by Pamela Fryer
“Are you sure it’s his?”
It did look like the vehicle that had followed her last night, but she couldn’t be sure. All gargantuan SUVs looked alike. But then, who else’s would it be?
Lily frowned as she closed up the thin graze with tape sutures. She was confused and only growing more so. “How did he find us?”
“Do you have a cell phone?”
She froze. “I didn’t use it.”
“It doesn’t matter. If it’s turned on, it’s transmitting a signal.”
She closed her eyes. “I feel so stupid.”
“Yeah, well, I’m the one who knew better. Colton Reilly probably knows who I am by now. They could have tracked us by either one.”
“I don’t understand. They don’t even work out here. Besides, how would he have access to that kind of information?”
“At this point I wouldn’t make any assumptions on how well-equipped Reilly is.”
Lily sighed as she fixed a wide bandage across his wound. “I don’t know either, but he’s rich and at the cutting edge of technology. He’s obviously got experts working for him and isn’t afraid to break the law.” Lily pulled his shirtsleeve back into place. She thought she sounded amazingly coherent, considering her state.
“They probably followed us to the last tower your phone jumped to, and then the chopper found us and told him where to go.”
Lily closed her eyes, cursing her ignorance.
“Hey.” Miles touched her chin with a finger. “It isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.”
She shook her head. “No, Miles. I should have. After all I’ve been through, I should have known he’d be one step ahead of me.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “After all you’ve been through, I’d say you’re doing pretty damn good.”
Lily managed a thin smile in return. Despite his generous praise, the truth was she was barely hanging on.
A lumbering Chevy Suburban pulled into the lot and parked between them and the SUV.
“Thank God.” She turned, but Miles grabbed her arm.
“We can’t risk endangering civilians.”
Lily bit back a choked sob. She hadn’t even considered it. “You’re right.” Frustration tightened in her chest. She’d never felt so helpless or so hopeless.
Miles moved closer. “Just stay cool.” She glanced into his eyes. It was the closest she’d been to him. She could smell him, see the tiny gray flecks making his blue eyes such a unique, silvery color, count the pale freckles crossing the bridge of his nose.
A family with two older kids got out to stretch their legs. Thankfully these were teenagers who were too mature to linger on the jungle gym. The older boy wore headphones and ignored the rest of his family. A typical-looking soccer mom jumped out and headed to the restrooms while a teenaged girl trailed behind, protesting for her right to get her tongue pierced.
The father noticed the Cherokee’s slashed tires. “Howdy,” he called over. “Everything all right?”
Miles smiled and waved. “Yeah, thanks. There are some vandals in the area. We’ve got a tow truck on the way.”
“All right then.” He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted at his wife. “Hey Midge, hurry up.”
Miles retrieved his mobile phone from the pocket of his jacket and removed the battery and the SIM card from its back. Lily dug through her ruined purse and did the same.
In five minutes the family of travelers had gone.
“Get your things,” Miles told her. He took the first-aid kit by the straps with his good hand and hurried her across the lot to the SUV.
Her suspicions were on high alert and her mind whirled with horrific visions as they drew closer. “What if there’s a bomb in it?” She peered through the passenger window as Miles went around to the driver’s side. An Enterprise Rent-A-Car fob dangled from the key in the ignition. “He left the key.”
“I don’t think he’d wire a bomb to the car he was driving, and he couldn’t have installed one in the time we’ve been here.” He peered inside and then opened the driver’s door. Lily threw her things into the back seat.
“Something’s not right with this picture.” She grumbled under her breath. “I have a bad feeling.”
“Do you want to go behind the trees while I start it up?”
She frowned. “You’re missing the point. I don’t want you to blow up either.”
Miles dropped to his hands and knees to check the undercarriage, and then carefully checked the interior front and back, but she sensed he was doing it mostly to appease her.
Lily climbed in. She fastened her seatbelt with eyes closed as Miles started the engine, counting to ten before she was convinced they weren’t going to explode.
“Check the glove compartment,” he told her.
She snatched out the folded contract. “It’s in the name of Vincent Johnson.”
Her hope soared, but Miles dashed it by shaking his head. “Ten-to-one it’s not his real name.”
He was probably right. A kidnapper and killer wouldn’t rent a car in his own name.
Miles shifted into reverse and backed them out of the parking space.
“Maybe I should drive,” she said when she saw him turn the wheel one-handed.
“No offense, but I don’t think you’re in good enough condition.”
They pulled onto the highway. Lily stared down at her hands in her lap. He was right. She was a wreck, and she’d probably cause a wreck.
The SUV was newer than the Cherokee and more thoroughly insulated from the road. The silence inside the luxurious leather interior was painful. Lily itched to get out. She imagined she could smell the hulking hit man’s odor mingling with the new leather.
She replayed the horrific scene over and over until her head hurt and her stomach swam. Then she pictured Cassandra’s face in her mind and it only got worse.
She’d failed her sister. She’d failed Annie. And she’d failed herself.
Clouds blackened the sky and fat rain drops spattered the windshield as they reached the city limits. It was after six. Miles wondered if his old boss would even still be in.
Lily had been silent the whole way. Several glances in her direction confirmed his suspicions. She was in shock.
She finally spoke when they pulled to a stop at a red light in Seattle. “I would have made a lousy mother.”
“That’s not true. That wasn’t your ordinary situation.”
“Doesn’t matter. I failed it anyway.”
He reached over and cupped her hand. It was like ice. “You stood up to a man with a gun.”
“Plain old stupidity. I’m no good to Annie dead.”
“Sweetheart, don’t be so hard on yourself.”
She snorted. “You called me sweetheart.” She laughed again, a pitiful, desperate sound, then covered her face with her hand as her laughter turned to sobs.
His worry leapt another notch. She was losing it. She’d been through so much in the past two days he was surprised she didn’t need a padded room.
He took Madison to Pike Street and pulled into the side lot at Seattle’s East Precinct. He turned off the engine and swiveled toward her in the seat. “Can you keep it together?”
Lily wiped her cheeks and sat up straighter in the seat. “I have to, for Annie.”
He jumped out and rounded the car to help her. Lily took his outstretched hand and slid out.
Forgotten sensations raced through him as their fingers connected and held. It felt strange to comfort and protect a woman again. Lily wasn’t the only one feeling the shock of facing a man with a gun. The day’s events had brought his nerve endings alive again, and every sensation was like a bolt of electricity straight into his brain.
Long-ago memories snapped to life in his mind’s eye. Everything about the small station looked exactly the same, from the chief’s name etched in the glass on the front doors to the scarred linoleum floor and solid oak desk in the precinct’s front lobby.
Then
a dreadful moment lingered when a sea of unfamiliar faces stared back at him.
“Yes, can I help you?” asked a woman who looked fresh out of high school.
Miles opened his mouth to ask for Billings when Detective Crawford’s voice boomed above the busy office area, as loud and obtrusive as always. “Hey, Montana, look who’s here.” Crawford’s cheer faded when he got a good look at Miles.
“We need to see Chief Billings. It’s an emergency.”
“Yeah, yeah, come inside. It’s okay, Maggie. This guy would’a had my job if he’d stuck around.”
The woman at the desk hit a buzzer and Detective Crawford held the gate to the office area open for them. “What brings you back to this hellhole?”
“There’s been a kidnapping,” Lily blurted. “A six-year-old girl has been taken.”
Though he was known to be crass at times, Miles was grateful Crawford’s face showed the proper concern.
“Your daughter?”
“My niece.”
Joe “Montana” White came over and Miles introduced her to both men.
“What’s going on Miles? You look like hell.”
“It’s been a helluva two days.” He ran a hand over his face, feeling the bristle on his chin.
Montana seated them in Billing’s office. Miles rose again immediately when Billings entered and clasped his former boss’s hand.
“Miles, what’s it been, three years?”
Miles nodded. “Chief Billings, this is Lily Brent. She’s had a run in with Colton Reilly.”
“That wacko from the Twilight Zone? No offense, ma’am.” He gestured to Detective White. “Get some coffee into these two. They look half-dead.”
Miles nearly laughed. He’d been half-dead for the last three years. In the last two days he’d felt more alive than he ever remembered.
Montana went for the coffee as Miles took his seat again. Everything about the office was exactly the same, right down to the old leather guest chairs, except now there was an autographed photo of Billings with Jake Woods of the Mariners on the wall.
Miles started by recounting everything he knew down to the trip to the Parkmont police station. He left out the weird stuff, not entirely sure it had really happened. He was certain he’d imagined his vision of Annie last night, and he’d written off Eddie’s strange reaction to the girl as overexertion. The only thing he knew had really happened was the incident with the deer this morning, but in truth that hadn’t been so odd.
“I had to take the truck,” Miles finished. “It’s parked in your lot.”
Billings nodded. “We’ll impound it and notify the rental company.” He’d listened to the entire story without a change in his expression. “Do you have a copy of the video tape?”
Lily opened her purse and handed it over.
“May I?”
She nodded.
Miles noted the hopeful look on her face. Billings was not doing a lot to assure her the National Guard would be called to raid IntelliGenysis, as she was probably hoping.
“Is there anything you want to add to this?”
She glanced at him and Miles touched her hand. A tiny smile found her lips. “Miles pretty much covered it all.”
“You didn’t see anything at the hotel in Spokane?”
She shook her head.
“All right.” Billings pushed back from his desk and stood. “Crawford, are the paramedics here yet for our drunk and disorderly?”
Detective Crawford shouted a confirmation from the outer room.
“Miles, why don’t you come with me and give a gunshot report, and we’ll have them take a look at your arm.” Chief Billings nodded at Lily. “Detective White will keep you company, Ms. Brent.”
Miles knew Billings wanted to speak to him alone. From the frown Lily tossed sideways, she knew it too.
Chapter Nine
Billings remained silent as one of the paramedics checked Miles’ arm.
“Is this lady a fifty-one-fifty?” he finally asked.
“I don’t think so,” Miles said. Lily definitely wasn’t nuts. She was one of the strongest and most courageous women he’d ever met.
The paramedic pressed the bandage back down. “Unless you want stitches, it’s fine as is.”
“No thanks,” Miles told him. He hopped off the desk, pulling his shirtsleeve back into place as he followed Billings into the viewing room. The chief plugged the video in.
Seeing it again made Miles’ skin turn to ice. He noticed desperate nuances in Cassandra Brent’s eyes he hadn’t seen the first time. He felt the panic, recognized the hopelessness. The woman knew she was dying and understood she was making an outrageous request of Lily, but as a mother she was desperate to find safety for her child.
Miles ran a hand through his hair. Watching Annie get taken had nearly killed him. It was like his own daughter dying all over again. Even though he relived her death in his mind every single day, Annie’s abduction had brought back a pain so vivid and sharp he could hardly stand it. It was a miracle he’d come away from the rest stop with his sanity still intact.
Maybe it was his rage with Reilly’s henchman keeping him going. This man had to be stopped. A small part of him had expected a standoff, but the man had fired on him without warning. Miles couldn’t shoot the perp without risking Annie. Now he wished he had taken the shot.
One thing he knew for certain, he couldn’t just dump Lily here. There was no backing out now. As painful as it was to be near Lily and Annie, he could never live with himself for walking away from her.
This child could be saved.
“Jesus Christ,” Billings said as the grisly scene ended.
“That’s the same thing Noah said, more or less.”
“He’s seen it?”
“I was there this morning.”
Billings rose from his chair and hit the rewind button. “I’d like a copy of this for evidence.”
Miles nodded. “I’m sure Lily will sign a release.”
Billings punched the buttons to start the copy process. The scene replayed as it copied to a second machine. They both looked away, as though Billings couldn’t bear to see it again either. Miles didn’t need to. Cassandra Brent’s voice echoed in his mind, permanently etched there.
“This must be hard for you.”
“You have no idea.”
“I know what you’re thinking. I know you, Miles. It may have been three years, but I still know you. You don’t have any obligation to this woman. You can turn her over to us.”
Miles didn’t comment. The tape turned to static and Billings ejected it. He offered it, but held fast as Miles grasped it.
“This isn’t proof. Something like this could easily be faked. I don’t want to see you get caught up in something bad because you’ve got a need to help that comes…not from your head.”
“Whether you’re talking about my heart or my dick, you’re wrong either way.”
Billings barked out a laugh.
“I brought her here, didn’t I?”
The Chief’s frown slid back into place as he released the video. “It’s what happens after you leave I’m worried about.”
Miles grinned. “You sound exactly like Noah. Consider me twice warned.”
Miles came back to the office alone.
Not a moment too soon, Lily thought. Detective White’s awkward attempts at small talk were limited to football and the precinct’s lousy coffee.
She’d begun to feel shaky and unsure and the sight of Miles’ handsome face eased away the chill that had settled under her skin. She pushed out of her chair as he walked back into the office. He handed back the tape, a silent indication they weren’t going anywhere yet.
“What did he say?”
“They’re checking out your story.”
“Another cop who wants to check out my story. How long is this going to take?”
“Ms. Brent, Chief Billings used to be with the Justice Department,” Detective White explained. “He’s the
best in the state. You’re in good hands.”
“Well, unfortunately Annie isn’t. She’s in a madman’s hands, as a matter of fact. Taken at gunpoint. Time is critical.”
“As is procedure. There is a right way to handle things like this.”
“Yeah, like put out an Amber alert.”
“Lily,” Miles cut in, “you and I both know she’s already back at IG.”
“Then get a warrant and go in and get her.” She enunciated the words slowly. Why did everyone around her suddenly seem stupid? The two men were looking at her like she was insane. From Miles, it hurt. He of all people should know the urgency of the situation. He had seen it all with his own eyes. He’d been shot, for God’s sake.
The chief entered the office and Lily perched on the edge of her chair. “Chief Billings, what do you intend to do?”
He sat and let out a long sigh. The SUV’s rental agreement landed on his desk. He tossed a black and white printout of a mug shot down and flipped it so Lilly could see it.
“That’s him,” she said immediately.
“The first thing I’m going to do is put out a warrant on your shooter. Vince Johnson is really Vincent Luggo, a bounty hunter out of Los Angeles. He’s had several arrests, various charges indicating he’s aggressive, but nothing leading to a pattern. By that I mean he’s not a drug dealer, not a thief, just a thug.”
Lily waited tensely. It sounded like good news, but it wasn’t the news she wanted to hear. She nodded. “He killed my sister.”
“We don’t have any proof of that.”
“Except your only living eyewitness identified him,” she tossed back. “When he grabbed her, Annie said he was the man who hurt her mother.”
“And that will certainly be taken into consideration when an arrest is made. Right now we can only take him for weapons charges, kidnapping and attempted murder, but that should be enough.”
“Is it enough to get into IntelliGenysis?”
Billings shook his head. “Unfortunately not. We have nothing to tie him to Colton Reilly’s organization.”
Lily looked at Miles, silently willing him to say something to make a difference to these men.
“Your video checks out with the Spokane police department. It was filmed at Sacred Heart General where your sister passed.” He looked down at his notepad. “An officer Dwight Markham signed off your sister’s personal effects to you on Monday the fifteenth.”