“Not necessarily. She’s never met you and probably doesn’t have any way of knowing if you’ve seen pictures of her, and if so then how many and whether you actually paid any attention to them.”
“But if she is behind this, then why would she work with me for nearly six months, be a guest in my home and socialize with me without any attempts to harm me? That doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t make sense when applied to the facts we have, but we don’t know everything.” He continued with the computer search, checking property tax rolls and utilities. “Well, I’m not showing anything in Palm Beach for Judy Lameroux and I don’t find a Florida driver’s license for her, either.”
“Is that it then?”
“Not yet. I have one more name I want to check.”
She watched as the name came up on the screen. “Isn’t that the name of—”
“Yes, there’s something that’s been bothering me and I want to check it out.” He did a background check looking for addresses and any type of records he could find to confirm the identity.
After a few minutes Brad leaned back in his chair and scowled at the screen. “That’s odd.” He pointed to the screen, then turned toward Tara. “Look at this…two entirely unrelated bits of information yet they’re supposed to be the same.”
“Where does that leave us?”
“Much closer to the truth, but only through circumstantial evidence. We still need some solid facts and to nail down a motive.”
Tara awkwardly shifted her weight, her thoughts pushing at her. “What do we do now as far as the investigation is concerned?”
He eyed her curiously. “You look like you have something on your mind. Do you have a suggestion?”
“Well…” Tara rose from the chair and walked over to the living-room window. She stared out at the landscape, a little twinge of nervous energy working its way through her body. She wasn’t quite sure how to say it, how to tell him about the decision she’d made. One thing was for sure. He wasn’t going to like what she was about to say. “There has been something kind of running through my mind for the past couple of hours.”
He walked over to the window and perched on the edge of the credenza. “Is something wrong? You look like you’ve got something serious on your mind.”
She turned to face him, sucked in a steadying breath, then plunged into what she wanted to say. “I’ve been wondering if we should maybe rethink what we’ve been doing, how we’ve been handling the situation.”
He cocked his head and leveled a questioning look at her. “In what way?”
Doubt suddenly welled inside her. He was the expert. What in the world made her think she could offer a suggestion that was in direct opposition to the way he had been handling things? She took another steadying breath and nervously cleared her throat.
“Uh…it seems to me that we’ve spent the entire time running and hiding and no matter where we’ve gone or what we’ve done they were able to find us right away. So…well, I thought that maybe we should just stay put instead of leaving and trying to find someplace else to hide out—confront them on our terms rather than constantly looking over our shoulders. I’m the one they want dead.”
Saying the words sent a cold chill through her body, but she knew it was true and there was no purpose in trying to deny it or sugarcoat the reality. “You wanted to send me somewhere else to hide. Well…maybe it would be better if we made them believe I was here alone, that you had gone for some reason, then they would feel confident that they could get to me…and then, well maybe—”
“No way!” His words were emphatic, his expression stern and unyielding. “If I wanted to use you to draw them out I would have done it that first night by simply letting you go back to your house.”
He drew her into his embrace. His voice softened. “I won’t allow you to purposely expose yourself to danger, to be in the open and vulnerable. My job is to protect you, not use you as bait.”
Her resolve started melting the moment he pulled her body against his. She steeled herself against the warmth, against the emotional pull of his touch. She stepped back, breaking the physical contact between them before she succumbed totally to the magnetism of his presence. She looked into his eyes, into the concern she found there. “It’s not your decision to make—it’s mine.”
He presented a businesslike attitude, crossing his arms in front of his chest while continuing to lean back against the credenza. “That’s very altruistic, but not very practical. The U.S. Marshals Service does not allow witnesses under our protection to dictate the terms of—”
“Do I need to remind you that I’m not under the protection of the Marshals Service?” She met his attempt at a stern manner with one of her own. “As you said, there’s nothing official about this. It’s just you and me and because of that your entire career is hanging by a thread. And as a result of your attempts to protect me you’re now in as much danger as I am. They can’t get rid of me without eliminating you, too. Our fate seems to be tied together…” She felt the heat of embarrassment flush across her cheeks as she glanced down at the floor. “At least for the time being.” And maybe forever? It was a question she wished she had an answer for, a commitment she wanted very much.
“Tara…” He reached out, grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his arms. “There may be a hint of truth in what you say, but that doesn’t change anything. I’m the professional. This is what I do for a living.”
“And I’m the reason for all this trouble, which gives me some say-so in the matter. I’m not going to—”
“No…you’re not the reason for the trouble. Whoever is behind this is the reason for the trouble. You are the person who has been placed in danger through no fault of your own.”
“I’m not leaving. This is as good a place to take a stand as any. By being here at the cabin we have what could be considered the home court advantage. The security system is excellent, as evidenced by the alarm going off early this morning. You have three cell phones, a Marshals Service one and two personal ones, so it will do no good for someone to try to cut the phone lines to the cabin. I noticed that there’s a battery backup system for the alarm should there be a power failure. All in all, I think we’re probably as safe here, if not safer, than anyplace else we could go.”
Brad stood up. He silently regarded her, then turned to stare out the window. She was right. He didn’t like it, but she was right. They were probably as safe at the cabin as anywhere else. There had to be an end to this. They could not continue to run. He had never run from anything before and he didn’t like the way it made him feel inside. It had been a choice between standing his ground so he could confront the trouble or retreating in an attempt to protect Tara. He had chosen the latter.
He carefully measured his words. “And if we stayed here, just how exposed do you propose to be? You don’t have anything in mind, such as parading around in the village or taking that hike in the woods you were talking about, do you? Because if that’s your idea of acting as bait then I definitely veto the idea.”
“But I have to be someplace where I can be seen. It’s the only way to draw them out into the open.”
Brad considered her comments, turning the possibilities over in his mind. “Maybe if I could get some help, someone to back me up.”
“Who could you get to help us? Who do you trust?”
“I trust Steve Duncan and Ken Walsh. Steve is much younger than Ken—quick, strong, well trained and with the added advantage of having no connection to the U.S. Marshals Service, which makes his face unknown to anyone connected with the office. And then there’s Ken. He has more savvy and experience than anyone I know, but I don’t want to jeopardize his relationship with the Service by dragging him into this any more than I already have. Steve, on the other hand, said his captain has already gotten on his case about the favors he’s been doing for me. I certainly don’t want to compromise his job by putting him in the position of being caught between a friend and
his captain in this matter.”
“Where does that leave us?”
A soft chuckle escaped his throat. “As someone who professes her entire life has been based on not taking chances, doing what others have expected of her and always playing it safe, you’ve certainly gone out of your way to disprove all those claims.”
She offered a shy smile. “You bring out the adventure-some spirit in me.”
He reached out and took her hand, his features showing the seriousness of the situation. He considered the possibilities. “Well…you seem to have your mind set on this. So, I guess we need to figure out how we’re going to do it. Have you already formulated a plan of some sort?”
A bit of the apprehension lifted from Tara’s nerves, leaving a new feeling of confidence. He was going along with her suggestion, allowing her to truly be part of what was happening rather than a spectator, someone to be shoved out of the way of harm and kept from danger as if she were incapable of making a contribution. He was right about her lifestyle having been don’t take chances. But now that seemed like such a long time ago, a place where she didn’t want to return. His words came back to her. People who avoid risks don’t suffer the lows, but they never get to experience the highs, either.
“Well, I thought we might start by making it appear that you’d left me on my own. Maybe if you stopped at the gas station to fill your car and mention something about needing to be in Seattle for a couple of days. That would leave me here alone and without a car. Then I could walk the three blocks to the store and do some grocery shopping, stop at the post office to mail a letter and walk back. That should give me high visibility to anyone watching.”
“It also leaves you very exposed, especially on that three-block walk between the cabin and the village. The return trip would be the most dangerous because you’d be carrying groceries, so your hands would be full and your mobility would be somewhat restricted.”
“I could pick a high-traffic time when there would be lots of potential witnesses. If they were watching me, then they probably wouldn’t be paying attention to anyone else. You could parallel my route on the opposite side of the road, maybe keeping back in the trees so you wouldn’t stand out.”
“Okay…you walk into the village, do some shopping and walk back to the cabin with them tracking your moves. Then what? You can’t keep going outside without arousing suspicion.”
Tara glanced at the floor as she thought about what he had said. She looked up and recaptured his gaze. A bit of a self-conscious smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I guess I didn’t think it out all the way through.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and gave a reassuring hug and a kiss on the cheek. “For your first attempt at subterfuge you did a very good job. All we need to do is give it a little fine-tuning. But—” he gave her a stern look “—that doesn’t mean I’m happy about your decision to place yourself in this much danger.”
The pleasure of his approval swept through her consciousness, warming every part of her that it touched. He had taken her plan as being valid, had accepted her ideas, treated her as an equal in a partnership. At that precise moment she knew just how much she loved him.
“I’ll be careful. That’s something I’m good at. I’ve spent my whole life being careful about everything. So, what do we need to do to make the plan work?”
“The first thing I need to do is make a couple of phone calls and then we’ll go from there.”
Brad dialed the number. His call was answered right away. “Steve, before you say anything…yes, I know I’m pressing my luck and I already owe you big time. I’m going to need some backup starting this evening, maybe continuing for a couple of days. We’re at my sister’s cabin at Mount Rainier. Can you take some time off? When this is over, I’ll see that you get the use of the cabin for a week…a little vacation for you and your family.”
“What’s going down?”
“We’re going to draw them out and I could use a face no one knows that belongs to someone I trust. Right now the number of people I can trust has been reduced to just two and you’re one of them.”
“I’m sorry, Brad. I wish I could help out. We had a multiple homicide go down last night. We know who did it and have a hot tip about where he’s going to be. I’ve pulled stakeout duty starting in about three hours. I’m rotating shifts with two other detectives and we’re staying on it until this guy shows. I’ll give you a call on your cell phone if something happens and I can get free, but it doesn’t look very likely.”
Brad quickly terminated his conversation with Steve, then dialed another number.
“Ken…I need some help. We’re going to try to force this out into the open and I could use some backup. I can’t trust anyone else, not until I know for sure who’s behind this and who inside our offices has been working with them. I’m at my sister’s cabin and would sure appreciate it if you could head up here right now.”
“If you recall, you never gave me any information about what you’re doing. I don’t know what this is that you’re forcing. I had a visit from Thom Satterly. He was checking up on you. He mentioned the John Vincent case and something about dead witnesses and alluded to you overstepping your authority and possibly ignoring direct orders. Just exactly what’s going on? What kind of trouble are you in?”
“It’s a long story, Ken.”
“Well, try to condense it into a couple of sentences. Just give me the highlights.”
Brad gave Ken a quick rundown, promising to fill in the details when he arrived at the cabin. He terminated the conversation a couple of minutes later, then turned to Tara.
She looked at him expectantly. “Well?”
“He’ll be here about four o’clock tomorrow morning.”
She frowned in confusion. “Why is he waiting until tomorrow morning? Can’t he drive up here this afternoon?”
“It’s a matter of precautions. Ken said Thom Satterly went to his house to specifically ask him about me. There’s an outside chance that someone is aware of my visit to Ken and has been watching him. Whoever it is will be much easier to spot if Ken leaves home about one-thirty in the morning when there won’t be many cars on the road. If he leaves this afternoon when there’s a lot of traffic, anyone deciding to follow him could blend in with all the other cars and be difficult to detect.”
“What do we do until then?”
“We’ll plan out the exact moves we’re making tomorrow and in the meantime stay inside and out of sight. I’ll pretend to leave about nine o’clock in the morning, which will make it appear that you’re here alone. That will give us about five hours of overlap time from Ken’s arrival to my departure. After that you can take a leisurely stroll into the village to do your grocery shopping. Ken will stay in the cabin out of sight in case anyone tries to break in and wait for you to return. I’ll be able to shadow you along the trail and into town.”
He took a calming breath, reached out and brushed his fingertips across her cheek. Just touching her took his breath away and caused his pulse to race. If anything happened to her…he shoved the distasteful thought aside. He didn’t even want to consider the possibility, but the apprehension kept coming back to him. “For the record, let me once again say that I’m not comfortable with you making yourself an easy target. If they decided to take a shot at you from a distance, there wouldn’t be anything I could do to prevent it.”
He pulled her into his arms. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.” He brushed a soft kiss against her lips, then captured her mouth with the emotion that coursed through his body, telling him just how devastated he would be if anything happened to her.
Chapter Fourteen
Brad checked the caller ID on his ringing cell phone, immediately recognizing Ken Walsh’s phone number.
“Ken…what’s up?”
“Do you have access to a television set?”
A quick jolt of apprehension hit him. “Yes. What’s going on?”
“Turn on the local evening news.”
Brad clicked on the television and turned to a Seattle station. The unfolding news story hit him square in the face. “I’ll call you right back.” He quickly disconnected the call.
“Tara…” The urgency carried over into his voice as he motioned for her to join him in front of the television. He put his arm around her shoulder and watched the news footage showing a body being taken from Puget Sound a couple of hours earlier. Then the evening news broadcast cut back to the reporter who continued with the story.
“Police report that the victim had been shot once in the back of the head. He has been identified as Daniel Vincent of Seattle. Sources in the police department tell us they don’t have any suspects at this time. They have ruled out robbery as a motive for the murder. The victim was the sales manager for Green Valley Construction.”
Tara’s eyes grew wide as shock spread across her face. “Danny? Someone killed Danny? But he was just here, just this morning he sat in his car across the street.”
Brad led her over to the couch, where she sat down. “Are you all right? Can I get you anything.”
“No…I mean, yes, I’m all right, and no, I don’t need anything.” She sat in stunned silence, staring straight ahead without moving.
As much as he wanted to comfort her, the situation called for immediate action. He grabbed his Marshals Service cell phone and called the Seattle Police Department, asking to speak to the detective in charge of the Vincent murder.
“My name’s Brad Harrison. I’m a deputy U.S. marshal. I have been conducting an investigation involving Danny Vincent. It came as quite a surprise to me to see him all over the evening news. Is there any information you can give me other than the sketchy details provided on the news broadcast?”
He listened to the reply, not happy with what he was hearing. “Okay, let me give you my cell phone number.” Again, he listened to the response. “I’m not in the office. When you call, ask them to transfer you to my cell phone.”
In His Safekeeping Page 21