by Laura Scott
“We have to move through the woods in order to get close while remaining hidden,” he said. “The clearing in front of the cabin is too open.”
“We can split up, try to surround them,” she suggested.
He didn’t like that idea and tightened his grip on her arm. “I say we go to the left, circling around the back of the cabin in an attempt to head them off. Text Max and tell him to take Zeke around to the right.”
She pulled out her phone and quickly tapped in his instructions.
Brody took a deep breath and rose up to his feet. He stepped carefully, taking the lead around the back side of the cabin. While the building would hide them, moving quietly was key.
When he reached the corner, he paused, signaling for Julianne to stop. For several long moments they simply listened.
A loud clanking noise startled him. What in the world? He craned his head so he could look around the cabin toward the spot where he’d last seen the flash of orange. There was no sign of it now, but when the clanging noise happened again, he realized the two men must be digging in the dirt.
Had his theory been right? Was it possible they were unearthing a secret stash of cash?
His heart thundered in his chest and he tightened his grip on his Glock. They needed to hurry in order to catch them.
“Digging?” Julianne asked.
He nodded and gestured to the large tree about ten yards away. “Ready?”
She nodded, giving Thunder some sort of hand signal. The dog instantly responded by standing up straight at her side, waiting for her next move.
There was less coverage now, and Brody couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding that dogged his heels as he moved through the grass to the coverage provided by a large tree. Nate and Royce were both armed and dangerous.
Either man was likely to shoot at the slightest provocation.
The clanging sounds stopped. Fearing the men had found what they’d come for, Brody didn’t stop at the tree, but continued moving toward the direction where he’d glimpsed the flash of orange.
Julianne kept pace beside him, although she’d fanned out a bit, keeping a good five yards between them. Thunder remained glued to her side, and he found himself grateful she had her K-9 partner with her.
As Brody moved through some thick brush, he abruptly stopped. The two men were less than thirty yards away. He could easily make out Nate’s large heavy frame, his bald head glistening with sweat and Royce’s slender build, his dirty blond hair hanging limply around his face.
Before Brody could say a word, Nate suddenly turned and looked straight at him. Their eyes locked, and in that moment pure hatred radiated from the depths of his old friend’s gaze.
“Stop, police!” Brody shouted, drawing his gun.
But Nate was a fraction of a second quicker, shooting first then diving to one side at the exact same moment that Royce jutted in the opposite direction. A bullet whizzed dangerously close past Brody’s ear.
“Take Nate,” Julianne shouted, already rushing through the woods in the direction Royce had gone.
He didn’t need any encouragement, wanting nothing more than to drag Nate back into police custody. He needed to know the truth about Lilly’s disappearance.
It wasn’t difficult to track Nate through the brush: the guy moved with the finesse and stealth of an elephant. But then suddenly Nate turned and fired in Brody’s direction, forcing him to seek cover.
“You’ll never catch me,” Nate taunted.
Brody lifted his head and took up the chase. But when he heard gunfire to his right, his heart jumped into his throat.
Julianne!
Brody stumbled, managing to catch himself before he fell face first into a large thorny bush. He turned and retraced his steps, desperate to get back to her.
There was no way of knowing how close Max and Zeke were to offer assistance.
“He’s down,” Julianne shouted breathlessly.
Brody didn’t stop until he came up on Julianne standing with her arms out holding her weapon.
“Good job,” he said, but a moment too soon. Royce suddenly lifted his weapon, aiming at Julianne.
“Watch out,” he yelled, firing two shots in rapid succession at the gunman, hitting him directly in the chest. Royce dropped backward, the gun falling from his limp hand and this time, he didn’t move.
“Close call,” she muttered, her face pale.
Brody’s throat was so tight he couldn’t speak. If he hadn’t turned around to back her up...
He couldn’t bear to finish the thought.
“Where’s Nate?” Julianne asked, as if she hadn’t come within a hair’s breadth of being shot.
“He took off running,” he admitted grimly.
Julianne opened the evidence bag again, providing Thunder Nate’s scent. “Find, Thunder. Find.”
The dog took off leaping through the trees, leaving the humans to follow. When Thunder reached the spot where a large hole gaped in the ground, a shovel lying on its side, he alerted on Otwell’s scent.
A spark of hope flickered in Brody’s chest.
Maybe with Thunder’s help, they’d get the lowlife in custody after all.
* * *
Keeping pace with her four-legged partner wasn’t easy, but Julianne pushed herself, unwilling to allow Nate the chance to slip away.
Bad enough that Royce had nearly shot her.
Her phone was vibrating against her hip, but she ignored it. She didn’t want to slow down long enough to take the call. No doubt it was Max checking in.
The trees abruptly gave way to a wide clearing not far from the river. She could see Nate making a beeline toward the canoe they’d left behind.
“No!” Brody bellowed, putting on a burst of speed. Nate turned to shoot, but gunfire echoed through the air from the area she’d asked Max and Zeke to take.
Nate ducked and returned fire, but the shot went wild. Brody reached him then and grabbed Nate around the neck, pulling him backward out of the canoe. Both men rolled around on the ground, fighting for the upper hand.
“Attack,” she commanded Thunder, using the hand signal as added emphasis. Her partner raced over to clamp his mouth around Nate’s right wrist.
“Yeow!” he shrieked, dropping the gun. Brody used that moment to plant his hands on Nate’s chest to keep him pressed against the ground. Thunder let go of Nate’s arm and picked up the gun, bringing it over to Julianne.
She tucked Nate’s weapon into the waistband of her slacks, then held her 9 mm leveled at his head. “Don’t move or I’ll shoot,” she said in a stern voice. “Nathan Otwell, you’re under arrest for escaping from a prison vehicle, aiding in the murder of the van driver and kidnapping, for starters. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” She finished providing him the Miranda rights, but he didn’t seem to care.
Nate stared at her as if recognizing her for the first time. Then he sneered. “Well, if it isn’t little Julianne Martinez. You won’t shoot me.”
Brody placed the barrel of his gun against Nate’s temple. “Maybe not, but I will.”
Nate’s expression faltered and he lifted his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay. You got me.”
Brody pressed his fist firmly into Nate’s chest. “Tell me about Lilly,” he rasped.
Nate’s gaze narrowed for a moment, then he shook his head and looked at Brody in confusion. “I don’t know what you mean. What about her?”
“You murdered her, didn’t you?” Brody’s furious tone had Julianne taking a step closer. “The whole time you searched for her was nothing more than a charade. You knew where she was because you’d already killed her!”
Brody was shouting now and Julianne took another step closer. “Easy, Brody,” she said in a ca
lm voice. “We’ll have plenty of time to question him later.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nate repeated, his voice turning high and whiny. “You’re talking like a crazy man, Brody.”
“We found her body,” Brody continued as if neither Julianne nor Nate had spoken. “The DNA match is already in progress. We’re going to find out the truth, Nate, so why not just tell me? Say it! Tell me you killed her. Say it!”
For several long moments the two men glared at each other. Julianne didn’t look away, even though she felt Max and Zeke approaching from the right.
“Yes,” Nate abruptly said, his voice coming out in a low hiss. “I killed Lilly.”
Brody’s head reared back as if Nate had physically slugged him in the jaw. “Why? Why would you do such a thing?”
“Because she stumbled across my little prostitution ring,” Nate retorted, taking a sick sort of enjoyment out of telling Brody the gory details. “That’s how I started my empire, you know. It was just a handful of girls at first, but then my business grew and grew...”
“Not anymore. We rescued Clark,” Brody said, changing the subject. “He’s alive and more than willing to testify against you and Royce. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you, Royce’s dead.”
“You think you’re so smart?” Nate sneered, his face twisting into a mask of hatred. “You don’t know anything. You never did. I ran my business for years, right under your nose.”
For a moment Brody’s body went tense. Julianne stepped forward, pulling her handcuffs from her pocket and tossing them toward Max. “Restrain him.”
Max slapped the cuffs around Nate’s right hand, then nudged Brody aside. Together they flipped Nate onto his stomach so they could secure his wrists behind his back. Then the two men dragged Nate to his feet.
“Check his pockets,” Brody commanded.
Max fished a wad of bills from Nate’s front pocket, and Brody found a similar amount of cash in the left. “Well, well, what do we have here?” Max asked. “Guess this must have been your last stop before getting out of here, for good.”
Nate’s lips thinned, but he didn’t say anything.
“There’s a hole in the ground not far from here,” Brody said, filling in the gaps of the story. “That’s where we found them.”
“Who shot Royce?” Max asked.
“I did,” Julianne said at the same time Brody said, “Me.”
Max lifted a brow.
“I shot first, but he wasn’t dead so Brody finished him off,” Julianne clarified.
Nate snorted. “Worthless piece of trash,” he muttered. “Getting shot by a woman.”
Julianne ignored him. “Why did you break into Clark’s place?”
“Can’t you guess?” Nate looked down at his prison orange in disgust. “After Royce stumbled across him at the clinic, I figured I could get into his house to find something to wear, but the kid was too skinny, especially around the waist. I couldn’t even fit into one of his shirts.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t plan ahead with spare clothes,” Julianne tsked as they surrounded Nate and walked him back through the clearing. The dirt driveway would take them back toward the highway where they’d left their vehicles. “Stupid mistake, Nate. Guess you’re not very smart after all.”
Nate let out a low sound and surged toward Julianne in a vain attempt to body-slam her, but of course both Max and Brody held him in place. Thunder growled in warning, and that was enough to stop him in his tracks.
“Don’t sic your dog on me,” he warned, shying away from her partner.
“Behave, and I won’t have to,” Julianne shot back.
When they reached the road Brody nodded at the SUV. “He’s my prisoner, I’ll take him in,” he told Max.
“I’m not arguing,” Max assured him. Between the two men, they stuffed Otwell in the backseat, taking the added precaution of cuffing his ankles together before shutting the door and locking him in.
“I’m riding along,” Julianne said. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“Fine with me,” Max said. He and Zeke stood back as she opened the back and urged Thunder to get inside.
“You don’t have to do this,” Brody said, when she slid into the passenger seat.
“Yes, I do.” She was beginning to get annoyed with him. “This is my case as much as it’s yours, Brody.”
He hesitated. “Yeah, I guess it is,” he finally agreed.
She knew he was thinking about Lilly, and the remains they’d found outside Royce’s ranch house. Even if the DNA didn’t come back a match, she knew that there would be other victim’s bodies found. Sooner or later, they’d find Lilly and she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than to give her best friend the proper church funeral and burial she deserved. Tears pricked her eyes as she realized she’d never see Lilly’s bright smile again.
Nate didn’t say anything during the drive back to the sheriff’s department and the small jail cells located inside. She couldn’t deny a sense of satisfaction that they’d soon have Nate locked up where he belonged.
Even though they still needed to identify the dead man they’d found with the keychain engraved with the letter S, the case was essentially over. The rest of the details would soon fall into place.
The good guys racked up one for the win column.
They’d gotten such an early start and the morning had been so eventful so far she was surprised to note that the time was just after ten in the morning. The area around the sheriff’s department headquarters was surprisingly deserted, and she realized it was Sunday.
She wished she and Brody would have had a chance to attend services together, the way they used to during college. But there would be plenty of time for that moving forward.
If Brody was interested in resurrecting their former relationship. Putting the past to rest made her think they may have a chance for a future.
She was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice that Brody had stopped the car, looking at her questioningly. She gave him a reassuring smile, determined not to discuss their personal life in front of Nate.
She slid out of the seat and waited for Brody to come around to meet her. Together they helped Nate from the backseat, not easily considering his cuffed ankles. “Hold on, I need to get Thunder.”
Brody tightened his grip on Nate’s arm as she crossed over to let Thunder out of the back. “Heel,” she commanded.
As she stepped closer to Brody and Nate, a flash of movement from the side of the building caught her eye. Just to her left, she saw Deputy Rick Meyer emerge from the farthest corner of the building.
“Hey, look what we found,” she said in lieu of a greeting.
But Rick didn’t return her smile. Instead he leveled his gun at her. “Let Otwell go, Sheriff, or I’ll kill the pretty FBI agent.”
FIFTEEN
The earth undulated beneath his feet as he stared at the deputy holding a gun on Julianne. Then a deep fury rushed over him. “You?” he rasped. “You’re the rat leaking information to Otwell?”
“Let him go,” Meyer repeated, the barrel of his gun never wavering from the invisible bull’s-eye he imagined being centered on Julianne’s chest. They were dressed in tactical gear, but at this range, even a bullet taken in the vest could cause serious harm.
And Meyer may not aim for center mass. This close, he could aim for her head.
“You don’t want to kill a federal agent, Rick.” Julianne’s voice was calm, almost serene. “Why don’t you put the gun away, before someone gets hurt?”
With the SUV directly behind them, there wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver. Brody hated the fact that she was closer to Meyer, estimating the deputy was roughly thirty feet away.
Close enough that it would be impossible for him to miss
.
“She’s right, Meyer. You shoot a fed, they’ll never stop until they hunt you down. Why don’t you just let her go? This is between you and me. She doesn’t need to be involved.” Of the four men on his short list, he’d never have believed affable Rick Meyer would be the brains behind something like this.
Rick curled his upper lip in derision, as if reading his mind. “You never gave me the credit I was due, Sheriff. Julianne stays right where she is, or I start shooting, first at the kneecaps then working my way up to her head. Oh, and that goes for the dog, too.”
Julianne stiffened at the threat, and Brody knew she’d never put her K-9 partner in harm’s way. If Meyer so much as twitched the barrel of the gun toward Thunder, she’d do her best to take the dirty cop out.
Placing herself in the line of fire if necessary.
Not going to happen. Granted the very last thing Brody wanted was to let Nate go, not after everything they’d been through to bring him in. But a choice between Nate and Julianne was a no-brainer. Julianne would win a million times over.
Yet he didn’t trust a snake like Rick Meyer to keep his word. He firmly believed that Meyer would still shoot them, even after Nate was released.
Okay, so he needed a plan.
“Now!” Meyer sharply interjected.
“Calm down, you’ll give yourself a coronary,” Julianne said in a bored tone. “You have us trapped, it’s not as if we’re going anywhere.”
Brody would have smiled if he hadn’t been scared spitless at the thought of something happening to her. “I’ll let him go, Meyer, but I need a minute to remove the restraints from his ankles.”
Meyer’s gaze dropped to Nate’s feet, as if noticing the cuffs encircling his ankles for the first time. “Yeah, okay, but make it quick.”
Ignoring the frown Julianne leveled at him, he dropped down to one knee and used the key to unlock the silver shackles. From this vantage point, he had a better view of Julianne’s right hand giving Thunder the signal for stay. Despite Meyer’s demand to make it quick, he purposefully fumbled a bit with the key, trying to strategize a way for them to get out of this mess alive.