High-Risk Affair

by RaeAnne Thayne

  The man settled in for what was probably a long story, no doubt painting himself in the brightest light possible, but Cale cut him off before he could even begin.

  "I'd love to hear that story. Maybe we can grab a beer later and you can tell me all about it. But right now, we're on our way to grab a burger. Will you excuse us?"

  He grabbed bold of Megan's arm with one hand and slung the other across Cam's shoulders.

  Megan blinked at him, clearly baffled by his insistence. "But I don't..." Her voice broke off when he squeezed her arm hard.

  He wanted to kiss her right there in front of everyone when she nodded after only the slightest pause.

  "Right. A burger. I'm starving." She manufactured a polite smile. "Excuse us, Wayne, won't you? And thank you again for all your help during the search."

  Shumway nodded. "Sure. Of course."

  He leaned down and smiled at Cameron, but Cale didn't miss the sudden hardness in his light blue eyes. "I'm sure glad you're not still stuck in that mine, son."

  With his arm around the boy's shoulders protectively, Cale could feel a shudder rack his thin frame and he knew he needed to get Cameron out of there now.

  "We all are," he said, then tugged them both toward the area of the park where the Rotary Club had set up several large half-barrel barbecues.

  A small band stage was set up for a performance later, but it was blessedly quiet now. He took them behind it, out of sight in case Shumway was watching.

  "Caleb, what is going on?" Megan asked when they were some distance away. "I don't want a hamburger."

  He didn't answer, only crouched down so he could be on the boy's level. "Cameron?"

  The boy had lost none of that panicky look. His green-eyed gaze met Cale's, and they shared an unspoken communication. He nodded. "That was the man I heard."

  He had suspected it by the boy's instinctive reaction, but hearing it still sent rage coursing through him. Because of that slick-looking bastard, Cameron and Megan had lived through two days of hell; right then, he wanted to rip him apart with his bare hands.

  "Wayne Shumway?" Megan's features reflected her shock. "That's impossible! He's.. .he's a respected community leader He owns three businesses in town—the service station, an auto repair business and a sandwich franchise! They're all very successful. I should know. I'm his accountant! Why would he need to deal drugs?"

  Instead of answering, he looked squarely at the boy. "Cameron, are you positive?"

  He nodded. "I couldn't forget that voice. That must be why I thought I knew him, because I must have answered the phone before when he called to talk to my mom."

  Cale squeezed his shoulder. "If you say it's him, that's all that matters to me."

  Megan looked shaken, and he could see her trying to put away her shock for her son's sake. "You're right. Of course you're right. I don't understand it, but if you believe that's the man you heard, then it must be."

  She turned to Cale, looking at him with a trust that humbled him. "What do we do now?"

  "We need to find Daniel first."

  "I saw him over by the swings when you dragged us over here," she said. She looked as pale as Cameron now, her green eyes huge in her delicate features.

  Though he wanted to pull her into his arms and promise her everything would be all right, he knew he couldn't. Even if things between them weren't so tense and awkward, this wasn't the time.

  For now, he needed to focus all his energies on keeping them safe.

  The next half hour was a blur of shock and worry for Megan.

  It was surreal, really, that they could be having this conversation in the middle of a town celebration while children ran past with cotton candy and a baseball game went on just a few yards away.

  One part of her still had a hard time fathoming that one of her best clients—a man she had welcomed into her home and had worked with alone on numerous occasions—could be capable of dealing drugs and, worse, cold-blooded murder.

  At the same time, she couldn't doubt Cameron's unshakable conviction. Her son was absolutely convinced Wayne was the man he heard commit a terrible murder inside the mine and she believed him. Cam wouldn't lie or make up stories, not about something this important.

  What would she have done without Caleb there? She didn't want to guess. She knew it was completely unfair of her to push him away with brusque decisiveness one moment and to lean on him for support and counsel the next, but she was deeply grateful for the way he had instantly taken charge of the situation.

  He should be washing his hands of them, not conferring with Daniel Galvez about the next step they needed to take. But she couldn't deny the comfort she found in his presence.

  When they found the sheriff and told him Cameron had identified the man he heard inside the mine as Wayne, the sheriff had reacted with the same shock she had.

  To her vast relief, after that first moment of disbelief, he had been willing to trust Cameron's convictions, though he had also faced the situation with his typical pragmatism.

  "I wish I could give you a better answer, but we can't arrest Shumway just on the word of a nine-year-old boy," he said now. "We're going to have to build a case against him and that's going to take some time, I'm afraid."

  "In the meantime what measures can you take to protect Cameron and his family until he is arrested?" Cale asked.

  "Protect us?" Megan asked in disbelief. "Do you really think we're in some kind of danger from... from Wayne ?"

  "He's already killed once," Caleb said flatly. "He couldn't have missed Cameron's frightened reaction to him tonight. By now, he's probably putting the pieces together and figuring out Cam knows something. It's not too great a stretch to anticipate him doing whatever is necessary to keep the boy quiet."

  This was a nightmare, one that just seemed to drag on and on.

  "You know the limitations of my small department," Daniel said. "I just don't have the staff for round-the-clock surveillance. Do you have any suggestions?"

  Cale's mouth tightened with frustration, and she saw the wheels turning as he tried to come up with a solution. "How much time do you think you're going to need?"

  "I can't answer that. I would guess at least a few days."

  "They can come stay with me in Salt Lake City," Cale said, his tone abrupt and decisive.

  Megan stared at him. "What?"

  "I've got a house on the Avenues with two spare bedrooms and a big backyard for the kids. Shumway will never think to look for you there. After he's in custody, it should be safe to return home."

  "Perfect." Daniel looked relieved, a sentiment Megan absolutely did not share.

  "Don't I get any say in this?" She glared at both men.

  Daniel shifted, discomfort plain on his handsome features. "This is the best alternative for you and the kids, Megan."

  Best for whom? Certainly not her. She needed to put distance between them, not move in with the man, for heaven's sake!

  Cale seemed to sense the source of her unease. "Like Daniel said, it will probably only be for a few days and I'll be working most of that time. You likely won't even see me."

  This was supposed to make her feel better, that he was going to dump her at his house and she would have to sit by and watch him go out and save the world?

  "We'll check into a hotel," she said firmly.

  Both men looked as if they wanted to argue but she shook her head. "We'll be fine. It will be like a vacation for the children. A chance for us to spend some time together before school starts in a few weeks."

  "We can work out those details on the way to Salt Lake," Cale said, his features hard and unyielding. He had no intention of allowing her to stay in a hotel. She could see it in the implacable set of his jaw and the determination in his eyes.

  She wanted to argue with him, to remind him he had no authority over her. But she could say nothing with the sheriff looking on.

  "All right," she finally said. "I'm going to need to go back to the house to pack some thing
s first. Cameron's medication, some clothes, a few toys."

  He looked as if he wanted to balk at even that, but he finally nodded tersely.

  "Fine, but we'll have to move fast."

  Chapter 16

  He didn't like this. Not one damn bit. From the passenger seat of Megan's SUV, Cale checked the rear-view mirror for any sign of a tail. He couldn't see anything as she pulled away from the city park and into light traffic.

  She drove like she did just about everything, he was learning—with competence and control.

  Her house was some distance from the town center, and theirs was soon the only vehicle on the road as the houses thinned. A few news teams had lingered in town after Cameron's rescue to do follow-up features, but now they must all have been at the city park videotaping the celebration. The rural road leading to her house was deserted.

  "She's down for the count," Megan said when they were close to her house, gesturing to the backseat.

  He looked behind her to find Hailey curled up in the corner, her cheek pressed against the leather seat and a lock of red hair slipping out of her braid to curve across her face.

  He sighed, wondering when he had last slept with such carefree abandon. Had he ever?

  Cameron, on the other hand, sat rigid and tense, his jaw clamped tightly and his hand gripping the armrest on the door as if he feared he would need to bolt from the vehicle at any second.

  No child should have to bear such a burden, he thought, aching for the boy. He had escaped one nightmare only to be hurled straight into another one.

  "Everything's going to be okay, Cameron," he said, compelled to ease his nervousness. "I'll watch out for you and your mom and sister. 1 won't let anything happen to you all, I swear it."

  Though he could only pray it was a promise within his ability to keep, the boy seemed to take comfort. His tight grip eased on the door and the tight set of his shoulders relaxed a little.

  "I can help if I have to. Shredder and Lieutenant Jamison and the guys taught me how to shoot a gun back in San Diego."

  Megan drew in a quick breath, her gaze jerking to the rearview mirror. "Cameron! Why didn't you tell me?"

  He shrugged. "The guys in the unit said you might not like it. But I begged them, so they finally did. I told them I had to learn how to protect you and Hailey since Dad was dead and you didn't have anyone else to watch out for you. Except now we have Agent Davis, I guess."

  Now Megan's glance shifted to him, and Cale saw slight color bloom across her cheekbones. It lasted only a moment before she turned back to her son.

  "I don't like you keeping things from me, Cam."

  "I'm sorry," he said in a small voice. "I wanted to know how, just in case."

  "T don't think there will be any need for you to fire any weapons," Cale assured him. "Everything's going to be fine. We'll gather some of your things and find a nice place for you guys to hang out for a few days, just until we can clear this up."

  "I just wanted you to know I can use a gun if I have to."

  "I'll keep that in mind," he said as Megan pulled into her driveway.

  The sun was setting over the mountains and in the twilight her house looked serene and welcoming, its logs a warm honey-gold in the fading light.

  All looked in order but every instinct still warned him to be cautious. If the man guessed Cameron could identify him, Shumway would panic. Cale had too much experience with cornered rats, and he knew a desperate one might take chances he wouldn't otherwise consider.

  He scanned the exterior of the house and the gardens, wishing he'd had the foresight to ask Daniel to send a deputy along with them. He needed to clear the house, but he hated leaving them unprotected and alone out here, even for a moment.

  "I want you to wait here in the car while I go inside and check things out," he told Megan in a low, calm voice, hoping Cameron didn't hear and overreact.

  "Once I make sure the house is clear, I'll come back out and sit with Hailey and Cameron while you pack what you need."

  "All right," she said, pulling the keys out of the ignition. "Here's the house key. It's the square one. The security code is 0-6-3-3."

  He could see she still wasn't convinced of the danger, but he didn't want to go into all the reasons for his caution, not with Cameron watching them with that lingering fear in his eyes. The boy trusted him to keep them safe, and Cale planned to do his damnedest.

  "Lock the doors," he said.

  Once out of the car, he waited until he heard her engage the locks, then worked the snap on the holster concealed at the small of his back. He couldn't have put a finger on the source of his edginess, but he had enough experience in the field not to question it. When his instincts told him to be careful, he listened.

  It was a lesson he-had learned well, one that had saved his life several times—most recently from Andy Decker's psychotic breakdown and subsequent ambush.

  He unlocked the door, then punched in the code on the console in the entry. He flipped on the lights and did a quick sweep of the house, going from room to room. All seemed quiet, but he still couldn't shake the uneasiness dogging him.

  He would just have to wake Hailey up and bring both children inside while Megan gathered what they needed for the next few days, he decided. He didn't want her in the house by herself.

  He gave one more look around, then opened the front door when suddenly a scream pierced the twilight.

  His heart gave one hard thud of panic, then he reached for his weapon and raced onto the porch. To his horror, he found a dark shape pounding on the locked doors of the SUV. Cale caught a quick look at the terrified faces of Megan and the children.

  It had to be Shumway. The bastard must have hiked in, since he couldn't see any other vehicle.

  "FBI! Freeze!" he yelled, fury and fear a tangled knot inside him. Instead of complying, Shumway turned, his face wild with panic. Cale saw the gun in his hand at the same instant he heard a loud pop and felt agonizing fire explode in his thigh.

  He crumpled to the porch floor but was able to keep hold of his weapon even as waves of pain roared through him. He squeezed off one shot but it hit the SUV with a metallic thud. He heard more screams from inside.

  Son of a bitch. He couldn't fire on the bastard without running the risk of shattering a window and hitting someone inside.

  He blocked out the pain and crawled on his belly for cover around the corner of the porch as Shumway continued firing with panicked abandon.

  Any minute now, Shumway was going to turn to the SUV and start firing inside. Just the possibility turned Cale's blood to ice. Cale knew he didn't have much time.

  Come on, Megan. Drive away, he prayed, then he remembered he had used her keys to get into the house. They were a heavy weight in his pocket.

  She could do nothing but sit there in the middle of the gunfight waiting to see who emerged the victor.

  He slid into the bushes, swallowing a groan at the pain. He had never been so frightened. He couldn't let them die. He had promised Cameron he would protect them, damn it.

  To his vast relief, Shumway must not have been thinking straight, or he would have guessed Cale couldn't shoot at the SUV for fear of hitting Megan or the kids and would have used the vehicle for cover.

  Instead, he ran around the side of the house, giving up his one advantage. Cale followed him with a hail of bullets, but he was shooting into the blind.

  He was losing blood. He was certainly familiar with that edgy, light-headed feeling. He didn't want to think about the irony that he'd spent twelve years in the FBI without incident, but had been shot twice in less than three weeks.

  If he survived this, he was never going to hear the end of it.

  The shooting stopped momentarily—probably while the bastard shoved another clip into his gun—and he took as much advantage of the lull as he could.

  "Give it up, Shumway," he yelled, crawling through the bushes. The only chance for all of them was for him to get close enough for a clear shot. "You pl
anning to kill all of us?"

  "I don't want to," came the muffled response. The panic came through loud and clear in his voice. "But I don't have any choice here."

  The desperation chilled him. "What kind of shit do you think you're going to bring down on yourself by killing an FBI agent, a widow and two little kids? The whole country will be looking for you. You won't be able to hide anywhere, not even in the deepest, darkest mine."

  There was a pause. "Nobody will know it's me," he said, though the panic ran through his voice like a vein of black coal in bedrock. "Who's going to suspect me? I'm a respected member of the community, a business owner on the town council. I've got a completely clean record."

  Cale risked a glance to the car and saw Megan had shoved both children down between the seats. She raised her head above the backseat and he saw her holding her cell phone. Good. She must be calling reinforcements.

  "Cameron already told the sheriff everything he saw inside that mine," Cale said, trying to buy time and lull the other man into making a mistake. "We know you killed Wally Simon, Shumway. It's only a matter of time before the sheriff comes for you. We all turn up dead and he's going to know right where to look."

  "You're lying!"

  "Am I?"

  In answer, Shumway fired again. This shot went wild, and he heard a shattering of glass and another muffled scream. Cold dread gripped his gut and with a last burst of energy, he slithered through the bushes and rounded the corner until they were facing each other, just a few yards apart, so close he could see the sweat dripping from the other man's mustache.

  "It's over, Wayne," he growled, his SIG Sauer trained between the bastard's eyes. "Drop your weapon now!"

  Locked in a stalemate, they stood for maybe ten seconds. Cale didn't know how it would have ended if they hadn't suddenly heard the sound of sirens wailing through the night.

  Distracted, Wayne shifted his gaze briefly toward the sound, but that tiny window of opportunity was all the time Cale needed.

  Cale lunged with his last burst of rage and energy, bringing his elbow up to connect with Shumway's nose so hard that Shumway's head whipped back and his gun flew harmlessly into the air.