by Rena Koontz
Agents had raided the house and found three men sleeping in separate bedrooms, one who claimed to own the house. All seemed in order except for one bedroom where a bed was disheveled and a pair of handcuffs hung from the headboard with obvious traces of blood and skin clinging to it. The owner claimed he liked kinky sex, which might be true, Courtney conceded, but he was wearing Jake’s watch. They were bringing all three into the office.
Demond no sooner disconnected Courtney’s call than the switchboard operator rang him again, joking that she was rarely this busy on the overnight shift. A local police officer on the line claimed he had Mackenna McElroy in the back seat of his cruiser and she refused to talk to anyone but him.
Demond barely had patience for the preliminary introductions and explanation of how the police came to have Mackenna McElroy in custody. When they handed the phone to her, she breathed into it heavily, as if she was out of breath.
“Miss McElroy, I’ve been looking for you.”
“Agent Crews, you have to help Jake.” Her voice was tight, like a piano wire ready to snap, and her words spilled forth in a jumble. “They’re going to kill him. I think he’s already been shot. Please, Agent Crews. He’s in a warehouse. I don’t know where it is but I think I can get back to it. I’ll take you there. You have to save his life.”
Demond sat up straight. “Slow down, Miss McElroy. Who are you talking about?”
She sobbed into the phone. “Jake. Your Jake. Dear God, there’s no time for this. You have to help him.”
“My Jake?” Sweat beaded up on Demond’s forehead. She couldn’t know Jake’s true identity and he didn’t want to give it away. Unless she was connected to the Cabacolli family and part of the double-cross. But if that was the case, why call him?
“Jake Manfred. Or Manettia. I don’t know what his name is. I don’t know anything about him, not really. Except he’s in trouble. And I think”—she babbled now—“I think he’s one of you. I don’t know why I think that. He told me to think it through. He said I could figure it out. Please, Agent Crews, you have to believe me. You have to help Jake.” She broke down crying and after momentary fumbling, the first police officer spoke again.
“She’s hysterical, I think. But we’re fairly certain she’s your bank robber. She’s battered and bloody. There’s a hospital close by. We thought we’d let the docs check her out and then hold her in our jail until tomorrow when you can send someone. She won’t be going anywhere tonight.”
“What do you mean bloody? What happened?” Jake wouldn’t hurt Mackenna, of that he was certain.
“Looks like she’s been assaulted but she’s not talking. She’s wearing only underwear. We gave her water and she emptied the bottle like she hadn’t had anything to drink in days.”
“Get her to the ER and keep her there. Don’t let anyone talk to her except the doctors and don’t for any reason leave her alone. Not even while they examine her. And for Pete’s sake keep your eyes open. I’m on my way.”
~ ~ ~
He wasn’t taking any chances. Demond immediately alerted SWAT to be ready to move as soon as he knew Jake’s location. Then he called headquarters to activate the Hostage Rescue Team based at Quantico. Mackenna said Jake was being held in a warehouse but since the location and building layout were unknown, a dynamic entry might be necessary. The HRT would blow out the windows, crash through the roof and break down any doors in one coordinated attack, ensuring the occupants inside wouldn’t know what hit them. Using their helicopter, they could be airborne within the hour. He zoomed the streets to the hospital at lightning speed. It was easy to do with so few vehicles out at this time of night. Or rather morning.
Mackenna looked diminutive resting in the hospital bed, her eyes closed and her head on the starched white pillow that matched the pallor of her skin. Except for the purples, blacks, and blues on the left side of her face. Someone had really walloped her.
A female police officer sat by her bedside and a male officer stood sentry at the door. Demond was happy that the cop demanded and inspected his credentials before allowing him inside the hospital room.
He cleared his throat. “Miss McElroy?”
Her head jerked up. “What the hell took you so long? Don’t you understand Jake’s life is in danger?” She sat up straighter and tossed her legs over the edge of the bed. She wore a set of green hospital scrubs. He arched his eyebrows at the sight of her swollen feet covered in cuts and contusions. Similar scratches and bruises decorated her arms. Gingerly, she eased her feet into paper slippers and attempted to stand.
“Whoa, hold on,” the female officer ordered, jumping to her feet to steady Mackenna.
Demond also rushed to her side. “Where do you think you’re going, Miss McElroy. Please, crawl back into this bed.”
She shoved their hands away. “I have to take you to Jake. He could be dead already.”
Her words sank like rocks in his stomach but Demond couldn’t let his personal feelings interfere with protocol. Mackenna McElroy was a fugitive and a prime suspect and while she feigned concern for Jake, she could be the reason he was missing.
“One thing at a time, Miss McElroy. You’re not going anywhere until we talk. The longer you delay that, the longer it will take to get help for your friend.”
She gasped at his words. “My friend? Is that how you’re going to describe Jake? I know he . . .” She clamped her mouth shut, plopped back onto the bed, and swung her feet up on top of the blanket. “Fine. Let’s not waste any more time. You want to talk? We’ll talk. You want a confession, okay, I confess. Now, will you please help Jake?”
Demond narrowed his eyes at her. “You confess? Confess to what?”
Her hand flew in the air. “I’ll confess to anything if it will get you moving in the right direction. I’ll confess to the crime of the century. I kidnapped the Lindberg baby, okay?”
Beside her, the female cop turned away, trying not to smile. But Demond wasn’t laughing.
“Miss McElroy, you can joke all you want and waste more time if you like or we can discuss the situation like adults. If your friend is truly in trouble, then I’ll do my best to help him but not without your cooperation first.”
Tears pooled in her eyes and she spoke each word as if it was a stand-alone sentence. “My. Friend. Your. Colleague’s Life. Is. In. Danger.” She smoothed her forehead with her hands, and he noticed the bandages on her wrist. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Agent Crews.”
Demond filled his lungs with air and exhaled, concern for Jake making the preliminaries a tedious delay. “I need to advise you of your rights.”
Mackenna interrupted and snapped at him. “I remember my rights from the last time you recited them to me. Please get on with it.”
“The last time we spoke, you requested a lawyer be present. Are you now waiving your right to have legal representation here?”
“Yes, yes, please. I don’t need a lawyer. I haven’t done anything wrong except fall in love with a mystery man. And if we don’t hurry, I’ll never be able to tell him that. Please Agent Crews, ask your questions.”
So, he was right about her and Jake. They were involved. But to what extent? There wasn’t time to start at the beginning. He slipped a photo from his briefcase of the dead man who’d had a copy of her bank records in his apartment and held it up. “Do you know this man?”
Mackenna squinted, studied the photo, and then shook her head. “No, sir. I don’t. Who is he?”
“You’ve never seen him before?”
“No, sir. I swear to you.”
Her body language didn’t contradict her words.
Next, he showed her Ted Gleaner’s picture. Her eyes widened and she swallowed noticeably hard. She nodded as she spoke. “I know him. That’s Ted Gleaner. He’s my boss at the Good Neighbor bank.”
She was nervous now. Was he close to making the connection between her, Gleaner, and Cabacolli?
“How well do you know him, Miss McElroy?”
She pressed her lips together in a frown to control her quivering chin. “Not as well as he planned. He tried to rape me in his office. He got me drunk and dragged me home to have sex with him but Jake was there to stop him. Somehow Jake knew I was in trouble and he was there, waiting.”
Demond knitted his eyebrows as Mackenna started to cry. “What exactly are you saying, Miss McElroy?”
She swiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. “Mr. Gleaner threatened to fire me if I didn’t have sex with him. I told Jake about it and he made me file a police report and an HR complaint with the bank. You can check those and you’ll see I’m not making this up, Agent Crews.
“Mr. Gleaner promised he’d deposit money in my account if I,” she sobbed, “if I slept with him. I didn’t remember it right away because of everything that was going on with the bank robberies and quite frankly, I was scared. But I tried to tell you that day in your office when you showed me the balance in my account. Two of those amounts were numbers Mr. Gleaner said he’d pay me for having sex with him. One specifically to cover my rent. But you wouldn’t listen.”
She’d regained control with those last words and her chin tilted upward. Demond suppressed the urge to grin. Mackenna McElroy had balls.
“You reported him to the police?”
“Yes, sir. Jake insisted. That’s when I first started wondering about him because he talked like a cop. He’s a master at being evasive, much like you are. That’s why I think I know what he is. That’s why I called you.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, not really. I met Jake by accident at the coffee shop after the first robbery. He was in the bank when it happened and he recognized me. I was a mess and he struck up a conversation with me. At the time, I thought he was simply a nuisance. It’s a long story but when we ran into Vincent at the grocery store, I could tell Jake wasn’t happy and he told me to walk away. When it seemed like Vincent was following me, Jake became angry. That might have been the first time I started to wonder about who he was but with everything going on in my life, I didn’t think it through.”
She smiled. “Those were Jake’s words. He told me I was smart and I should think it through. If I had done that sooner, none of this would have happened and Jake wouldn’t be in danger. But it wasn’t until Vincent held me hostage that I took the time to think.”
Demond jerked upright in his chair. “Who took you hostage? Vincent who?”
She regarded him as if he had two heads. “Didn’t the police tell you what I told them? Why I was running through the streets in my underwear? Vincent’s men grabbed me at a rest stop. I wanted Jake to be more sympathetic and he wasn’t and it made me so mad I threw my clothes in a bag and took off. I just wanted to get away from him, to run away from everything. Somehow Vincent’s men followed me and, I don’t know, drugged me or something. The next thing I knew, I was handcuffed to a bed and Vincent was waiting for Jake.”
“Who’s Vincent?”
She shrugged. “I’m not certain but I think he’s connected to that crime family that’s always in the news. To tell you the truth, there was a lot on my mind the day he introduced himself but I remember recognizing the name. I’d never seen him until that day in the market. Jake said they were business partners but Vincent didn’t seem to know much about Jake. He asked me what he did for a living.”
His hands were clammy as he reached into his briefcase to retrieve another photo. “Is this Vincent?”
Mackenna nodded, confirming Vincent Cabacolli’s picture.
“Dammit.” He eyed the bandages on Mackenna’s right wrist. It hadn’t been Jake’s blood on the handcuffs hanging from the headboard, it was hers. Mackenna studied him, wide-eyed as he rose.
“Miss McElroy, this is extremely important. What did you tell Vincent Jake did for a living?”
She paused. “I-I said he was a nighttime security guard. I don’t think he is, but that’s what I said.”
“And what did Vincent say?”
“He said that wasn’t true. He said he and Jake partied every night with women. Vincent made me call Jake but he didn’t answer and I had to leave a message. And then Vincent said something about quitting his undercover ruse and told Jake he had me with him. He said Jake needed to hurry. There was something about dinner, too, but I didn’t understand.”
Demond reached for his phone, ready to dial the rescue teams as soon as he determined Jake’s location. “And Jake showed up at the house where Vincent took you?”
“No, not at the house. I’m not certain what happened next. It’s kind of foggy. I think he drugged me again. But the next thing I knew we were in some sort of warehouse or storehouse and they’d tied me to the ceiling by my wrists. I could barely stand. They were waiting for something or someone, I didn’t know what or who. And then all of a sudden the door swung open and Jake walked in. Barefoot and in his underwear.”
That explained the watch on the homeowner’s wrist. But the wire. What about the wire Jake wore? Had that been the giveaway?
“This is vital Miss McElroy. What did Jake say?” If he’d confessed his true identity to save Mackenna, the likelihood of him still being alive was nil. Demond’s heart pounded waiting for her answer.
“He said he’d get me out of there. And he did. I’m not even sure how he did it. He walked toward them and talked about me and the next thing I knew, Jake jumped a man and guns started firing and I screamed.” Now, her composure slipped and she began to shake. “Jake was covered in blood but he managed to get the knife and cut me down and he shoved me so hard I fell. He yelled at me to run and I did.”
She covered her face with her hands, the reality of the nightmare she’d survived becoming more real as she recounted it. “There was so much shooting. But I ran. I didn’t look back. I didn’t see if Jake made it out. I don’t know if they shot him. I should’ve tried to help but I was so scared. I didn’t know where I was. Someplace near the water because I could smell it and hear the clinking of the ropes on the masts. I don’t know if they chased me. I just ran like a wild dog until I couldn’t run anymore. And then I spotted the convenience store and decided to call you.”
“Why me?”
Her chest rose in inches. “Because I knew you were looking for me. Vincent said my face was all over the news. And I hoped if you came to arrest me, you’d also help Jake. I love that man and he has no idea. I don’t much care what happens to me. I’m not your bank robber but I don’t think you believe me and I can’t prove it. Arrest me if you want. But please, Agent Crews, first let me take you back to the warehouse and maybe you can save him.”
Uncontrolled tears rolled down her cheeks. He’d questioned hundreds of criminals in his eighteen-year career and developed a feel for the pros, the amateurs and the innocents caught in a bad situation. Mackenna McElroy was an innocent. He patted her knee.
“I’m not convinced you’re a bank robber, Miss McElroy. But you’re still my primary person of interest. I will say I have a new regard for you. You’re one hell of a brave woman to have endured what you did and still show concern about someone else. No wonder Jake is taken with you. Excuse me while I make a phone call.”
She grabbed his wrist and hung on tight. “But what about Jake?”
He smiled for the first time that evening. “Time to call in reinforcements.”
Chapter 31
Agent Crews strolled out of the hospital room and Mackenna buried her face in her hands in a tsunami of tears. She was still their suspect and that scared the life out of her. But he said he would summon help. That meant recruiting the good guys. Like Jake. If only they weren’t too late. What she wouldn’t give to turn back th
e clock to when Jake cradled her in his arms after they made love. He’d been so tender, whispering that he didn’t want to live without her, that he wouldn’t let another day pass that she wasn’t in, that he needed her more than he needed air to breathe.
They were endearments she’s always hoped to hear from someone and words she never expected to hear from Jake. His declarations left her speechless. All she’d been able to do was stare into his eyes like a doe caught in the headlights, astounded by his admission, and then kiss him again. Of course that had been enough to ignite his passion for another round of lovemaking.
Why had she reacted so strongly when he hadn’t coddled her and cooed his pity after learning that she’d been robbed again? He’d never treated her like a victim, someone he felt sorry for. In the face of everything that happened to her, from the first time he spoke to her in the coffee shop after Robbery Number One to learning about Mr. Gleaner to seeing the dire straits Arthur left her in, Jake approached each crisis logically, not enabling her with sympathy but empowering her with the strength to overcome.
Yesterday had been no different. He’d asked for the facts, as he always did. Yes, he’d snapped at her, unnecessarily reminding her of the seriousness of the situation. And when she wasn’t forthcoming with the details of the latest robbery, because she preferred to wallow in self-pity over her bad luck and her suspension and wanted to drag Jake down to those depths with her, he’d refused to follow, instead asking if she’d told the FBI the complete story. She misconstrued that as an accusation that she’d lied when, upon reflection, it was Jake being Jake, standing on the right side of the law. That’s where he always stood. That’s where he belonged. She knew that.
Given the chance she’d apologize for not believing in him. Because as Mackenna thought back, there wasn’t one minute when Jake hadn’t believed in her. If only they could get to him in time.