Trouble with a Badge

by Delores Fossen

  Still, he hadn’t exactly had a lot of options. If it had indeed been Tasha on the phone, and the woman was telling the truth, he couldn’t just let her die. He’d had the option of leaving Alexa behind at the sheriff’s office though.

  An option she’d declined.

  They’d argued, but in the end she had won, only because she’d reminded him of the attack at the sheriff’s office earlier that day. The danger, she said, would just follow her, and this might be a way to end it because Tasha might have answers. Answers she hadn’t been able to give them because the line had gone dead. Of course, there could be another reason for the no answers part.

  Because this was a trap so that someone could try again to kill Alexa.

  “You’re sure it was Tasha who called?” Mack asked. The deputy was on the passenger’s side of the cruiser Levi was driving with Alexa in the middle. He’d chosen that vehicle over his truck because it was bullet resistant, and if it turned out that he had to arrest Tasha, he could restrain her in the backseat.

  “I’m sure,” Alexa insisted. Something she’d been saying since this latest ordeal had started.

  Because Levi had never heard Tasha’s voice, he couldn’t be certain, but he would trust Alexa on this. What he wouldn’t do was trust Tasha. The woman could be luring Alexa into a trap, and that was the reason Levi had brought Mack with him. Jericho and Dexter were following behind them. Four lawmen should be enough, but Levi was wishing he had an army for this.

  In addition to the backup, everyone was wearing a Kevlar vest. Everyone was armed to the hilt, including Alexa. As a PI, she’d had firearms training, but Levi hoped she wouldn’t have to rely on those particular skills tonight.

  “I just don’t understand it,” Mack continued. “There was a body and it matched the dental records.”

  “It was obviously faked somehow,” Alexa explained. “Tasha will be able to tell us more. If we get to her in time.”

  Yes, that was a big if. Tasha had sounded terrified, and it wasn’t a good sign that the phone had gone dead. Levi had tried to call her back right away, but that call, and the other ones he’d made to her shortly thereafter, had all gone unanswered. The phone number itself hadn’t panned out, either, because the call had been made with a pre-paid cell.

  “We’ll need to do a quiet approach,” Levi said, thinking out loud. Just in case Tasha was actually being held at gunpoint, Levi didn’t want her captors to panic and shoot her.

  He took the final road toward the hospital, and he turned off the headlights when the building came into view. Behind him, Jericho did the same.

  The old hospital was on a steep hill. No lights in or around the place since it’d closed years earlier when the new hospital had opened in town. The company that’d bought the place to use as a halfway house had since gone bankrupt, and it’d been at least five years since it had been used.

  Well, unless it’d been used by kidnappers.

  Levi had to admit, it would be a good place to hold a woman captive. A quarter of a mile from any other building and on a dead-end road. With the bitter cold and late hour, Levi figured there wasn’t much chance of anyone being just out for a leisurely drive.

  He stopped when he reached the parking lot, and all three of them drew their guns. Levi looked around. No other vehicles in sight. No sign of Tasha, either, but Alexa leaned forward to have a look, as well.

  “Tasha won’t come out unless she sees me,” Alexa reminded him.

  Yeah. Tasha had made that clear, but Levi still didn’t want Alexa to be an easy target. He waited until Jericho had parked behind him, then Levi opened the door. The interior light came on, and maybe that would be enough for Tasha to get a look inside and see Alexa.

  Of course, it might be enough for a killer to see her, too.

  Levi didn’t get out, but he put one foot on the ground and leaned out while using the door for cover.

  Man, it was cold, and the wind snapped and bit at him. But the wind could also do something else he didn’t like. It could muffle the sounds of anyone trying to sneak up on them.

  The seconds crawled by, turning into minutes, and when Levi was certain he was going to have to go looking for Tasha, a woman leaned out from a broken window at the back of the building.

  “Is that Tasha?” Levi asked.

  Alexa shook her head, studied her, though it was hard to study a person she could hardly see. The woman was wearing a bulky top and her hair was pulled back.

  “Alexa?” the woman called out. “Is Violet all right? Please tell me she’s okay. Please.”

  “That’s Tasha,” Alexa confirmed, and there didn’t seem to be any doubts in her voice. “She looks hurt.”

  She did. Tasha was slumped over, clutching on to the window frame as if she needed it for support.

  “Wait here,” Levi told Alexa, and he was ready to motion for Jericho and Dexter so they could approach Tasha while Alexa stayed in the cruiser with Mack.

  However, Levi didn’t even have time to lift his hand before Tasha made a sound. Like a muffled groan of pain, and she ducked back into the building.

  Alexa’s breath was gusting now and, like Levi, her gaze darted all around. “Do you see what scared her?” Alexa asked.

  Levi didn’t, but if someone was chasing Tasha, he couldn’t just sit there while that someone caught her. And maybe killed her. He got back in the cruiser and drove toward the rear of the building where Tasha had disappeared from sight.

  She wasn’t near the window. The glass was broken, and there appeared to be some blood on it. Fresh blood because it was still running down what was left of the pane.

  Levi drove farther, looking for her. At the back of the building, there were several exits along with plenty of other windows. But only one door was partially open, and that door was just a few yards from the window where he’d seen Tasha. He pulled the cruiser right to it.

  He glanced around again to get his bearings. There were a few trees behind the building where a gunman could hide, and the thin moonlight wouldn’t help him see if they were out there. But there were also plenty of places for would-be killers to hide inside.

  Levi heard a sound, and at first he thought it was Tasha, but it was just the wind causing the old hinges to creak. Definitely not a distraction he needed.

  “Is Violet okay?” Tasha called out. She didn’t shout. It was more of a loud whisper. That was when he caught a glimpse of her in the hall just off the door. “Please tell me she’s not with you because it’s not safe here.”

  “She’s fine. Get in the cruiser,” Levi ordered her. Yes, it was a risk, because this might be a hoax and Tasha could be armed, but Mack could frisk her as soon as she got inside.

  Tasha frantically shook her head, but she did inch closer. This time he got a better look at her face, and she definitely matched the photos he’d seen of her. Except she had cuts and bruises, and she was limping. But not actually limping. There was something on her ankle that stopped her from coming any closer to him.

  A chain.

  “I can’t get loose,” Tasha insisted. “The window’s as far as I can go. I broke it when I heard your car drive up, but I cut myself on the glass.”

  Yeah, she had. The woman was wearing a bulky sweater but had shoved up the sleeve on her left arm, and he could see the blood was dripping all the way down to her wrist.

  “We have bolt cutters in the trunk,” Mack reminded him, and he got out, heading in that direction. “There should be some sort of tourniquet in the first-aid kit to slow the bleeding.”

  Good, because they’d need both.

  “Please help me,” Tasha begged.

  Judging from the cuts on her face and legs, she had more injuries than just the one on her arm. Or else she’d done a good job of faking those injuries. What she wasn’t faking was the shivering. Head to toe.
That was real all right. But then it was damn cold, and even though she was wearing that thick sweater and had a blanket on the floor, there was no heat in the building.

  “Stay put,” Levi warned Alexa. “And, Mack, tell me if you see anyone coming near the place.”

  It was a risk, but Levi got out. With his gun ready, he stepped inside the old hospital. The smell of mold and dust nearly smothered him. His attention slashed from one side to the other. The place was dark with way too many shadows.

  “The men are gone,” Tasha said. “For now. But they’ll be back any minute. I stole one of their phones to make that call to you, but the battery died before I could explain anything.”

  Levi had so many questions, but he went with the one that dealt with that phone call. “How’d you get my number?”

  “From Alexa. I memorized it.”

  He glanced back at Alexa to see if that was true, and she nodded.

  “Alexa always told me if anything bad happened, that I could trust you,” Tasha went on. “I didn’t want to call nine-one-one because the kidnappers told me they had a mole in the sheriff’s office.”

  That was an empty threat, but Tasha would have had no way of knowing that. After all, Alexa had been afraid of the same thing when she’d called him to meet her at the Outlaw Bar three nights ago.

  Tasha caught on to Levi’s arm when he got closer. “My baby.” Her fear rippled all through her voice. “Is she safe? Did you tell me the truth? Is she really all right?”

  “Violet’s fine,” Alexa answered. She was still in the cruiser, technically, but the door was wide open, and she was looking directly into the building.

  Tasha’s breath rushed out. “Thank God.” Sobbing, she sank to her knees on the floor.

  “Violet’s at a safe house,” Alexa added. “But we can’t take you there—”

  “I don’t want to go there. Not yet. I can’t. I can’t bring this danger to her.” It sounded like something a frantic mother would say, but Levi still wasn’t sure what he was dealing with here.

  Jericho and Dexter came in, and Dexter handed Levi the bolt cutters and the first-aid kit that Mack had given him. He also had two flashlights, and he gave one to Levi.

  “The men think I’m drugged,” Tasha said. “They gave me something right before they left and I pretended to take it, but I spat it out.” She motioned toward the two capsules on the floor.

  Levi had no idea what was in those pills, but if her captors had indeed managed to drug her, then Tasha likely wouldn’t have been able to make that call to him.

  “The chain’s thick,” Dexter said when he examined it. “They’ve got her tethered to an iron pipe that’s fixed to the concrete wall, so it’s going to take me a couple of minutes to get her free.” And he got busy trying to cut the chain.

  Jericho put the tourniquet on Tasha’s arm, keeping it loose enough to slow down the bleeding, but not so tight that it could cause permanent damage, and then he stepped back so he could keep watch.

  “How is it you’re alive?” Levi asked at the same moment that Alexa said, “I saw that man shoot you in the head. I saw you fall, and I saw blood.”

  “The bullet was some kind of tranquilizer dart. And yes, there was blood because it broke the skin. Then the guy hit me with something. A stun gun, I think.” She broke down and sobbed again. “Oh, God. Alexa, if you hadn’t gotten Violet out of there, they would have taken her, too.”

  “But I did get her to safety,” Alexa said, obviously trying to calm Tasha down. “Those men that attacked us, did they bring you here?”

  Tasha nodded. “They chained me up, drugged me and left me. And then two other men came.”

  Replacements because the first two had been murdered. “We thought you were dead. There was a body, and it matched your dental records.”

  Her eyes widened. She started to breathe through her mouth. “The kidnappers must have switched the records.”

  If so, this had been a well thought out plan, because a switch like that would have had to happen before the kidnapping.

  “Then who is the dead woman?” Alexa asked.

  Tasha shook her head. “I don’t know. But I heard one of the guards talking and he was saying something about a hooker that looked like me, that the hooker wouldn’t be missed.” Another Oh, God. “They killed her, didn’t they?”

  Probably. But that was something Levi could verify later. For now he needed to get Tasha and Alexa out of here.

  “You think Scottie’s the one who had you kidnapped?” Alexa pressed.

  “Maybe.” Tasha paused, shook her head. “But the guard also said something about using me to lure you into a trap.”

  “Marcos,” Alexa said like profanity.

  Hell. That wasn’t what Levi wanted to hear. Because if that was true, then this could be a trap, as well. Marcos would have known that Alexa would try to save her friend.

  “Or Lockwood,” Alexa added. She lifted her gaze, looked at Tasha. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” It was too dark for him to see her tears, but he could hear them in her voice.

  “Maybe not,” Levi corrected. “If Scottie is behind this, he could have told the guards to say that so we wouldn’t suspect him.”

  In other words, they still weren’t able to rule out any of their suspects.

  “Someone’s coming,” Mack called out, stepping out of the cruiser.

  Levi leaned out of the building and handed Alexa the flashlight. He followed Mack’s gaze toward the road. A vehicle was indeed driving their way. A light colored van. Both cruisers were out of sight from the main parking lot, but if these were hired guns, they might come around the back.

  “We need to move fast,” Levi warned Dexter. Not that Dexter wasn’t already doing that. He was using the bolt cutters to eat away at the thick chain.

  The van continued toward the hospital until Levi could no longer see it. Not good. He didn’t know if they’d stopped out front and were already making their way inside. Either way, Levi had a really bad feeling about this.

  “Get down on the seat,” he told Alexa.

  She did. Just as the bolt cutters finally broke through the chain. The second it fell, Levi took hold of Tasha, ready to get her the heck out of there.

  “Get down!” Mack shouted before Levi could take a step.

  The shot rang out, the bullet slamming right into Mack.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alexa could have sworn the gunshot blast roared through every inch of her. And she saw Mack’s entire body jolt when the bullet hit him. She prayed that the shot had gone into his Kevlar vest.

  But no, it hadn’t.

  It’d gone into his right leg, and even in the darkness she could see the blood start to spread across his jeans.

  Alexa caught on to his arm and pulled him back into the cruiser, but then someone caught on to her.

  Levi.

  He dragged her across the seat and into the building and did the same for Mack. The moment he had them inside, he shut the door. At least he tried, but the hinges must have been messed up because there was still a gap of several inches.

  “I would have had you stay in the cruiser, but I didn’t want you to have to drive out of here,” Levi told her, his words rushing out. “Because those shooters would have likely gone after you.”

  Yes, and with Mack injured, she might not have even had him for backup.

  Mack hurried inside, but he would have fallen if Jericho hadn’t taken hold of him. He sat Mack against the wall and began to rifle through the first-aid kit. Alexa helped with that. There wasn’t a second tourniquet, but she unwound some gauze and used that to put pressure on the wound. Maybe it would be enough to stop him from losing too much blood.

  “How bad is he hurt?” Dexter asked.

  “It’s not t
hat bad,” Jericho answered, but Alexa wasn’t sure if he was lying to keep Mack calm. He called for an ambulance, not that one would be able to get there anytime soon, and the medics wouldn’t be able to come into the building until the area was secure.

  It wasn’t.

  Jericho made a second call to the night deputies and Jax and requested backup. Again, it would take time for them to get there, half an hour or more, but at least help was on the way.

  There was another shot. This one slammed into the door, nearly making it through that narrow opening. Even though Alexa hadn’t seen any gunmen outside, they had probably gotten out of that van.

  “Should we try to get everyone back in the cruisers?” Dexter asked.

  Levi shook his head. “The shooters are too close.”

  He was right, and with Mack and Tasha’s injuries, they wouldn’t be able to move that fast. The rickety door sure didn’t help, either, because the third bullet went straight through it.

  “We need to move,” Levi insisted.

  No one argued with him.

  Jericho hooked his arm around Mack’s waist and hauled him to his feet, and Mack took hold of Tasha. She looked as unsteady as Mack, and both had already lost plenty of blood.

  “You remember the layout of this place?” Jericho asked Levi. Years ago this had been the county’s only hospital, and all of the Crocketts and just about everybody else in the area had come here at one time or another.

  “Yeah.” Levi looked at the hall ahead of them and then the one that stretched out on both sides. He tipped his head to the right. “We’ll duck into one of the rooms, and when the gunmen come in after us, we can pick them off.”

  Not a bad plan since they had four shooters, including her, but Alexa had no idea how many gunmen were responsible for those shots tearing into the building. Tasha had said two men had held her captive, but there could be more out there.

  They hurried down the hall, and despite the tourniquets, they left a trail of blood behind them. Maybe a trail the gunmen would follow so Levi could put his plan into motion.