was that of her best friend. Nikki’s heart and the convictions of Mack’s fiancée, Miranda Gauthier, and Mack’s grandmother, Isla MacKenzie, battled to keep the faith that her best friend and Unit Chief was still alive. “She’s not dead. I know she is out there, and we need to find her.”
Deb shook her head. “I knew I should have…” Deb stopped her comment midsentence.
Nikki pulled off her gloves and rubbed her hands on her jeans. When Deb didn’t comment further, she asked, “what should have you done or said?”
Deb shook her head again. “This isn’t the time or the place.”
Nikki gritted her teeth. “You started this; what is it that you should have said or done?” Nikki needed to know what Deb had wanted to say, but stopped herself from uttering it.
Deb took off her gloves and shoved them into the pocket in her vest. Looking away, she started to speak, then stopped.
“Please, Deb. You’ve been side-stepping and coddling me for three days. After last night, I think you owe me your honesty. Nikki didn’t mean to bring up the night before, but now that Deb had opened up this line of discussion, she felt she had to reciprocate.
“Before I say more, know that what happened last night wasn’t me trying to coddle you.”
Nikki refrained from commenting on that statement; she wasn’t sure what Deb’s feelings were about what happened because Nikki ran off before they could discuss it that morning. “Deb, I don’t think now is the time…just tell me.”
“Well, Torres asked me if I thought you were too affected by everything that had happened to continue working, and I said you would be fine. I even believed that I could help you, but I should have told her you were too emotionally involved. Director Manley wants to shut the Cold Case Behavioral Unit down, now that…”
“She isn’t dead.” Nikki asserted. She knew Manley and the rest of the FBI, even the Attorney General, Frank Montgomery, believed the preliminary reports that Mack died in a single-vehicle accident three days ago. “I cannot explain how I know, but she isn’t, and her family doesn’t believe it either.”
“Nikki, this belief is built on denial and not facts.” Deb drew closer and pulled Nikki into her arms. “The facts are: Mack’s car went down a ravine and burst into flames in the early hours of March thirtieth. The fire rescue team removed a badly charred body that Dr. Tufts identified as a woman in her mid to late thirties, and they found Mack’s FBI credentials and smartphone at the scene.”
“I know the facts, but until Dr. Tufts can perform all the identification tests on the body, Mack is still alive. She’s out there and maybe hurt. She needs me to find her. You’re standing in my way to find out what happened to her.”
“We don’t know if this man, the park ranger saw run into the woods, is Paul Washburg. Even if it is, what do you hope he can tell you about what happened to Mack? Why do you think he has something to do with…to do with what happened to Mack’s SUV?”
Nikki knew Deb was back to trying to appease her. For three days, Nikki could tell that Deb did all she could to manage Nikki. The blonde would try to dissuade her from staying at the office to scan through CCTV records, satisfy her with food to get her to stop her search for clues, or Deb would use kisses and intimate moments to draw Nikki away from her emotional tirades. “We don’t have time for your questions. I need to find Washburg to get him to tell me what he did with Mack.”
“All we have are GPS coordinates of a place a park ranger saw a man with a gun enter the woods. We’ve been following this narrow trail and have no idea where it leads us. The description of the man the ranger saw isn’t conclusive.”
“Yes, but the car we parked next to is registered to the estate of the late Frederick Washburg.”
“That could be a coincidence—”
Nikki scoffed. Remembering the last time she and Mack had discussed coincidences brought tears to her eyes. “If you have coincidences, it means you’re getting close to the truth. Paul Washburg went after Mack personally when he discovered we had his mother. His usual MO is to make people appear to be dead or to use deception to convince authorities he is dead; he could have devised a plan to make Mack appear dead.”
“But why would he? To what purpose does he have to make it look like he killed Mack?”
“To hurt her or to hurt her family. He’s a psychopath, and he doesn’t need to have a reason. He fixated on Mack because she stopped him, caught him before he could finish his plans.”
“Okay. Let’s say you’re right, but how did Paul do it?”
Nikki threw her hands up in the air. “We don’t have time for explanations. While I’m here with you, he could be getting too far away to catch him; he could be torturing or killing Mack.”
“Nikki, please humor me. The SWAT team isn’t here yet. The helicopter is on its way; we have time. We will never find him running blindly into the woods.”
Nikki knew Deb was right. The moment they arrived at the parking area where the late model BMW sat, Nikki threw herself headlong into the pursuit of the man she knew drove that vehicle. She hadn’t thought of a plan, or where to go, she just ran down the small opening in the thick brush that led away from the parking area and into the dark forest. Faced with the reality of the situation, Nikki knew they couldn’t find anyone in the thousands of acres forest of Raccoon Creek State Park without the help of the FBI SWAT team and air support.
Nikki hung her head. “Washburg could have got a hold of a woman’s body and set up the scene to make it look like Mack’s SUV went down into the ravine on its own. He made delayed incendiary devices in the past. He could have rigged the SUV to explode and burn for hours to prevent the rescuers from getting to the vehicle and removing the body until it was sufficiently charred to prevent immediate identification. All the while, he has Mack somewhere torturing her.” The images brought to mind from
her description renewed Nikki’s earlier conviction to chase Washburg down. “I cannot just sit here waiting…I—” Emotions blocked any further words from escaping her narrowing throat.
Deb put her arms around Nikki. “I’m sorry,” Deb whispered against Nikki’s temple. “We’ll find him and put him away.”
Nikki rubbed her forehead against Deb’s chest. “No. We have to find him and get him to tell us what he did and where he took Mack.”
From somewhere behind them, several car doors closed. The sound of the approaching helicopter drew closer as it broke over the horizon. The help they needed had arrived, and Nikki took a deep breath.
Nikki led Deb back to meet up with the SWAT team and coordinate the air search to find Paul Washburg.
Chapter Two
Raccoon Park Road, April 2, 2012
The helicopter pilot radioed to the SWAT commander that he located a man with a gun walking around a lake, two miles, due west of their location. The SWAT team set up a command post in the parking area where the park ranger saw a suspicious man carrying a revolver enter the woods. Nikki and Deb were among the first wave of armed FBI agents headed to the coordinates. It took every ounce of patience and restraint to keep Nikki from running headlong into the brush to reach the area first. The SWAT commander deferred his authority to Nikki when she explained that the recapture of the escaped prisoner had to be done with caution because Paul Washburg may know the whereabouts of a missing FBI agent. Deb kept quiet about any further issues she had with Nikki’s theories on the involvement Washburg may have planned in what happened to Mack. The blonde played the part of the subordinate FBI agent to the letter and supported every step of Nikki’s plan to reach Washburg before anyone else did.
The surrounding trees and brush passed by in a blur as Nikki thought of what she would say to Paul Washburg when they found him. Every fiber in her body told her she had to keep her emotions in check so that she wouldn’t jeopardize what could be a risky recapture of a man who had nothing to lose. Yesterday Nancy Washburg died of a brain aneurysm. Paul Washburg had no reason to fight anymore. What kept the man wanting to keep killing, had been his mother’s approval. Paul Washburg felt like he needed to prove to his mother that women lie and ruin lives with their lies, just like his step-sister had done over five years ago. Now that the last person who loved him was dead, Paul Washburg didn’t have a purpose in his life. Nikki believed that he would then have no reason to keep Mack alive and was going to finish what he started and kill SSA MacGregor for preventing him from seeing his mother one last time.