by Mimi Barbour
“Yeah, but she just recently had a baby, for Christ sake. She can’t be at her best.”
“No matter, she’ll compensate… watch and learn.”
***
After the loose ends were tied up, and the three were on their way out of the modern secure facility, Kai couldn’t resist his words full of sarcasm. “What happened to—I’ll let her win just to get the information we need?”
Aurora strode beside him, ignoring his question.
“And how the hell did you know she was their half-sister?”
He moved to open the driver’s door, then stood in front of her before she could slip inside. Ham hung onto the opened passenger door, all ears.
Aurora waited in front of him impatiently. “I played a long shot. It wasn’t making sense to have this girl going from being a pickpocket to a murderer for no reason. There had to be some tie, some enticement vital enough to persuade her. Then I thought of her name, checked her heritage, got Ray working on it and he found the connections. She’d lived in Kowloon, the same part of China as Chu and she’d made numerous phone calls to Leon when she first arrived stateside a few months ago. Sooo…” She shrugged her shoulders.
That made sense. Pissed him off that she hadn’t shared any of this with him earlier, but then again, he wasn’t her partner anymore. “You knew she had nothing to help with in the investigation? How?”
Aurora seemed surprised by his remark. “You caught that did you?”
“Remember, I’ve worked with you before.”
“Yeah, don’t remind me.”
He struggled not to show the affect her cutting remark had on his raw insides. He waited, not moving.
Finally, she shrugged and answered. “Her eyes were blank when I mentioned Lily. If she’d known anything at all, satisfaction would have appeared; she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself.”
“Then why did you fight with her?”
“Hell. Because I wanted to hit something and I needed to knock some sense into the arrogant bitch. About time someone did it.”
Ham burst out laughing. “Hey cowboy, don’t say I didn’t tell you.”
A radio call interrupted their banter. “Calling Detective Morelli. White Peterbilt has been detained. Multiple shots fired—”
Within seconds, they piled into the vehicle and left the parking lot with tires squealing.
As hard as it was to relinquish command, Kai had stepped aside, leaving Aurora to take the driver’s seat. She knew the area, he didn’t. Plus her driving skills couldn’t be questioned; the woman was a maniac behind the wheel. And she’d know the shortest route to where officers had blocked the unsub. He settled into the back and slowly tried to breathe his apprehension under control.
Finding Lily had to happen. If he never gave this woman another thing in his life, returning her baby would make up some little bit towards the pain he’d already inflicted. He flexed his hands that itched to destroy the murderous snake who’d taken his beautiful child in the first place.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Arriving at an out-of-the-way junction much earlier than they should have, Aurora powered up to where two other black and whites were blocking this section of the highway.
Since they’d had to drive the shoulder for the last two miles, she could see how far the traffic had backed up. As they got closer to the incident, they pulled over beside a young beige-uniformed policewoman who had the blockade under control. Flashing her badge, Aurora stopped to question the rookie. “How many are on the scene?”
“So far, there are two officers with back-up and ambulance pending. It’s pretty crazy right now.” Excitement lit her eyes and her voice reflected her emotions. She pointed a bit further up the road to where the Peterbilt had swerved sideways, blocking both lanes. Two cop cars were obstructing its path on this side and it looked as if an overturned van had it gridlocked behind. Many of the annoyed drivers forced to stop were honking their horns and getting nowhere fast.
The hot desert air made the highway setting look like a mirage in the distance. And the cloudless blue sky seemed too intense to be real. Considering the temperature, Aurora was surprised when the shivers attacked. The violent ringing in her head annoyed her, but since it had saved her life more than a few times, she checked the situation out more carefully.
In the distance, she saw a police vehicle speeding toward the flipped van. She had no doubt they’d barricade the area so other travellers would know this procedure was legitimate and supervised by law enforcement.
Testosterone filled the vehicle to where she could literally smell it. Fierce emotions ripped through her, the strongest being anticipation. Soon, God willing, she’d be holding her precious Lily once again.
Shoving the gear into drive, she manoeuvred closer to the action and popped the trunk.
Once they all left the vehicle, everything became more real. Screaming could be heard even from this distance—a man’s voice spitting anger, crazy volatile, on the edge.
Females hysterically crying interspersed with baby’s wails added to the overall image making it even more horrific. Then from the direction of the truck’s trailer a barrage of shots rang out from an automatic rifle. Return fire from one police gun retaliated.
No time to get her vest, Aurora drew her weapon, checked the clip and then edged closer to where the driver had opened one side on the back door of the truck to use as a barricade. The sadistic creep obviously didn’t care if any of his hostages were shot by badly aimed or ricocheting bullets. Bastard!
Once closer, she noticed that the illiterate scumbag had painted the side of the trailer with weird black symbols and big black letters ‘L.A. Truking.’ No wonder they hadn’t picked him up until now since everyone had been on the lookout for a white-sided trailer. She had no doubt—or at least she hoped that the misspelled wording might have been the reason he’d been stopped.
Inching her way forward, Aurora used another of the immobile cop cars to shield herself. A body in the driver’s seat slumped over the dash with blood pouring from a head wound, made her wince. The sicko had killed another cop.
The officer from the opposite car still had firepower and kept the driver pinned down as Aurora worked her way closer. Bullets, hot sun and a screaming maniac made the scene unforgettable. The heat, heightened by the stench of blood made her stomach recoil. Shit!
Heart thumping in time with the angry words spilling into her head, it was all she could do not to just run up and plug the asshole. Training and common sense kept her sane, but thinking of her baby only a hundred feet away, Aurora knew crazy was close.
Kai and Ham were steadily moving to her position. The whining screams in her head quieted somewhat when she saw Kai safe, carrying her vest and slithering his way to where she hid.
At that moment, the scumbag driver made a move to the front of his truck and Aurora ran into the open to get a clear shot to stop him. One minute she was upright, then tires squealed, close, too close, and her body flew through the air.
Wrapped in the arms of a man who’d taken the brunt of the impact, she felt the wind being knocked out of her. She hadn’t seen the approaching ambulance, and with all the chaos going on around her, she hadn’t noted the sirens. All she’d seen was her chance to kill the killer.
Kai’s grunt of pain woke her from her daze and she quickly flipped herself over to see him kneeling next to her, blood pouring out and staining his shirt.
God no! No!!! The lights went out!
She knew nothing for the few seconds it took to fight her way back from the blackness where she’d hidden.
“Hey Darlin’, don’t go turning all mushy on me now.”
Kai’s husky voice roused her and his wonderful smile made her heart float back into place. Shaky, her voice buried under panic, she forced the words. “Y-You’re okay?”
His eyes were alight with so many emotions, but love blazed the strongest. “Stitches broke from an old wound. But it’s nice to know you care.”
She smiled tremulously and then pushed him away. “Yeah, yeah!” No way could she talk herself out of this, nor did she want to. Right now, they needed to get their child home safe and sound. “Quit grinning like an idiot and help me up. We need to get this finished.” The sound of babies crying in the distance revved up her impatience to get Lily back safely into her arms.
Kai winced when he stood which made guilt kick in for Aurora. He’d grabbed her out of the direct path of danger. The crazy hero had most likely saved her life.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kai figured he’d aged ten years in the time it took for him to see Aurora running into the path of the ambulance until he got to her. Dear Lord the woman was fearless. Of course he didn’t blame her. His heart felt crushed hearing Lily calling for them in the background also.
Measuring the distance, he glanced to where one side of the back of the trailer gaped like a black cave.
Son of a gun! Aurora took off again, running straight toward danger. Blood pumping madly, urgency overriding sense, he followed, hauled her from behind and forced her to take cover against the open police car door.
“Quit going solo. We need to work together, form a plan if we intend to get that badass.”
Ham had edged his way over to where they were concealed and he snuck up to join then. “He’s gotten to the cab. If he drives away there will be a chase and who knows what could happen?”
Sure enough they heard the Peterbilt’s engine roar to life and saw stinking black smoke pouring out of his exhaust. Kai grabbed Aurora and pushed her to Ham. “Hold onto her.” Then he ran faster than he’d ever moved in his life. Thank God his legs still worked.
Adrenalin kicking in, strengthening his muscles, he grabbed a hold of the swinging back door and held on for dear life. When the driver twisted the wheel, the door swung closed and he lifted his legs and went with the motion. At the last minute he let go, ending up in the blackness of the trailer.
Screams intermingled with baby’s cries made him move his butt. He saw a flash of color in the dark that drew his eyes. Various bodies huddled together were in the opposite corner. “Get as far back as you can and stay down.” He yelled the words at the same time as he maneuvered his way out of the box and swung up and over onto the roof.
The driver had wheeled the vehicle around to where he could force the blocking, rolled van off the road to clear a getaway path. Kai knew if the dipshit managed a way through, there would be hell to pay.
The sides of the highway were flat and unfenced but a lot of traffic had been held up. Searing pain from his shoulder screamed its fury but just visualizing the potential destruction pushed him on.
Running along the roof on the crazy battering ram, it took all Kai’s efforts to stay upright. He had to keep moving. Just a few more seconds… then he’d be able to jump from the box to the cab.
Praying steadily, throwing in a few cuss words he couldn’t help, he used the handy bars to keep from plummeting under the spinning wheels. Crazy son-of-a-bitch had punched the gas and the truck sounded like it was internally hemorrhaging.
Seconds later, he aimed his body for the driver’s step and grabbed the large mirror as a handhold. “Hey there, how’s it going?” True to his warped sense of humor, he couldn’t shut the sarcasm off.
Shocking the hell out of the Asian asshole, he shoved his gun through the open window, pushed the muzzle into the driver’s left arm and pulled the trigger.
Quick as a wink, he shot another bullet into the foot on the gas pedal and the truck’s forward momentum slowed instantly, gears grinding noisily. Not taking his eye off the cussing, drooling crybaby, Kai leaned in and grabbed the rifle. He slammed the butt of it into the guy’s head before he threw it out behind him.
With care, Kai stuck his heated gun in the back of his jeans and wrenched open the door on the now lopsided truck. By then, Ham had joined him and took over hauling the weeping fugitive into custody.
Kai bent over, hands on his knees and breathed a huge sigh of relief. The nightmare was finally over.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Aurora disappear into the back of the trailer. He limped over to join her. All he wanted at this moment was to welcome his baby girl and see her nestled safe in her mother’s arms.
A small group of very young females, straggling, dirty, bleeding and in shock had climbed out of the gaping door. Two were supporting another who could barely stand—her beaten body too weak. Another two carried protesting babies, their hungry, frightened wails heartbreaking. The teens were all weeping, some so shocked their vacant stares were even more worrisome.
His beautiful love appeared next holding Lily—except the baby hung limp and unmoving. The shock on Aurora’s face made him swallow twice to clear the moans of grief so he could speak. “Ahh…” He couldn’t speak. Words wouldn’t squeeze through a throat clogged with tears. His legs began to let him down.
“Kai don’t!” Aurora screamed. “It’s not Lily.” She clutched the lifeless child to her breast and swayed back and forth, and then she fell to her knees. In a voice thick with agony, she whispered. “God help us, Lily isn’t here.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Later that evening, after an emergency meeting for all staff, Cory ranted for those in his office who felt the same anger and disappointment revealed on his expressive face. No one minded his deafening tone. “I can’t believe that after all the time we’ve spent on this case, we’ve got zilch, nada—zero.”
Ham kicked in sarcastically. “But don’t forget, Boss: we helped the Feds look good! That outta count for something.”
“Fuck them! Let ‘em do their own work.”
Aurora spoke up. “Yeah, well just so you know, they got Min Chang to give up what she’d gathered on her brothers and there’s enough there to put them away for a good long time.” Aurora had to add in her two cents. Somehow, it had made things a little better for her so maybe it would soothe the savage males.
Kai sauntered into the room, a new bandage peeking out of the opened top buttons on his torn and bloody, blue plaid shirt. “I’ve rounded up the troops and told them to pass out the word. Lily’s still missing and we need to get organized.” He leaned his hip against Cory’s desk and turned to Aurora.
“Did you call Big Mike? I couldn’t find his number.”
She looked at him and noticed new pain lines on his unsmiling face. “I called in every marker I could think of.” She pushed her hair to the back and forced herself to let it go and not pull it out by the roots. Every normal sensation of foreboding had become heightened now. It wasn’t possible to shove it back anymore.
Trepidation grew in her gut; she didn’t know how she could last another minute without visiting the bathroom once again to hurl. Leaning forward in her chair, she held her face in hands and hoped no one else saw them trembling.
Ham cleared his throat and then added, “I put Lily’s photograph out over every media outlet I could think of. Plus, her kidnapping is on all the radio stations. We’ve alerted law enforcement agencies so they’ll all start investigations in their areas. Everyone is talking about our precious little angel.”
Kai slapped his hands on his knees adding, “And all the crazies will be calling in with wild stories from alien abduction to psychics who’ve had some kind of weird epiphany. A story like this just stirs them up.”
Cory piped up. “Whatever! Follow up on every one of them. We know that the woman who took Lily most likely still has her. Since she apparently didn’t work for the Chang-Lee’s, it’s reasonable to assume that she has other reasons for wanting the child—maybe personal ones.”
Ham added. “Considering all the media flashing Lily’s photo everywhere, this chick must be smart enough to pass under the radar.”
Aurora knew that many of the missing children who disappeared without a trace were probably taken by ordinary individuals. They got away with their crime because of that very ordinariness.
Her memories of the female to whom she’
d handed over her child had no discerning characteristics that she remembered—at least nothing that had tweaked her cop instincts.
In fact, it was the complete opposite. When leaving her mom’s arms, Lily had started to fuss. But the other woman had soothed her perfectly and she’d settled right down. All Aurora could figure was she must have sensed security.
The annoyingly mild hum she’d had in her head since earlier when she’d realized Lily wasn’t among the babies found in the trailer, continued. Concentrating as hard as she could didn’t help. The hint her mind tried to convey wouldn’t break loose. Ever since she’d realized Lily hadn’t been kidnapped by the Chang-Lee gang, the aggravation had haunted her.
A sob broke loose and all heads turned in her direction. She covered her mouth but it was too late. The pity she read drove the hidden tears to show themselves.
“Aurora you’re exhausted and no good to me in this shape—you too, Kai. You take Aurora home, and if you have to force a sleeping pill into her, you have my permission.” Cory’s voice held no give. “The rest of us will work the phones through the night and if anything pops we’ll call you. Debbie’s left Eric with a friend and she’ll be coming in to take your place. In the meantime, there’s nothing you can do that we can’t.”
“Sleeping pills?! What the hell? No way I’m leaving.” Aurora spit the words through tight lips.
Cory rose to tower over her. “None of your bullshit, Rory. You two have been on the job long enough. You’re done! If you don’t care about yourself, look at our hero here. He’s a mess. Now get outta here—both of you before I lock you up for obstructing justice.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Outside the precinct, Kai opened the passenger door for Aurora and worried when she didn’t protest, probably because she didn’t have the strength. He then went around to the driver’s side and slipped in next to her. “My hotel or your place?”
Weakness painted its picture on her pale face as she answered, her lips hardly moving. “My place. If anyone phones, they might use my home line and I don’t want to miss any calls.”