Fugitive at Large

by Sandra Robbins

  Ryan debated the question for a moment before he responded. “She was my partner.”

  A shocked look washed across Jamie’s face. “Your partner? You never said anything to me about having a woman partner.”

  Ryan shrugged. “It was a long time ago. You were a teenager and had other things on your mind instead of who my partner at the time happened to be.”

  At that moment the front door opened, and two Memphis PD officers stepped inside. He watched as they stopped next to Jessica. “I want to hear what Jessica has to say to the officers. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  He walked over to her and nodded at Officer Jimmy Austin, who stood facing her. “Hi, Jimmy. I thought I’d listen to Jessica’s statement if that’s okay.”

  The officer nodded. “Sure, Ryan. Sally said your brother was here when the robbery occurred. Is that right?”

  “Yeah, he’s standing over there by the cash register.”

  “Then I’ll get his statement after I talk to Jessica.” He turned to his partner and nodded toward her. “This is Jessica Knight,” he explained. “She used to work out of our precinct. One of the best detectives I’ve ever seen. She—” He stopped himself and his mouth formed a small O as a thought must have hit him. He wagged his finger first at Ryan and then Jessica. “Didn’t the two of you used to be partners?”

  Jessica stiffened. “Yes, but that was a long time ago.”

  The air seemed to have taken on a frost, but Jimmy’s face flushed. “Oh, right.” He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Well, let’s get this over with. Are there any other witnesses besides you and Ryan’s brother?” he asked Jessica.

  She pointed to the clerk. “Richard. He works here. Just the three of us.”

  Jimmy glanced at his partner and jerked his head in Jamie and the clerk’s direction. “Why don’t you get their statements. I’ll take Jessica’s.”

  The other officer nodded and looked at Jessica. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’ve heard a lot about you. The guys said you’re working with your brothers over at the Knight Agency now. Is that right?”

  “It is. I decided I’d let you guys catch the criminals, and I’ll go after them if they skip bail.”

  Jimmy laughed. “Don’t be fooled by this lady. She’s tough as nails, just like her two brothers. In fact, her twin brother, Lucas, is a friend of mine. We ride motorcycles together a lot. I don’t know how many times he’s told me about the bounty-hunter business his great-grandfather started and the slogan he lived by.”

  Jessica smiled. “‘A man must answer for the crimes laid against him,’” she said. “We still believe that.”

  Ryan wondered how many times during the years he and Jessica worked together he had heard her say those words. “So do we cops,” he said.

  She jerked her head around and glared at him before she turned back to Jimmy. “Okay, let’s get this over with. I remember the drill. So let me tell you what happened.”

  For the next few minutes she gave her account of what had happened as well as a detailed description of the robber. Ryan concentrated on the details and watched as Jimmy took notes from time to time. When she finished, Ryan spoke up. “And you got the car license number?”

  “I did.” She pulled her notepad from her pocket and read off the numbers to him.

  Jimmy looked up from the notes he’d been writing. “Could you come down to the station tomorrow and look at some mug shots to see if you recognize the holdup guy?”

  “Sure,” Jessica said. “Whatever you need me to do.”

  “Come to my office,” Ryan said. “I’ll have them ready for you.”

  Jimmy glanced at his notes again. “And you say the robber was wounded?”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t bad. I think the bullet grazed his head.”

  “We’ll notify the hospitals to be on the lookout for a gunshot wound to the side of the head.”

  Jessica shrugged. “I suppose you should, but I doubt if he’ll go to a hospital. He can probably treat it with first aid. I might have gotten a better shot at him if I hadn’t had all those potato chips flying in my face.”

  “Potato chips.” Ryan laughed and looked back at the chips that now lay in scattered crumbs across the floor. “You always did have a sense of humor. But seriously, I’m glad you were here today. My brother probably wouldn’t be alive if you hadn’t stepped forward.”

  “Just doing what I’ve been trained to do.”

  Her words had a jagged edge to them, and he wondered if she was trying to deliver an unspoken message to him. Did she resent him because she thought she would still be in police work if it hadn’t been for him?

  “I’m sure you remember how upsetting it was to enter a robbery scene and find victims who’d been shot for no other reason than for being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he told her. “No one was shot today. And that was because of you. Thank you, Jessica.”

  She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she touched Jimmy’s arm as he took a step toward the witnesses. “Jimmy, I was wondering. I’ve had a busy day, and I’m tired. You have my statement about what happened and my description of the robber. Would it be okay if I go on home? If you need anything else, you know where to find me.”

  Jimmy thought a moment before he nodded. “Sure, Jessica. Go on. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else. I’m always glad to see that no one was hurt in a robbery. We have you to thank for that.”

  “Thanks. I think I’ll go say goodbye to Jamie and Richard before I leave.”

  Ryan moved out of her way as she stepped around him and headed over to where Jamie stood. He smiled when she stopped next to him. “I’m going home, but I wanted to say goodbye first.”

  Jamie reached out and grabbed her hand. “Thank you for everything, Jessica. You were great.”

  She waved her hand in dismissal. “It was nothing. I’m glad the two of you are okay. Take care of yourselves and remember to be mindful of your surroundings no matter where you are.”

  Jamie smiled and nodded. “I will.”

  She glanced at Richard. “I need to pay for my drink.”

  He shook his head and laughed. “It’s on the house. You’ve earned it.”

  She raised the bottle in a salute to him. “Thanks.”

  Jamie stopped her as she turned to leave. “Wait a minute, Jessica. I wanted to ask you something. My brother told me you used to be his partner. Do you ever miss being on the force?” Her face flushed, and Jamie gave a little gasp. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so nosy. It’s just that you handled yourself so well today, I think you must have been a good police officer.”

  Before she could respond, Ryan spoke up from behind her. “She was good. The best partner I ever had. I hated to see her leave police work.”

  Jessica stared at him a moment as he came to stand beside her. Then she turned back to Jamie. “I like what I do now. It’s rewarding work, and I get to work with people I love and admire.”

  A teasing glint sparkled in Jamie’s eyes. “And you still get to carry a gun.”

  Jessica laughed. “And I still get to carry a gun. I’m so used to it that it’s become a part of me. In fact, I carry it with me all the time.”

  “Lucky for all of us,” Jamie said. “It was nice meeting you, Jessica.”

  “Nice meeting you, too, Jamie.”

  Then she turned and walked toward the door, her words about working with people whom she loved and admired still ringing in Ryan’s ears. Her meaning hadn’t been lost on him. She hadn’t loved him or even held him in very high regard. He pressed his lips together and didn’t say anything as he watched her go.

  When she’d disappeared out the door, he turned back to his brother, who was staring at him with a slight smile curling his lips.

  “I don’t know what happened betwe
en you two,” Jamie said, “but it must have been bad. There was enough heat in her voice to singe the hairs on my arms. What did you do to her anyway?”

  “Nothing,” Ryan muttered.

  “Nothing? I know women can be hard to understand at times, but I didn’t have any trouble getting her message. She doesn’t like you at all. You must have done something to make her feel that way.”

  Ryan reached over and pounded his fist against the countertop. The officers talking to the clerk whirled at the sound and stared at him.

  “Spencer, are you okay?” one of the men asked.

  He rubbed his hand across his eyes. “I’m fine. Still a little rattled over how close my brother came to dying.”

  They nodded and went back to their questioning.

  Jamie stared at Ryan and frowned. “I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing. I just thought Jessica seemed like such a nice person.”

  “She is a nice person. We had a disagreement, and it’s never been solved.”

  Jamie narrowed his eyes. “Oh, I see. Then maybe it’s time you did something about that. From the way she reacted to that robber and took control of the entire situation, I’d say there aren’t many women around like her.”

  “You’re right about that. There aren’t many like her.”

  Jamie stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Do you remember when I first came to live with you after Mom and Dad were killed and I had so many problems adjusting?”

  Ryan chuckled. “How could I forget? You nearly drove me crazy for two years.”

  “Yeah, I gave you a lot of trouble. But you didn’t give up on me. And when I’d come home telling you about how everybody was against me, you always made me face up to my own mistakes. You didn’t make excuses for me and wouldn’t let me make them for myself. Maybe it’s time you quit making excuses for whatever you did to Jessica and try to make it right.”

  Ryan shook his head. “I don’t know if I can or not.”

  Jamie punched him on the shoulder and grinned. “You’ll never know unless you try. What have you got to lose? The worst thing that can happen is that she’ll hate you more than she already does.”

  Ryan stared at his brother in surprise. “When did you get so smart?”

  Jamie laughed and shrugged. “I always have been. I just didn’t want you to know it. Now, do as I say and get things straightened out with Jessica.”

  He thought for a moment about what his brother had said, then turned to him and smiled. “Maybe I will. Maybe I will.”

  Turning away from Jamie, he walked to the front door and stared out at Jessica as she climbed into her car, which was parked to the left of the entrance. She sat behind the steering wheel for a moment as if deep in thought before she finally started the ignition and backed out of her parking space.

  As he watched her car disappear down the street, he thought of how he’d wrestled for the past four years with the decision of whether or not to try one more time to mend his relationship with Jessica. She’d been the best friend he’d ever had, and he missed her. But there was no getting around the fact that she didn’t miss him.

  Did he dare try again to explain his side of their misunderstanding?

  After a moment, he inhaled and muttered to himself, “It’s time to set the past straight. And this time, Jessica Knight, I’m not taking no for an answer. You are going to listen to me.”

  TWO

  Jessica pulled into her parking space behind the apartment complex where she lived, turned off the ignition and stared at the walkway that led through what she supposed some people might call a backyard. Not her, though. To her a backyard was a wide-open lawn with flower beds in the spring and shade trees to sit underneath in the summer. But the crowning touch would be a child’s swing set and a grill for barbecues.

  She lay back against the headrest and closed her eyes as she let her imagination fly to the life she wanted to have one day. Right now, though, it seemed as if her dreams would never come true. She was twenty-eight years old, almost twenty-nine, and she hadn’t had a serious boyfriend since high school. The guy she’d dated in college didn’t count because he didn’t like her brothers, and that was a deal breaker for her.

  Her parents had worried when she became a police officer. Even more so when she joined the Knight Agency as a bounty hunter. They feared what might happen to her. And it almost had today. That bullet had come way too close.

  Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she recalled the rush of air across her face and the smell of barbecued potato chips when the bullet struck the rack beside her. Her body began to shake as the scene in the store replayed in her mind. Why was she suddenly reacting this way?

  Post-traumatic shock, she told herself. That was what it was. She’d studied it when she was a police officer and knew it was likely to happen after suffering an event where a person felt intense fear or horror. She also knew that it occurred more in women than in men.

  But was that really what was wrong with her? She’d faced dangerous situations before and had never had this feeling of powerlessness. Maybe she was just tired and needed some rest.

  Or maybe it was something else. Something she didn’t want to recognize.

  Shaking her head in denial, she stepped from the car and headed down the short flagstone walkway that led toward the back door of her apartment. As she stepped onto the porch, she looked over her shoulder at the small grassy area the complex owners advertised as a yard. It wasn’t what she envisioned as a garden area, but it was okay for now. Maybe it was time to start looking for a new place with a backyard big enough for her to putter around in when she wasn’t working.

  With a sigh she slipped the key in the lock and was about to walk through the back door when she heard the sound of a car engine. She glanced over her shoulder and stared at the black SUV that drove slowly past the parked cars behind the complex. It stopped when it reached near where her car was parked and sat there, its engine idling.

  Jessica squinted to get a better look inside, but she couldn’t see past the tinted windows. The hair at the back of her neck stood up. Had someone followed her home?

  She unzipped her jacket and pushed it back to expose the gun at her waist. The only reaction she received was the revving of the engine, but the car remained still. Frowning, Jessica stepped down from the back porch onto the brick walkway. The engine rumbled again, but the car still didn’t move.

  Jessica’s heart pounded as she took one more step, then another. She was just about to pull her gun from its holster when the window on the passenger side slid down. A young woman stuck her head out through the opening and called out, “Excuse me, ma’am. Could you tell me where apartment 4-G is?”

  Stunned, Jessica came to an abrupt halt and stared at the girl. The Greek letters on the front of her sweatshirt were the same as Jessica had seen on other girls walking across the nearby college campus.

  “4-G?” she asked as she inched closer.

  The girl smiled, and Jessica could see another girl in the driver’s seat. Her sweatshirt was identical to her friend’s. “Yes, one of our sorority sisters is moving in there, and we said we’d help out. But we haven’t been able to find it yet.”

  Jessica released the hold she had on her weapon and pointed down the street. “Go around the end of this building and then turn to the left. It should be on the far end.”

  The girl glanced over her shoulder at her friend and laughed. “I told you to go that way, but you wouldn’t listen.” She turned back to Jessica. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Jessica gave a weak wave and tried to smile. “No problem.”

  She stood still and stared after the car as it moved off in the direction she’d pointed. After a few minutes she shook her head and chuckled. What was the matter with her? Had the incident at the convenience store upset her so much that she’d
mistaken a simple request for directions to have some sinister motive?

  If she had been as observant as she should, she would have been following the advice she’d given Jamie Spencer earlier—be aware of your surroundings. Then she would have known she wasn’t being followed.

  Sighing, she touched her gun once more and headed toward the back door. If the convenience-store episode had taught her nothing else, it had reminded her to be more alert to what was happening around her.

  She stopped on the small back porch and took a long look over her shoulder. Nothing there. Nobody following her. But she still had an uneasy feeling that something wasn’t quite right. She stood there for a few minutes, the scenario from the convenience store playing over and over in her head.

  Something wasn’t right about the robbery. But what was it?

  One of the first things she’d learned as a police officer was to trust her instincts when it came to solving a case. And right now some sixth sense was telling her she was overlooking something.

  After a few minutes she shook her head. Whatever it was would come to her, probably at the least likely moment.

  She unlocked the door and stepped inside. The house felt warm and inviting after the cool temperature outside. She took off her coat and hung it on the back of a kitchen chair and was about to take her gun off when the front doorbell rang.

  Jessica pulled the gun from her holster and eased from the kitchen into the living room and over to the apartment’s front door. The smell of barbecued potato chips enveloped her, and it was as if she was back in the store with a gun pointed at her. No way was she going to open the door without knowing who was on the other side.

  Taking a deep breath and holding it, she stared through the peephole. The breath she’d been holding escaped her body in a big rush, and she sagged against the door. For the second time today she’d experienced a complete surprise.

  Slowly she unlocked the door and pulled it open. “What are you doing here?” she asked.