Trouble with a Badge

by Delores Fossen

  Now there were two.

  There was a park just behind the sheriff’s office, and it wouldn’t have been hard for someone to hide back there and lie in wait. Still, this was a gutsy move, launching an attack like this in broad daylight.

  Jericho ran from the building and dropped down next to Levi. He also had a look under the cruiser, and he cursed. Not just under his breath but out loud, as well.

  “Really?” Jericho shouted. “You honestly think we’ll just let you clowns leave with her?”

  “You don’t have much of a choice,” one of them answered. “My advice? Back off and you won’t get hurt.”

  No way would Levi just let them take her, but he heard something else he didn’t want to hear. A car engine. And the sound wasn’t coming from the parking lot but rather from the park. The goons no doubt had a getaway vehicle waiting for them there.

  “Wouldn’t shoot if I were you,” the same goon called out. “Well, unless you want to make sure she gets killed real fast.”

  That told Levi exactly what he needed to know. Whoever was behind this wanted Alexa alive. If it was Marcos, maybe he wanted to torture her first. If it was Scottie’s or Lockwood’s hired guns, they could want information from her. That meant Levi had a chance to rescue her.

  Not the safest chance. But nothing would be safe for her if these two managed to get her to a secondary location where heaven knew what would happen to her.

  Levi went back to the ground again. And he took aim at the only semi-clear target he had. One of the men’s legs.

  He fired.

  The howl of pain was instantaneous, letting Levi know that he’d hit his target.

  “You bastard!” the man yelled, and he started to move. So did the other guy, who now had a hold of Alexa.

  The shift in position gave Levi another opening because it left the wounded man in a vulnerable position. Levi fired a second shot into the guy’s other leg. He wouldn’t be running anywhere, but the clown did drop down, too, and he took aim.

  At Levi.

  Levi scrambled out of the way not a second too soon, and the shot blasted into his truck. He didn’t wait for the guy to re-aim. Levi ran toward the front end of the cruiser, hoping that he could get the drop on the one who had Alexa.

  Jericho scurried into the bed of the pickup, no doubt so he’d have a better vantage point and also because he could use it for cover. If his brother got a shot, Levi knew he would take it. There was no way Jericho would let this goon get Alexa into that waiting vehicle.

  Levi stopped when he made it to the far edge of the front bumper, and he peered around the side. He caught just a glimpse of the man who had Alexa in a chokehold.

  Before the shot came at him.

  It ricocheted off the metal bumper.

  The injured man might have two bullets in him, but it darn sure hadn’t affected his aim. Levi needed to remedy that.

  He leaned out again, and Levi kept his shot low so that it wouldn’t hit Alexa. This time he double tapped the trigger, both bullets going into the wounded gunman’s chest.

  That stopped him.

  And it clearly unnerved the second man, because he started to curse. “You must want her dead!”

  Just the opposite. And while Levi wouldn’t mind taking out both gunmen, it’d be better for the investigation if he had at least one of them alive.

  Maybe not better for Alexa, though.

  Her eyes were open. Wide with fear. Even though she couldn’t move, she knew exactly what was happening to her. She also no doubt knew this could turn even deadlier than it already was.

  “Put down your gun,” Levi warned the man.

  The guy’s gaze was firing all around. Probably because he was trying to make sure Jericho wasn’t sneaking up behind him. He also glanced in the direction of the sound of that car engine.

  “There’s at least fifteen yards between you and your getaway ride,” Levi told him. “You’re not going to make it, especially not dragging Alexa. Put down your gun, move away from her and let’s talk.”

  “I can’t talk to the cops,” he said, but the guy was shaking now. Clearly in over his head.

  Levi sweetened the pot a little. “We can give you protection in exchange for the name of the person who hired you.”

  The man groaned, kicked his partner and then looked around again. Hopefully, he had reached the point where he’d figured out that he had zero chance of a clean escape. However, he was still armed, and Levi didn’t want this to turn into a murder-suicide.

  “You got me into this mess!” the man shouted, and he gave his partner another kick. The wounded man moaned in pain. Still alive. Barely. But he was bleeding out fast.

  “If you want to help him and yourself, put down the gun,” Levi bargained.

  Levi saw it then. The surrender in the man’s eyes. But it was only there for a split-second before he hurried against the cruiser and put the gun to Alexa’s head.

  No! This was not the way things were supposed to play out.

  It took Levi a moment to realize why the guy had done that. There was the sound of footsteps. Someone running from the back of the parking lot toward them.

  What the devil was he doing here?

  * * *

  ALEXA HADN’T THOUGHT her heart could pound any harder or faster. But she’d been wrong. For a few fleeting seconds she’d thought the goon holding her had been about to surrender.

  Not now, though.

  Now he had his gun jammed against her temple, and as unsteady as he was, he might just pull the trigger.

  Alexa tried to move, something she’d been attempting since this insane attack had first happened. No luck. The stun gun had done its job, and she couldn’t make her arms or legs work. She couldn’t even call out to Levi to tell him to stay down.

  He wouldn’t listen to her anyway, of course.

  But she wanted to try. She didn’t want him or his brother hurt trying to protect her.

  “You idiot!” Levi snarled, and it took her a moment to realize he wasn’t talking to the gunman, but rather to someone who had ducked behind the cruiser next to the gunman and her.

  Lockwood.

  “I can help,” Lockwood shouted back.

  She certainly hadn’t expected him to show up here.

  Alexa doubted Lockwood would have come this close if these were his own hired guns. Well, he might if he wanted to look innocent. What better way to do that than to pretend he was trying to put an end to this kidnapping attempt? Especially since the attempt had been botched. One man was dying and there was no clean escape for the other.

  “There’s no one in the getaway car,” Lockwood added. “It’s just these two jokers, and they left the engine running.”

  Alexa wasn’t sure she believed the marshal, and she seriously doubted that Levi would just trust him. But if Lockwood was telling the truth, it meant this thug didn’t have anyone else to help him. That was far better than the alternative, but it didn’t help her much now. After all, it would only take one person to kill her, Levi and Jericho, and the gunman was using her to prevent the lawmen from having a clean shot.

  She needed to do something to remedy that.

  Alexa concentrated on flexing the muscles in her arm. She managed to wiggle her fingers a little. Not much, but it was a start, and with each passing second it meant she would get more and more feeling back.

  More and more fear, too.

  Choking back those fears, she said another prayer for the protection detail that had whisked Violet away. Maybe there wasn’t a second team of hired guns going after them. That was all the more reason to end this now so she could check on them.

  “Back off!” the gunman yelled. “All of you. So help me, I’ll kill her.”

  He would. Alexa could feel the desperatio
n in him. But her will to live was even stronger than that. She forced herself to concentrate on moving her right arm, since it was next to her captor’s stomach. She doubted she could do much, but she prayed it would be enough.

  The wounded man groaned again, and his breath rattled in his throat. His last breath. Something the man holding her must have understood, because he looked down at his fallen partner. It wasn’t much of a distraction, but it might be the only one she could get.

  Alexa jammed her elbow into the man and she tumbled forward, hoping to get out of his grip. She wasn’t even sure she’d succeeded when she heard the blast.

  Oh, God.

  Had she been shot?

  Everything seemed to move fast but in slow motion, too. She didn’t feel any pain. Didn’t feel much of anything, even when she hit the concrete. However, she didn’t hit it alone.

  Her captor dropped down right beside her.

  Their eyes met, but his were blank. Lifeless. And that was when Alexa saw the wound to his head. Someone had shot him.

  She heard the footsteps hurrying toward her, and while Alexa still couldn’t move that well, she tried to get up. Thankfully, Levi helped her with that. He scooped her up in his arms and ran back into the sheriff’s office. Jericho and Lockwood were right behind them, but Jericho kept the door open, looking out. He kept his gun ready, too, probably because despite what Lockwood had said, there could be other hired thugs out there.

  Levi took her to the side of the break room and he eased her onto a cot. He pushed her hair from her face, no doubt checking for injuries, and she was relieved when she saw the relief in his own eyes.

  Relief, however, that Levi didn’t extend to Lockwood.

  “You killed him,” Levi said to Lockwood.

  Lockwood nodded. “I had the shot and I took it. I saved Alexa.”

  So, Lockwood had been the one who’d taken out the gunman. Alexa managed to tell him thanks, but she still wasn’t so sure that Lockwood had done this for her. Obviously, Levi wasn’t positive, either, because he volleyed glances between the marshal and her.

  “The ambulance is on the way,” Mack called out to them. “How many will the medics be picking up?”

  “The gunmen are both dead,” Levi answered. “But Alexa needs to go to the hospital.”

  She shook her head. “Check on the baby.”

  The words weren’t exactly clear, but Levi understood them because he took out his phone and fired off a text. It only took a few seconds for him to get a response from Chase, and Levi held it up for her to see.

  Everything’s fine here.

  Thank God. That was exactly what she needed to know, but Alexa had no idea if things were fine right here in the sheriff’s office. They could be in the room with the person trying to kill her.

  Except this hadn’t been a murder attempt.

  Those men had definitely been trying to kidnap her. And the question she had was why? However, she doubted she’d get the answer from Lockwood. If he was innocent, he wouldn’t know why those men had come after her, and if he was guilty, he wouldn’t just tell them the truth.

  Levi checked her again, his hand lingering on her cheek for several seconds, before he stood and faced Lockwood. “Why were you in the parking lot?”

  Lockwood pulled back his shoulders. Obviously not pleased with Levi’s tone. But Alexa was pleased. She had the same question, and tone, for Lockwood because it seemed a strange coincidence that he would arrive at the time of the attack.

  “I came to talk to the sheriff,” Lockwood said, but he didn’t look at Jericho. He kept his narrowed gaze on Levi.

  “So, talk,” Jericho snapped, still keeping watch.

  Lockwood’s eyes narrowed even more. “The cops over in Junction Ridge found a body this morning,” he said. Now his attention went to Alexa. “It’s a woman, and they’re pretty sure it could be Tasha.”

  Chapter Ten

  Levi listened to what Jericho was telling him. It was an important update on Scottie, but his attention was on Alexa. Exactly where it’d been since they’d arrived at Dexter’s house and where his attention would likely stay until he was certain she was indeed as all right as she claimed.

  He wasn’t convinced.

  At least she was moving again. Well, sort of. Once they’d gotten into the house, locked up and set the security alarm, Alexa had dropped down on to the sofa. Clearly shaken. And also clearly waiting for news not just on the woman’s body that’d been found, but she undoubtedly wanted to hear from Marshal Walker so they’d know he’d made it to the safe house with the baby.

  Levi could help her with the last part but not the first.

  “I’ll tell Alexa,” Levi assured his brother, and he ended the call.

  “Is Violet safe?” Alexa asked right off.

  Levi nodded. “Marshal Walker called Jericho and told him no one followed them to the safe house, and Violet is all settled in.”

  Alexa nodded, too. “Good. I’m glad she’s okay. I’m not sure I could have dealt with it if she hadn’t been.”

  Probably not. Of course, she wasn’t exactly dealing with everything else, either. Her nerves were raw and right at the surface. Any bit of bad news now could break her, and that was why Levi continued with the last of the good news he did have. Maybe it would help take some of that worry and fear out of her eyes.

  “Marshal Walker talked with his boss,” Levi continued. “And you don’t have to go back into the marshals’ custody. Especially not Lockwood’s. As long as you stay in protective custody, that’ll work for them.”

  “Thank you. And I’ll thank Marshal Walker, too,” she said.

  But Levi wasn’t sure she should be thankful that she was staying with him. After all, he’d done a really bad job of keeping her safe so far. Two attacks in two days, and that wasn’t counting the one that had sent her running to him in the first place. Whoever was behind this was damn persistent, and Levi doubted the snake would just give up because two more of his hired guns had been killed.

  After hearing the two pieces of good news, Alexa did look relieved, but the look didn’t last long. Her forehead bunched up again. “Is there anything about the body?”

  “No ID yet, but it shouldn’t be much longer.” Actually, it could come at any time now.

  “I could ID her if they send me a picture,” she offered. It was probably the last thing she wanted to see if it was indeed Tasha, but other than asking Scottie, Alexa was their best bet at making a facial ID.

  But there was a problem.

  One that Levi wouldn’t mention to her just yet. The dead woman’s face had been, well, damaged. In part, by the gunshot wounds to her head. Also in part because the killer had tossed her body into a ravine, and the fall had done even more damage. There were broken bones and postmortem injuries.

  “You said the gunman only shot Tasha once?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She stared at him. “Why?”

  “Because this woman had three gunshot wounds to the back and head.”

  More relief. Again, short-lived. Because Alexa must have realized that the killer could have shot Tasha two more times after Alexa had fled with the baby.

  “The cops are working on getting Tasha’s dental records,” Levi added. “If they match the body, then you won’t have to try to make the ID.”

  Levi was really hoping that would happen while still holding out hope the body wasn’t Tasha’s. The cops in Junction Ridge hadn’t been able to give them much of a physical description of the DB, only that it was a woman about five foot five and with brown hair. Since there was another missing woman, a known drug dealer, who also matched the description, there was still a chance. Added to that, Junction Ridge was a good hundred miles from the gas station where Tasha and Alexa had been attacked.

  “She could still
be alive,” Levi reminded her, going with the theory that Tasha had faked her own death to escape Scottie. If it was true, then it would mean Violet wasn’t an orphan.

  And that the baby would eventually have some place to go.

  Which brought him to the second part of the conversation he’d just had with Jericho.

  “Brett Mendoza has two aunts, both in their early fifties, and Child Services will ask them if they’re willing to take the baby,” he explained.

  “Are they fit to raise Violet?” she asked.

  “No indications that they aren’t, but they’ll be checked out. That could take a while. Child Services has agreed to back off as long as Violet’s under the marshals’ protection, but eventually she’ll be placed with either the aunts or someone else, so it’ll be a permanent custody arrangement for her.”

  “I want her,” Alexa jumped to say. But again, the doubt crept into her eyes.

  Levi knew why.

  He sank down on the sofa next to her. Not just because she looked as if she needed some close contact, but also because it put him in a better position to look out the window. There’d been no sign that anyone had followed them. No sign of other gunmen. Nor had anything or anyone tripped the sensors along the road. But Levi wouldn’t take any more chances with her life.

  “Even if the aunts turn out to be unfit, I can’t take Violet as long as Marcos is after me,” Alexa added. “And even after the trial, he might still be after me.”

  Levi sure couldn’t argue with that. Marcos could still control his henchmen from behind bars. Which meant unless something drastic happened, Alexa would have to go back into WITSEC. A new identity, a new life. One where she’d always be looking over her shoulder for a would-be killer.

  Hardly a good life for a baby.

  “If it doesn’t work out with the aunts, there are plenty of good families out there who’d love to adopt her,” Levi said. Then, he frowned.

  Heck.

  There it was again. That tugging feeling in his heart. He didn’t want to see Violet handed off to strangers. He’d diapered her, fed her and walked the floor with her when she wouldn’t hush crying. That’d obviously created some kind of bond that couldn’t happen since he wasn’t exactly stellar father material.