A Promise to Protect (Logan Point Book #2): A Novel

by Patricia Bradley

  “Figured it was important,” replied the marshal. “What’s going on?”

  “I’ve discovered a dogfighting ring in Bradford County.” It made him sick to think anything that repulsive was happening in his county.

  “Proof?”

  “Saw it with my own eyes last night. Just didn’t have enough man power with me to do anything about it—it was only my chief deputy and me. Wade recognized a couple of the men involved, and I’m having to rein him in—he wants to go undercover, try and buy a dog from one of them. Can we get together today and discuss a strategy?”

  “How about my office around five? I should be able to pull in an FBI agent as well.”

  Forty minutes to get to Luke’s downtown office. That wouldn’t leave him enough time to reason with Leigh about moving out of his parents’ house. But these men were busy. “I’ll be there. And my chief deputy will be with me.”

  “Good deal.”

  Ben broke the connection and called Wade to fill him in on the plan. They made arrangements to meet at Ben’s house at four, and then he checked his watch. Almost twelve-thirty. Maybe he could get in a couple hours of sleep before he picked Leigh up at three.

  Leigh glanced at the oversized clock on the wall at the nurses’ station in the ER as the minute hand crept to three o’clock. She’d completed the report to the night shift doctor and had made rounds with him.

  Ian had dropped by around noon with the key to the house on Webster and a promise of dinner delivered personally to the house. No sight of Ben, though. Maybe she’d go ahead and leave. She didn’t look forward to arguing with him about moving. One thing for sure, he couldn’t stop her.

  As she strode through the steel ER doors, her heart caught when she saw Ben entering from outside, dressed in his uniform white short-sleeved shirt and jeans and looking none too happy. Gird your loins. Leigh couldn’t keep from chuckling at the expression her grandmother always used when Granddad came looking for an argument. But her grandmother had been equal to the task, outtalking her grandfather in almost every skirmish. And they’d had plenty.

  “We’ll talk when we get to your parents’ house,” she said, breezing by him. No way was she having this discussion in the hospital parking lot. Leigh rehearsed her argument all the way to the Logan house and lobbed the first volley as she stepped out of her car.

  “Ben, there is no reason we can’t move into the house on Webster. The Oaks is a gated community with a guard on duty twenty-four hours a day.”

  “Whoa.” He held up his hands. “For most people it would be, but you’re not most people. A subdivision just isn’t as safe for you and TJ.”

  She glanced around. “There’s no difference. Both are gated, and truly, the Webster house might just be safer because it has a guard.”

  When he didn’t respond immediately, she took a second look at him. He looked really tired as he rubbed his forehead. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Nothing a little sleep won’t cure.” He rolled his shoulders. “I have a meeting I have to get to, and I don’t have time to argue with you about this. We’ll talk tonight.”

  Leigh crossed her arms, and Ben walked to his truck and opened the driver’s door. He hesitated, and for a second, she thought he was going to say something. Instead he climbed inside the truck and drove away. She hadn’t promised not to move, and she would still talk to him about it . . . after the fact. Leigh hurried inside, looking for Sarah . . . and Marisa. She found Marisa in the kitchen.

  “How was work today?” Ben’s mom patted a mound of dough then covered it with plastic wrap.

  The smell of yeast filled the sunny room. She’d miss the homemade bread. “Busy. But everyone was fixable.” She took a deep breath and shoved the words out. “Ian Maxwell has offered a house on Webster for us to stay in, and I’ve accepted.”

  Doubt filled Marisa’s face. “But Leigh, I thought Ben—”

  Leigh planted her feet. “I can’t keep imposing on your hospitality. TJ is quite the handful 24/7. I’m going to ask Sarah if she’ll stay on for a couple of days until I settle in at the clinic.”

  Marisa rinsed her hands and wiped them with a paper towel.

  “It’s in the Oaks, and it’s a gated community with a guard.” Leigh chewed her bottom lip. This was harder than she’d thought it would be. And she still had to tell TJ.

  “Leigh, you’re a grown woman, and I can’t tell you what to do . . . but I do wish you’d stay here. At least until Ben catches whoever is setting these fires.”

  “My house fire was caused by lightning, or the fire marshal would have told me.” She squared her shoulders. “It’s very important for me to stand on my own two feet. I’ve been doing it all my life.”

  “You’re resilient, I’ll grant you that. But there’s not just you to think about. How about TJ? He’s happy here. He has the twins, and he’s actually making a difference with Tom. Why take him away from all of this?”

  Tom was what Leigh was afraid of. Maybe now was the time to tell Marisa she was moving to Baltimore. A cough from Sarah stopped her.

  “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Her friend came into the kitchen.

  “No,” Leigh said quickly. “I was just telling Marisa about the house Ian Maxwell has offered. I’m moving in tonight and would love it if you’d stay with us.” She pleaded with her eyes.

  Sarah looked from Leigh to Marisa and back to Leigh. “Are you determined to do this?”

  “Yes, it’s what I want to do.” Leigh turned to Marisa. “You’ve been wonderful, but I’m used to living alone with TJ . . . even at Sarah’s house, we had our own quarters. He makes so much noise, and I come and go at such odd hours sometimes. We’re too much trouble. Besides, Tom needs peace and quiet.”

  “Pshaw. Tom loves having you and TJ here.”

  TJ maybe, but Leigh had seen the way he looked at her . . . like he’d discovered her secret and couldn’t wait until he could tell it. “No, I’m sure it’s much harder on Tom to have strangers in his house.” Leigh turned to Sarah. “And if it’s too much for you, I’ll understand.”

  “If you’ve set your mind, I’ll come and stay a few days.” Sarah smiled apologetically at Marisa. “I don’t want her to be alone, but you’ve been so gracious, offering your hospitality to me. I won’t forget it.”

  Marisa raised her hands. “I know when I’ve been overruled.” She hesitated. “Is Ben aware you’re moving out?”

  “I told him Ian offered a house and that I wanted to take him up on it. Have either of you seen TJ lately?”

  Marisa nodded toward the door. “He’s in the backyard, playing with the twins.”

  Leigh strode to the back door. Two down, TJ to go.

  An hour later, Leigh nodded to the guard on duty in the Oaks. “The Honda is with me as well.” When he waved her through, she glanced in her rearview mirror at Sarah as if to say, See. Two turns later she pulled her Avenger into the drive of their new home. Not exactly the right type of car for the neighborhood. But she wouldn’t be here long.

  “I don’t like this house. Why couldn’t we just stay with Granna and Pops?”

  Leigh sighed. TJ had not taken the news they were moving well. She bit back the phrase she’d heard all her childhood. Because I said so. TJ didn’t understand, and that was okay. There’d be more decisions he wouldn’t understand. Like the move to Baltimore. But that news would be saved for another night. “Just give it a chance, son.”

  She got out of the car and popped the trunk. Sarah approached, rolling her suitcase behind her. “You never said it was this nice.”

  Leigh followed her gaze to the Cape Cod house with a wraparound porch. “Totally furnished too. But I don’t think TJ likes it.”

  “Give him time. You want me to help you lift your suitcase out?”

  “I got it.” Just as she tugged her luggage from the trunk, another car pulled in. An Acura. Much more suitable for this subdivision. Her jaw dropped as Emily stepped out of the car followed by the t
wins. Leigh had forgotten what kind of car Emily drove.

  “Howdy, neighbor.”

  “You live around here?”

  “Next street over. The boys are excited TJ will be even closer.”

  Marisa had never said a word about Emily living nearby. She glanced at her son. His dark and overcast expression had turned sunny.

  “Can we go in the back?” TJ’s eyes implored her.

  She nodded. “Be sure you stay inside the fence,” she called as he and the twins raced around the house. “You may have just saved my life. He was not happy about leaving your parents’ house.”

  Emily chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what Mom said. But I can understand why you’d want to move out. This is a nice place. Three-car garage. Mine only has two.”

  “Yeah. Like my car is used to even one garage. Come on in and see the rest of it.”

  “I don’t like it.” Ben tossed his pencil on the table. He was 100 percent against his deputy infiltrating the dog ring.

  Wade folded his arms across his chest. “Well, I do.”

  Ben stood and paced the small conference room U.S. Marshal Luke Donovan had ushered them into when they arrived at his Memphis office. FBI agent Eric Raines sat next to the chair Ben had vacated, and Wade sat across the table. A map of Bradford County with the Edwards farm circled was spread across the top.

  “We need an inside guy,” Eric said. “My sources indicate their annual fight is coming up, and it’s huge. The top names in the dogfighting world will be there, but no one knows when or where it’ll be held.”

  Luke leaned forward. “And Wade already has an in with one of the players.”

  “Look, we’re talking about Wade interacting with scum here,” Ben said. “People who have no conscience. The wrong people figure out what he’s doing, and I’ll have a dead deputy on my hands.”

  “I can handle myself,” Wade insisted. “All I have to do is gain the trust of a few people on the fringe, and Lester Cummings already trusts me. Then I can get the place and date of the fight.”

  “You don’t think they’re going to tell you that right off the bat, do you?”

  “It’s not like I’m a stranger to the ones there last night. Coon hunted with some of them, and those men already trust me.”

  Ben had a bad feeling about this, but he also knew his deputy. He was as bad as the pit bulls they were trying to save, clamping on to something and refusing to let go. Maybe if he kept a tight rein on him . . . “Will you wear a wire?”

  A no formed on his deputy’s face.

  Eric Raines spoke up. “We can download software onto your phone, and it’ll act like a listening device. We’ll use Ben’s phone as the monitor, and the software will allow him to silently connect to your phone and listen to conversations around you. And when you make or receive calls, it’ll transmit conversation, your location, everything.”

  Wade held up his hand. “Uh-uh. I don’t want anyone listening to every conversation I have.”

  Eric scratched his head. “We have a pen that will act as a microphone, but it only has a short range. A receiver would have to be close for it to be any good.”

  “How close?” Ben asked as he took his seat again.

  A crooked smile graced Eric’s face. “Close enough if anything went wrong we could get to him.”

  “I’m good with that.” Wade shifted his gaze to Ben.

  “I’m not. I want the pen, but I also want the software downloaded on our phones. You know I won’t listen in unless it’s about this case. It’ll be that way, or this whole deal is off.”

  The muscle in Wade’s jaw pulsed in and out.

  Ben didn’t blink. “Think about your mom and what she’d do if anything happened to you.”

  The muscle stilled. “If I let you download the software, will you be on board?”

  Not really. The whole thing was dangerous. Ben would be a lot more comfortable if he were the one making the contact, but he didn’t have the relationship with these men that Wade had. “As long as you don’t go all Lone Ranger on us. You have to agree that anytime you’re making contact with these men, we’ll be in the loop.”

  “I’m not stupid, Ben.”

  “I hope not.” He directed his gaze to Eric. “How soon can you get him the pen?”

  Eric hoisted his briefcase onto the table. “Now too soon?”

  He opened the case and selected a narrow black box. Inside was an ordinary-looking ballpoint pen that he handed to Wade. “Keep it in your shirt pocket like you would any pen, and always remember to activate it before you go into any meeting with these people. They’re going to be watching every move you make, and you might not have a logical reason to touch that pen.”

  He picked up a small box. “This is a GPS chip—it goes in your keyless remote, and it’s a backup. Most people carry their keys on them, so if worst-case scenario happens and the pen is discovered, we can still track you.”

  Worst-case scenario. The words haunted Ben as Wade handed Eric his key chain.

  The agent inserted a flat screwdriver in the notch on the side and popped the back off. Then he peeled the back off the GPS chip and stuck it on the inside of the cover. He snapped the shell back on and handed Wade the key ring. “It’s already activated and can’t be turned off. It’ll tell us where you are at all times. Now let me have your phone.”

  “Who will be monitoring all this equipment?” Wade asked as he handed over his cell.

  “Ben, primarily, but I can patch into the equipment as well.” The FBI agent turned to Ben. “I need your phone as well.”

  Ben handed over his cell then tapped the map where he’d circled the Edwards place. “The area we were in last night had no cell reception. What do you do about that?”

  “All three use satellites, although the pen and phone work better off the wireless towers.” Eric connected Ben’s phone to the internet and made several keystrokes. “You’ll receive a text whenever the pen is activated or when he receives a phone call. In the case of the phone, you’ll decide call by call which ones you want to listen to.”

  The agent tapped a blue icon on the cell phone screen. “Click on this app, and you can find your deputy anywhere he is.”

  “Better watch where you take Ruth now,” Ben said. He nodded toward the map. “I checked the records on the Edwards place. It’s owned by some company I never heard of, and neither has Google.”

  “GrandTeCO,” Luke said. “I have an agent working on the paper trail, but so far, it looks legit.”

  “Let me know what you discover.” Ben stood. “And, if that covers everything for tonight, I need to get back to Logan Point.”

  “A word of advice, Wade,” Luke said. The U.S. Marshal ran his hand over his short-cropped gray hair. “Don’t push these guys. You’ve made the initial contact—you let them know you’re interested in a dog. Now let them come to you.”

  “Listen to the man,” Ben said. From the expression on his chief deputy’s face, keeping him in check would be a full-time job.

  “It’ll work, Ben.” An undertow of excitement carried in Wade’s voice. “I want to get whoever used that pup for bait and put them under the jail.”

  For the last fifteen minutes, Ben had listened to Wade dismiss every argument he came up with. His jaw ached from clenching it. That his deputy was a risk taker had never been more evident, and Ben didn’t like sitting on the sidelines. He hated that Wade was the one risking everything. “I agreed to it back in Memphis, so shut up already.”

  “I think I’ll drop by Lester Cummings’s house after you drop me off.”

  “No! Luke said to let them make the next move.”

  “But, Ben—”

  “If you can’t do this the way we planned it, I’ll call it off.”

  “Come on, don’t pull rank on me.”

  “And don’t you go rogue. I’d like to keep you alive, because I don’t have the money to keep your mom at Rest Haven.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to do that.”


  At least that seemed to sober him up a little. “No? Well, you get killed doing this, and I’d feel obligated.”

  “I know how to handle myself.”

  “Then let’s do it like we planned. Let them come to you. It probably won’t be long until they do, anyway. Dogfighting is fueled by greed, and they’ll be looking to turn a quick buck. Besides, I imagine they’d like to think they have a deputy sheriff in their back pocket. Be sure and play that angle up when they contact you.”

  “I’ll give ’em a week. If they haven’t contacted me by—”

  “You will do nothing. Have some patience, Wade.”

  For an answer, his chief deputy slouched in the passenger seat and remained quiet until they pulled in front of the jail. In the dusky twilight, yellow tape across the front access fluttered in the breeze.

  Wade jerked his head toward the jail. “You know whoever promoted that fight last night did this. And probably put the snakes out at the ball field. I’d think you’d want to catch them.”

  Ben blew a breath through his lips. “I don’t want to lose a deputy doing it.”

  Finally Wade shrugged. “Okay, we’ll do it your way.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Do I still get Sunday off? Told Ruth we’d go out to the lake.”

  “Sure. Until Cummings contacts you, we’re pretty much in a holding pattern.” The weekend stretched empty before Ben. Maybe Taylor Martin would get that profile completed. “I plan to work.”

  After Wade climbed into his truck and pulled away from the jail, Ben went inside. “Evening, Mark,” he said to the dispatcher. “Everything quiet?”

  “For Friday night. But wait until the juke joints crank up.”

  “Call me if you need me.” Ben fingered his keys. For a couple of hours, he’d put the problem of Leigh and her stubbornness out of his mind. But now it was time to deal with it. He walked to his office, unhooking his cell phone along the way, and dialed her number. It went straight to voice mail. Immediately he dialed his mother.

  “Is Leigh there?” he asked when she answered. He glanced at the fire marshal’s report on his desk.