Shielding the Suspect

by C. J. Miller

  Sunglasses and Scarface pulled her to her feet and she, Justin and Brady walked at gunpoint toward the house.

  The porch creaked beneath their feet and the splintered door opened with a kick from Scarface’s boot. “Inside.”

  They trudged inside and Sunglasses pointed at Brady. “Sit by the fireplace. Don’t move. Don’t breathe.” He held his gun on Brady, recognizing him, even unarmed, as the greatest threat.

  Scarface gestured at Justin and Susan. “Sit. Wait.” He took out his phone and dialed. He left the phone on speaker, the ringing loud against the silence of the cabin.

  The phone was answered on the first ring. “You better have some good news.” Susan recognized the voice as Justin’s father.

  “We have the best news. Found your lying, sack-of-garbage son. He did one good thing for us. He had both Susan and Truman with him,” Scarface said.

  “We’ll deal with Truman first. He wants the same thing we do.”

  Susan looked at Brady. He was still, watching and waiting.

  “Truman, my offer stands. I can make this go away for you and your brother. Your military record will stay in its near-pristine state and I’ll explain to the mayor how your brother is innocent and have him cleared of any wrongdoing. Hell, I’ll even have the mayor issue a public apology for the accusations leveled against him,” Tim Ambrose said.

  When had Brady spoken with Justin’s father? Tim Ambrose was presenting a great offer. Brady wouldn’t take it. Ambrose would ask for too much in return. Men like Tim Ambrose didn’t do favors for free.

  Brady’s face was impossible to read. “What do I need to do to make that happen?”

  Shock sliced through Susan. Brady was making a deal with Justin’s father, the same man who had made arrangements to blame her for Justin’s supposed murder. Was he going along with him to buy them time for help to arrive? Was help en route?

  “Good thinking, soldier,” Justin’s father said, smugness tight in his voice. “You need a new job and I need you to walk away from this. If you work for me as my personal soldier, I’ll take care of everything.”

  Work for Lieutenant General Ambrose as his personal soldier? Sounded like a deal with the devil to her. Susan watched Brady. He didn’t look at her. He appeared to be considering the lieutenant general’s words. It had hurt Brady deeply when he’d lost his job with the pararescuemen. He had been wandering, unsure of his next move, questioning his life and his worth.

  Lieutenant General Ambrose had offered him a solution to that problem on a silver platter. Would Brady want to work as someone’s mercenary? Susan didn’t think so. After what Justin’s father had done and given Brady’s personal code of honor, she couldn’t imagine Brady agreeing to work with him.

  “You’ll have my silence and I’ll work for you in the same way these guys work for you? You promise to protect my brother and restore his job?” Brady asked.

  “Yes,” Tim Ambrose said, sounding victorious and pleased.

  “Deal,” Brady said.

  The word came down on Susan like a hammer and a wave of dizziness hit her. It wasn’t possible. Brady wouldn’t betray her this way.

  “I need a show of good faith,” the lieutenant general said. “Something so I’m certain whose side you’re on.”

  “Tell me what you had in mind,” Brady said.

  “Brady!” His name left her mouth in panic. Was he negotiating with them, hoping to get them out of this situation unscathed? She’d known him to be a man of honor. This was borderline impossible to believe. He’d told her he couldn’t be the man she needed. He’d seemed convinced this story would have a terrible ending. Did he believe he didn’t have other options?

  “Kill Susan,” the lieutenant general said.

  “No!” Susan said. Brady wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t turn on her. What Tim Ambrose was offering was a nice deal to save Reilly and give Brady the career he wanted, but he wouldn’t take it at the cost of her life.

  Brady had said he wanted her to be happy. He had walked away from her thinking he couldn’t make it so. He wouldn’t hurt her now, purposefully.

  Brady rose to his feet. “I’m sorry to see her go, but I want to clear Reilly. He’s family. Susan’s nothing to me. I never pretended otherwise. She got mixed up in this and here’s a quick way out.”

  Hurt coursed through her. She had known she was outside his inner circle, one that only included his family, but this was extreme. His career wasn’t more important than her life.

  Brady took the gun offered to him by Scarface, then looked at his bound wrists and the gun. “This is a bit dramatic for shooting someone. I prefer to do things with less flair. It calls less attention.” He looked at the gun again, adjusting it in his hands. He shrugged and lifted the gun. “To be clear, I kill Susan, Reilly is taken off administrative leave and his service record kept clean, and I get a job doing what I love?”

  “You have my word,” Tim Ambrose said.

  Whatever that was worth. Susan couldn’t believe what she was seeing and hearing.

  “Susan?” Brady asked.

  “Yes?” She waited for him to change his mind.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed and the sound of gunshots reverberated around the room. Something heavy slammed into her and she opened her eyes. Brady! He had thrown himself over Susan and was pressed against her, shooting from the ground at one of the lieutenant general’s underlings, who’d taken cover behind an old couch.

  Brady continued shooting and the man fell backward. Brady rolled to his feet, swinging the gun at Justin. “Susan, get the phone. It’s on the ground. Call for help.”

  Susan scrambled to stand. She found the phone in the hand of a dead Scarface. She called 911 and waited on the phone while the police dispatcher took her information.

  “Tell me why you did this,” Brady said to Justin. “What is the point of running away like a coward? What does your father have on you?”

  Justin glared at Brady. “You wouldn’t understand. I was going to have the life I dreamed of. With her. With plenty of money.”

  “With plenty of money that you stole,” Brady said.

  Would Justin admit the ledgers they’d found on Justin’s yacht were records of stolen money? And the account in her name the place Justin was keeping it?

  Justin seemed surprised. “I can’t take total credit for that. My father helped. How do you think he pays for his personal soldiers?”

  Brady kept his gun leveled at Justin, disgust on his face. “Your father figured out you were planning to run away with the money, so you faked your death, framed Susan and took off like a deserter. But you forgot the key to your precious safety deposit box.”

  Justin snorted. “You think you have it figured out. You don’t know anything. I didn’t leave it behind. I was interrupted. I had an escape plan in place for months. I would have taken her and the money with me away from this. If she hadn’t ended our engagement and if my father’s enforcers hadn’t shown up to stop me, we could have had a good life. We would have disappeared and no one would have found us. Instead, she made the perfect scapegoat to give me time to get away without the police on my tail.”

  Brady’s eyes narrowed. “Who else is after Susan? Tell me now.”

  Justin shrugged. “You’ll have to ask the lieutenant general about that. He doesn’t leave loose ends. He probably has more men on their way here. If we’re smart, we’ll get out of here before that happens.”

  Susan’s heartbeat escalated. If Justin was telling the truth, could they stand up against a second wave of men? Tim Ambrose might send more this time. The police were on their way, but what would it take to stop former Special Forces operatives with a mission? They’d proven to be tenacious in their goal.

  “I’m done running,” Brady said. “If the lieuten
ant general is going to call in the cavalry, then so will we. The Truman family may not be as connected as your father, but we stand by one another. If he’s worried about loose ends, I’d say you’re his biggest one.”

  Keeping his gun on Justin, Brady pulled another phone from the pocket of the downed mercenary. He dialed a number and flipped the phone to speaker.

  Reilly’s voice came on the line. “It’s good to hear your voice, brother. I already heard about Susan’s call on my police scanner and am in my car. Harris is on his way, too,” Reilly said. “No way were either of us staying put when you’re in trouble. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  Reilly Truman arrived on the scene before the police. He looked angry as he entered the rundown shack. He wasn’t in his police uniform. He wore jeans slung low on his hips and a flannel shirt. He shot Justin a disgusted look. “What is this piece of crap pulling now?”

  “Justin and his father embezzled money and Justin planned to take off with it,” Brady said. “When his father found out, he sent his own group of enforcers after Justin to stop him. Justin decided to disappear and pin his disappearance on Susan. The lieutenant general was probably happy the police believed Susan was responsible. It prevented any further inquiry into Justin’s disappearance and Justin and his father’s criminal activities.”

  “The evidence at the scene was good. How’d he pull that off?” Reilly asked, narrowing his stare on Justin.

  “My father has resources you couldn’t dream of having,” Justin said.

  “The lieutenant general planned to clean up his own mess, even if that meant killing his son. No honor among thieves,” Reilly said. His brow furrowed as he swung his attention to Brady and Susan. “Are either of you hurt?”

  Brady shifted on his feet, rubbing his knee, keeping Justin at gunpoint. “I hurt my knee in a shootout and I’d like these cuffs off.”

  Reilly lifted a brow. “That statement should shock me more. Knowing you, it doesn’t. A shootout sounds about right. Susan, are you okay?” He crossed the room to Justin and pulled him to his feet. He checked his pockets and withdrew the key to the handcuffs.

  Susan held up her cuffed hands. “I’m fine, thanks to Brady.”

  “At this point, it’s safe to say Justin and his father will be spending time in prison,” Reilly said and then chuckled. “What I wouldn’t do to get a look at the mayor’s face when he learns his bosom buddy is neck-deep in criminal activity.” He unlocked Susan’s cuffs and then Brady’s.

  “Aren’t you upset about how you were treated?” Susan said, guilt nibbling at her. It was turning out okay, but Reilly had been through a lot.

  “Sure, but what can I do? It’ll work out. With any luck, I’ll get an apology and a vacation out of this,” Reilly said.

  The police arrived and Reilly met them outside, taking unofficial control of the scene and providing explanations. They brought Justin into custody and Reilly made sure everyone on the scene understood his brother and Susan were no longer persons of interest in Justin’s disappearance or the boat fire at the marina. When Harris showed up, he was accompanied by several thuggish-looking men. Actually, Harris was looking thuggish himself, his blond hair set in spikes around his head and dark black eyeliner rimming his eyes. He came to Susan first and hugged her. “Please excuse my appearance. We’re on an undercover op and I didn’t stop to change.”

  Brady joined them, slapping his brother on the back. “We’re expecting retribution from the lieutenant general.”

  Harris nodded. “That’s the message I got. Sadly for him, I have some agents tracking him. Once he’s in custody, we’ll tear apart his life piece by piece and shut him down. He’s looking at prison time and dishonorable discharge. I don’t know which he’ll hate more.”

  Susan shivered. “What about the men he’s already sent after us?”

  Brady took Susan’s hands in his. She felt immediately better being close to him, her hands in his. “For a mercenary, the work is never personal. Once the paychecks stop, so do the services. We’ll put the word out that Tim Ambrose is looking at prison time and won’t be making any future payments for services rendered.”

  “Let me see what else I can find out,” Harris said, taking out his phone and moving a few steps away.

  It was the first time she had been alone with Brady since Justin had kidnapped them from the street outside the hotel.

  “You thought I was going to shoot you,” Brady said, running his hand across her cheek and through the ends of her hair.

  She might have questioned Brady’s words, but her heart had remained true. She had never completely believed Brady had turned on her. “I didn’t want to believe it. You are a very convincing liar.”

  Brady wrapped his arms around her, putting some of his weight on her. “I’ve told you before, winning is ninety percent a mind game. I had to make them believe I was on their side.”

  “When you never were?” she asked, knowing the answer, but wanting the words.

  “Of course not. I’ve been on your side from day one,” Brady said. “I needed them to believe that I would kill you to get what I wanted. That I didn’t care about you in the least. But I wanted you to be safe. I wanted you out of here without getting hurt.”

  “You hurt your knee. Again,” Susan said.

  Brady shrugged. “It’s a hazard of the job.”

  “You know what else I noticed?” Susan asked.

  Brady inclined his head. “What’s that?”

  “You didn’t hesitate. When my life was at risk, you didn’t freeze. Not for a moment.”

  “Darlin’, are you saying I’m cured?” he asked.

  “I’m saying you’re darn close,” Susan said.

  “You might have noticed I didn’t hesitate, but I noticed something, too,” Brady said. “I never considered taking the job even if it put me back in action. I realized what I want with my life. I want you, all in one piece, with me, for good.”

  “For good? I like the sound of that,” Susan said.

  Brady brushed his hand over her shoulder, her arm and her backside. She swatted his hand away.

  He grinned at her. “Just checking that it’s all in one piece.”

  “All in one piece and all yours.”

  Epilogue

  Three months later

  “I’m appreciative of the work you’ve done here,” Tom Watts said. “You and Susan have been a real asset to our program.”

  Brady and Susan had been volunteering with the Wounded Warrior Project, a program dedicated to helping severely injured servicemen and women transition from active duty to civilian life.

  It had been healing for Brady, on many levels, to see men and women more injured than he was starting new lives, interesting lives, and not letting their injuries stop them from achieving their goals or having fulfilling careers.

  “It’s been good for me to work here,” Brady said. The time he’d spent with other veterans had not only put his injuries in perspective, but had given him role models. “I’ve enjoyed every minute.”

  Tom folded his hands across his desk and leaned forward. “With that out of the way, I want to put you in touch with a friend who’s looking for someone with your skills.”

  Brady lifted a brow. “My skills?”

  Tom spun in his chair and grabbed a manila envelope from the shelves behind his desk. He handed it to Brady. “The FBI is looking for someone for their counterterrorism team. If you read the job description, you’ll see you have everything they need. Their field office is cutting-edge technology. Working from behind a desk will be a change of pace for you from active duty, but I have a feeling it will be a good fit.”

  Brady took the folder and opened it slowly. He skimmed the papers. “Thank you, Tom. I
’ll talk it over with Susan and give your friend a call.”

  Tom smiled. “He’s waiting to hear from you.”

  Ten minutes later, Brady was waiting outside the classroom where Susan was teaching art to some participants in the program. When he noticed her class cleaning up their supplies, he entered.

  Susan looked up at him with a big smile on her face. She was sitting at her desk fiddling with the new camera Brady had bought her to replace the one Tim Ambrose’s mercenaries had stolen and destroyed. The former lieutenant general had feared it contained evidence against him and Justin. “You’re early.”

  “Just by a few minutes.” Every moment together meant so much to him.

  “Have you given any more thought to the surgery?”

  Brady’s doctors had recommended a new, experimental surgery that could restore function to his knee. It didn’t guarantee he’d perform at the same level he had previously, but it gave him the slim hope it was possible. On the other hand, the surgery required months of rehabilitation and if unsuccessful, he would be no further along than he was now. It could make it worse. “I don’t think it’s right for me now.”

  Susan inclined her head. “But if everything went well, you could return to the Special Forces.”

  Maybe. But he didn’t want that. Not anymore. The future he had with Susan was too precious to walk away from again. He had found happiness with her. “I don’t want to return to the pararescueman.”

  Susan’s mouth dropped open. “That’s all you’ve ever wanted.”

  Brady took her hands. “No. You’re what I want and this time, I’m not letting you get away.”

  “I love you. I have no intention of running,” Susan said, stepping closer to him.

  “I love you, too,” Brady said. “Ready to go? We don’t want to be late for dinner with our family.”

  Susan slipped her arm around his waist. “I love that your family includes my mom in their plans. I love that you’re in my life. And most of all, I love you.”