“A marshal?”
Sarge turned to her but Ellie couldn’t take her gaze off her father.
Sam moved to her side.
She’d imagined this moment so many times. Would he know her? Would she recognize him? Would she feel anger? Betrayal? Love? Now she knew.
Resentment boiled over and her vision hazed red. She lunged forward, pulled back her fist, and rammed it into his belly. His breath wheezed as he doubled over. “That’s for Mom, you bastard,” she snarled. She pulled back a leg to kick him, but Sam grabbed her arms and yanked her back.
“What is she talking about?” Sarge’s gaze tracked from Ellie to her father.
Jameson straightened. There was a stoop to his shoulders that reminded her he was close to seventy years old. “Sarge, meet my daughter, Deputy US Marshal Eleanor Jameson.”
“Your daughter? What the hell is this about?”
“God damnit.” Drew turned on Sarge. “I told you she was undercover, but you wouldn’t listen.”
Sarge ignored Drew. “How the fuck were we supposed to know your daughter is Creed’s girlfriend, and that she’s a US Marshal?”
Sarge’s voice sounded tinny in her ears as Ellie wrapped her arms around her middle to quiet the sharp tremors shaking her body. Memories of her mother’s strength in the face of Richard Jameson’s abandonment and betrayal had her bearing down on the emotional pain. This was not the time to sort out the destructive feelings her father elicited. Survival for her and Sam was paramount.
Jameson’s gaze finally left Ellie as he replied to Sarge. “By using your fucking brains, that’s how you know. And if she’s here, you can bet her brothers aren’t far off.”
“Her brothers?”
“Both US Marshals.”
“Shit. We’re fucked. Do you think you could have shared this with us before we grabbed your kid?”
Jameson disregarded Sarge’s irritation, flicking a glance at Sam, who had positioned himself beside her before Jameson returned his attention to Ellie. “Well, daughter, it’s been a long time.”
This man was not the father she remembered. She’d studied images of him taken by security cameras, but in those he’d been conscious of surveillance and had taken care to obscure his identity.
They’d never been clear enough for her to make out the details she observed now. A mane of white had replaced his once-dark hair, and his face held deep grooves on either side of his mouth. Despite the years that had aged him, he was still striking, though the warm blue eyes of her memory were no longer full of light. Instead, they looked glacially cold.
Nothing of the man of towering strength who would hold his daughter high above his head so she could pretend to fly was evident in the old man who stood before her now.
“A long time since you abandoned your family.”
He shrugged. “Regrettable, but it had to be done.” Time had changed his voice, making it gravelly and coarse. “Your mother would never have followed me in the life I wanted, and I didn’t want to disrupt the lives of my children.”
“You’re a coward and a liar. You didn’t care about Mom, and you didn’t care about us kids. Let’s get something straight, you’re not my father. Archer Bollinger is my father.”
“God, I can’t believe Margaret married that asshole. He hounded me for years.” Disdain laced his words. “But understand this, daughter, I was there when you were born and I raised you until you were nearly grown. It’s my blood that’s running through your veins. That makes me your father.”
Ellie shook her head and let contempt ring from her voice. “That makes you a sperm donor who hung around too long.”
Jameson’s fists clenched, and Ellie thought he’d strike her. Then his face closed and he settled his hat on his head.
“Doesn’t matter. These guys made a monumental screwup and now I’ve got to deal with it.” He turned to Sarge. “You ready?”
“We’re going through with it?” Sarge raised his brows.
“Why wouldn’t we? We’ve got to take care of these two and get out of here. I told you she’s a marshal. Her brothers are marshals. They won’t be far behind her.”
Any thought that her father would let her and Sam live evaporated. Richard Jameson had participated in courthouse bombings, but he’d never been involved in cold-blooded murder. But now he was ordering an execution. Hers and Sam’s.
Sam wrapped an arm around her and pulled her back against his body, pressing a kiss against her temple. “I’ll create a diversion. You run,” he murmured the words against her skin.
“No, we stay together.”
“No more chances, Creed,” Sarge said. “You deserve this.”
There was no time for any diversion. Sarge raised his pistol, and Sam shoved Ellie to the ground as a shot ripped through the air.
As she went down, Ellie caught a brief glimpse of Sarge reeling back, the top of his head a bloody mess. Sam landed on her, his hands covering her head. Another shot rang out. Ellie’s only thought was to get Sam to safety. She pushed against his weight, pulling on his arm.
They scrambled to their feet, Ellie grasping his hand as she pulled him toward the back of the house. A rapid spate of gunfire erupted behind them. At any moment a bullet could cut either one of them down.
They rounded the corner of the building as a loud blast rent the air and the ground shook. She looked over her shoulder even as she ran. A huge orange fireball erupted into the early morning sky with a roar like thunder.
The gunfire stopped.
They ran past trees bordering the yard, Ellie refusing to let her injured knee slow her down. The next thing she knew she was being pulled behind a wide trunk. Sam backed her against the tree and wrapped his arms around her. With his face bent next to hers, he said, “I don’t know what the hell happened other than the propane tank exploded.”
She nodded and held on to him. They were alive. Beyond everything else that had happened, they’d survived. She tried to sort out the impressions of the past few minutes.
“Sarge is dead,” she told Sam. “The first shot took him out.”
“Who shot him?”
“I’m not sure. I think the team is here, so it could have been Bella as she’s the trained sharpshooter.” She paused. “I didn’t see what happened to Drew, but with gunfire and an explosion, I don’t think it’s good.”
She pushed against Sam and he loosened his hold. “The shooting’s stopped. We wait here until the team comes for us when the scene is clear.”
Sam frowned when Ellie stepped away from him, her arms crossed tightly in front of her.
***
She’d called it. Sam figured they waited no more than ten minutes before Seth came around the house. Ellie stepped from behind the tree and called his name. Her brother jogged toward them, not stopping until he’d scooped his sister up in a fierce hug.
“You’re safe,” he murmured as he held her, eyes closed. After a long minute he released her.
“We’re good,” Ellie assured him. “Linc, Bella?”
“Fine.”
“Seth, Dad was there.”
Seth nodded. “We’d gotten into position when he drove up and Sam allowed himself to get taken.”
Ellie turned on Sam. “You let yourself get taken?”
“I couldn’t protect you if I wasn’t with you.”
“It was my job to protect you. You should have stayed safe.”
Sam kept his mouth shut.
Seth gave him a speculative look, then asked his sister, “He recognize you?”
She faced her brother. “He did. He knows we’re all marshals, and that Mom and Arch are married.” Her voice tightened. “He told Sarge to kill Sam and me.”
“The fucker. He’s beyond redemption, Ellie.”
“I know. Any doubts I had are gone.”
Seth put an arm across Ellie’s shoulders like he still needed reassurance that she was in one piece. Sam wondered how Seth dealt with his sister being in danger on a regular basis. “
You can hope he’s better than he is, but he’ll always disappoint you. He got away.”
“What? How?”
“All hell broke loose and he slipped past us, that’s how. First shot took out Petrie, the guy who owned this place.”
“Sarge. The members of this militia give themselves code names. Dad’s is Big Dog.” To Sam’s ears, Ellie sounded exhausted. He felt tapped out himself. His priority now was to get her checked at a hospital, then he’d be happy if they could go home and shut the door to the world for a week or so. That he saw her with him after her assignment was completed no longer surprised him.
Seth motioned them to follow him. “Let’s go. That burning tank makes it too dangerous and too hot to go that way, so we’ll go around.” Seth led them in a wide circle, avoiding the house. They tramped along until they came to a fence and followed it to the barn. The propane tank continued to burn.
Through the trees Sam saw that fire had spread to a van parked next to the tank. He figured Seth was leading him away from the scene of carnage. He was pretty sure the fire would keep the team from getting to bodies. He asked the question that was at the front of his mind. “Is my brother dead?”
Seth turned to Sam, gaze steady. “I’m sorry, he is.”
Sam waited for the wave of emotion. Nothing came except a feeling of numbness.
“Funny thing, though,” Seth continued. “That first shot? Bella was sighting through her scope and saw what happened. Drew shot the guy you call Sarge before she could.”
“Drew shot Sarge?”
Ellie grasped his hand. “He saved our lives, Sam.”
“Or maybe he hated Sarge enough to kill him.”
“He saved our lives,” Ellie repeated. She turned to her brother. “How did Dad get away?”
“We think Drew was planning to shoot him, too, but Dad shot Drew first.” He shook his head. “We were going to take Dad out if we had to, but you and Sam blocked our shot. Once you were out of the way, we waited to see how it played out. Dad started running, shooting at the propane tank. Damn thing went up like a fucking pyrotechnic show. He got to his truck and got away.”
“We saw the fireball. There must have been a leak for it to explode like that. I thought I caught the skunky smell of propane when they first brought me here. Hard to know for sure, because Sarge was having trouble with skunks.” She paused. “What happened to the dog?”
Seth shrugged. “Don’t know. We’ll keep an eye out for him.”
They arrived at the barn. Richard Jameson’s white truck was gone.
“How’d you know we were here?” Ellie’s fingers were cold so Sam brought them to his mouth to blow warm air across them. His gaze stayed steady on Seth’s when he saw the man give him a considering look.
“Got a call from Ben Montoya. Sam would know more about this than me. His father’s the foreman of your ranch?”
Sam nodded. “That’s Pete Montoya.”
“When you two went missing, Ben went out to your ranch and he and Pete searched Drew’s things. They came across evidence pointing to Drew’s involvement in the SecAm militia movement and tying him to Petrie as well as to a plan to kidnap Ellie. Lucky for us you’d told Ben that Ellie is a marshal and that he’d met Linc. He contacted us.” Seth spared Sam a glance. “You’ve got some explaining to do about how you ended up their captive as well.”
Bella approached them, a rifle with a scope in her hand. She gave Ellie a one-armed hug. “Glad you and Sam are safe, friend.”
“Me too,” Ellie said.
Sam spoke quietly to Seth. “She’s hurt. She’s got a head wound, probable concussion, and her leg’s bleeding.”
Ellie shot him a look of exasperation.
“We’ve got aid coming,” Seth assured him.
The deep wail of a fire truck in the distance and a whumping sound cutting through the air were welcome. In minutes a windstorm kicked up as a helicopter with an official insignia set down like an ungainly insect in a wide section of the driveway.
There was a flurry of activity as officers in law enforcement gear disembarked. Seth took a phone call, pressing a finger in one ear to hear. Sam saw a woman with a red cross stitched as part of her shoulder patch and waved her over. She introduced herself and followed him to where Ellie had hobbled to an upturned log to sit with her injured leg straight out in front of her.
“Ellie, this is Sue Delgado, she’s a paramedic with the county.”
He had to give Ellie credit because she didn’t automatically claim to be fine, as was her usual response. “She has a head injury and possible concussion.”
“We’ll check that out,” Delgado assured him, not taking her eyes off her patient.
“Her leg is bleeding.”
Delgado nodded.
“She needs to go to the hospital.”
“That’s why she’s being checked out.” The paramedic grinned at Ellie. “Does he always hover like this?”
“Pretty much,” Ellie grumbled.
“Aw. He cares.”
Delgado opened her medical kit and took out a stethoscope. Linc came over to check on his sister, so when Seth beckoned, Sam figured Ellie was taken care of for the moment and went to see what Seth wanted.
The following hour passed in a blur. More official vehicles arrived. An APB was issued for Richard Jameson, though Seth said the effort would likely be fruitless because the fugitive was a ghost adept at disappearing.
Sam glanced in Ellie’s direction and found that Delgado had cut off the leg of her jeans and was wrapping her knee. The propane fire finally burnt itself out, and the coroner took possession of the bodies, both charred beyond recognition. Sam watched as they were placed in black bags and thought of Drew’s wasted life. His brother had made his choices, but that didn’t make Sam feel any less guilty.
The goal that had been driving him for the past twenty-four hours of keeping Ellie alive had been achieved. Exhaustion was biting at his heels, but he needed to push through until he got Ellie home. Remembering the moment Sarge had raised his gun caused him to break out in a cold sweat.
He borrowed Bella’s phone to call Pete and let him know about Drew, and that Pete should expect a team of US Marshals at the ranch later that afternoon to take possession of anything belonging to Drew they thought was relevant.
Sam stepped out of the house with Ellie’s brothers. He’d shown the marshals the basement where he and Ellie had been held captive.
Seth studied Sam, brows pulled low over his eyes. “Want to explain how you found Richard Jameson and got him to bring you here? We’ve been after him for years.”
“First, understand that I didn’t know who he was. He introduced himself as Big Dog. Then I did what I thought I had to do to protect Ellie.”
“Given that she’s my sister, I appreciate that. But her job was to protect you, Judge, and what you did put your life in danger.”
Sam responded, gaze steady on Seth’s. “I won’t have her sacrificed to keep me safe. Ever.”
“Why don’t you tell us what happened?” Bella asked. Sam figured she was trying to defuse the tension.
They were owed an explanation so he tried to organize what had happened in his head, wishing he had a quart-size mug of coffee.
“Okay. Yesterday morning I went home because I couldn’t reach Ellie. I’d barely gotten in the house when a text came in of Ellie in cuffs.” He remembered how a jagged hole had opened in his gut when he’d seen that image. “There was a warning not to call law enforcement if I wanted to keep her alive. I got a call from a different number belonging to a man calling himself Big Dog. He arranged a meeting, said if I didn’t come alone, my fiancée was as good as dead. I met him in the parking lot of a closed business. He told me if their captive was going to survive—I don’t think he knew her name—I had to reverse the ruling on Frank Bannister so he would be released, and make other statements from the bench that would help his cause. I refused.”
Sam rolled his shoulders. “We, ah, ended up fight
ing. That made him mad enough that he decided to go for a bigger impact by killing a federal judge. I got the feeling he didn’t really care about Bannister. I was counting on him bringing me to where they were holding Ellie. It was a risk, but it worked out.”
Seth shook his head. “You should have called us. We could have done this without jeopardizing your life, or Ellie’s.”
“Your primary goal is to protect me, the federal judge. My primary goal was to protect Ellie any way I could. If I’d called you, you could have fucked it up and she’d have ended up hurt worse than she already was. Or dead. I wasn’t willing to risk that.”
“Your way almost ended up with both of you dead.”
“Luckily, it didn’t.”
After a long, considering look, Seth finally nodded.
“What my brother means is thanks for helping keep our sister alive.” Linc clamped a hand on Sam’s shoulder.
“Yeah, that.” Seth’s expression didn’t change. “Do we need to talk?”
Though he guessed what the Chief Deputy was getting at, Sam wouldn’t make it easy on him. “About?”
“About you and my sister and your fake engagement.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “If you value your life you won’t do this. You know Ellie will be unhappy.”
“I’m responsible for her.”
Sam figured it was a good time to keep his mouth shut. Maybe Seth would forget about “the talk,” but somehow Sam knew he’d come back to it. The rotors of the helicopter began spinning, picking up speed.
“As a marshal, maybe,” Bella insisted, “but definitely not as a bossy big brother.”
“You saw what kind of a dad we have, so it falls to me.”
The noise from the helicopter increased until it took off with a roar of sound. Sam looked around and felt a clutch of panic.
“Where’s Ellie?”
“On the chopper,” Bella said. “That’s what I came to tell you. The paramedic thinks Ellie has a concussion, and wants her knee stitched at the hospital.”
“What the fuck? She can’t go by herself. She needs me with her.” Sam stared at the retreating helicopter and felt like half of him had gone with it.
Linc clamped a hand on his shoulder and grinned at the others. “See those little hearts circling his head? I think that’s a definite yes to ‘the talk.’ This boy’s got it bad.”
Hidden Judgment Page 21