It didn’t help that Josh had stormed out of her office over two hours ago, carried by emotions she couldn’t begin to puzzle out.
Okay, maybe he hadn’t exactly stormed out, but the rigid line of his spine and the complete silence of his exit spoke more than shouts ever would. As much as she’d replayed their conversation, she couldn’t figure out exactly what would cause that kind of reaction. Yes, she’d been stubborn, but that didn’t warrant his response.
She knew the only reason he was still in the lobby was because he’d never leave with that file, no matter how hot his anger simmered. He might disagree with her, but something told her he had the same integrity as always. She’d expected him to duck back in with something. A comment on Wade’s file, an apology for his strange behavior, a question about lunch… But nothing. Two hours and nothing.
Analyzing that man was half of the reason her paperwork had dragged on so long. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t ignore the pull of his presence just a few feet away, on the other side of a door that might as well be made of lead.
A familiar low hum pulsed into the room. It took a moment for Andrea to place the sound, and when it processed, she whirled as a sheet slipped into the wireless printer. The wheels on her chair squeaked as she rolled backward. Josh couldn’t have logged into Grace’s computer without a password, so who was printing on her machine?
Slowly, an image formed. Andrea and Dutch, standing by her car. This morning. The photo was taken this time through a car windshield from one of the parking lots to the west of the center.
Again, red words were scrawled across the photo. We’re still watching.
She drew in a sharp breath and willed her fingers not to shake as she pulled the paper from the machine.
Andrea shoved her chair back and stood, every cell focused on that photo. “Josh?”
No answer.
Spider steps of fear ran up her arms. Not knowing what was happening on the other side of the door made her body tense. She swallowed hard and shook off the irrational thought that someone had slipped in and murdered Josh while she worked only feet away. Things like that didn’t happen outside of horror movies. Or war zones. Even though her life felt like both right now, that couldn’t possibly happen. “Josh? They sent another picture.” That should get his attention.
Still nothing. No rustle of movement. No answering call. It was as still as if she were alone in the world.
Something was definitely wrong. Andrea edged toward the door and gathered her last ounce of courage, ignoring the pounding of her heart as it throbbed in her ears. As softly as possible, she eased the door open, keeping out of sight from the windows in the lobby, trying to catch a glimpse of Josh.
The midday sun, nearly straight overhead, bounced off the windshield of her car in the parking lot, reflecting on the glass in the lobby and casting shadows that wavered in the heat. Josh sat at Grace’s desk with his arms crossed, just out of reach of the brightest streaks, his forehead resting on his palms, seemingly absorbed in the file in front of him. From this angle, though, she could see that his eyes weren’t on the pages but focused on the front windows.
Josh glanced to the side when she appeared in the doorway. “Stay there,” he hissed.
Andrea blinked against the adrenaline that shot through her from her scalp to her toes. “What’s wrong?”
“Hopefully nothing.” Josh shifted, raised his head and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck. He ran his hand down his face to block his mouth. “Truck pulled up in the parking lot about three minutes ago.”
“Did you call the police?”
“Not yet. I don’t want to tip them off that I—” His entire body tensed, his fingers tightening on his face. “Go in your office. Lock the door. Now.”
“But—”
“Someone’s coming. Now!”
The whispered shout galvanized her. Without waiting to see what came next, Andrea slammed the door and pushed the lock, then looked around the room and lunged for the phone on her desk.
There were no windows to see what was happening. No portal through which to escape. Her adrenaline-numbed fingers fumbled the handset of her desk phone.
No way out. She had no way out.
And she’d left Josh at the mercy of a potential killer.
FOUR
As soon as the lock clicked on Andrea’s door, Josh abandoned all pretense. He’d had plenty of time to settle on a course of action and to determine that there was only one choice. He was wide-open and in full view in the lobby, and if the guy had a gun, the windows wouldn’t save him.
If he was going to die, he was going to go down fighting.
Josh gauged the man’s approach and watched him hesitate at the sidewalk. It seemed he noticed Josh for the first time and wasn’t sure what to make of his unexpected presence.
The man’s stance was familiar. So was the face.
“Andrea!” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t call the police!”
Josh vaulted the reception desk and rushed for the door as the man turned to run. It seemed to take an eternity to cross the lobby and enter the parking lot, but in a race of quick strides, he caught the man by the arm just before he reached the small pickup truck. “Cameron. Don’t.”
Wade Cameron’s eyes flashed wild with emotion that looked more like anger than the fear Josh expected. His mouth opened, then closed as his eyes narrowed and his fists balled.
With a quick glance around the parking lot, Josh jerked the younger man toward the door, trying to get him out of the line of fire in case a shooter was watching. While they hadn’t determined who was in the most danger, Josh knew Wade probably had a target on his back the size of a stop sign.
Josh yanked the door open to find Andrea standing in the open doorway to her office.
She gasped when she saw who he dragged with him. Her hands went to her mouth. “Wade? What are you doing here?”
*
Andrea stepped aside as Josh hauled Wade into her office, away from the windows of the lobby. Once inside, he dropped Wade into a chair like a rag doll and stood over him, staring down like he intended to chew the boy up and spit him out. “Have you lost your mind coming here, Cameron?”
It had been years since Andrea had stared down an angry first sergeant. She was more than happy not to be on the receiving end of that glare now.
“Do you have any idea what happened after you vanished yesterday?” Josh leaned into Wade’s personal space. “Where have you been?”
Wade sank so far against the back of the chair that it was a wonder he didn’t slip right through it.
Andrea swallowed hard and gripped her hands behind her back. She wouldn’t step in, even though everything in her wanted to. There was still too much army in her blood to allow her to question a first sergeant.
As if Josh could read her thoughts, he straightened and paced to the door. He ran his hand across the short hair on the top of his head and gripped the back of his neck as he stared into the lobby.
He could be counting to ten. Or twenty. Or more, if the square of his shoulders was any indication.
“Andrea?” Wade’s low voice drew her.
In all the times she’d counseled Wade, even in the deepest discussions about his past, he’d never looked so much like a scared child as he did right now. He radiated fear, almost shrinking inside his jeans and dark red T-shirt.
Red. Not the greatest color to wear when you were already a target.
Andrea sank in her chair beside him and tried to make the scene as familiar as possible. He’d probably come here looking for a safe place, and she had no choice but to help him. “What’s going on, Wade?”
“Is First Sergeant Walker going to hurt me?”
“I doubt it. He’d get in way too much trouble if he did.”
“It’d cost me my career,” Josh muttered from the doorway, his focus never leaving the front lobby.
He was pulling security, keeping watch to make sure no one crept up on them. The fact
hit Andrea square in the chest. Whoever had attacked her yesterday knew Wade had been here. What were the chances someone was watching to see if he came back?
A shudder shook her before she found her center. Whatever was going on, the answer sat in front of her, and scaring him into flight would get them nowhere. She assumed a soothing voice. “Why did you come here yesterday just to run away?”
Wade’s hands clenched and unclenched around the arm of the chair. “Can we…” His anxious gaze took in every inch of the room except the space where she sat. “Can we talk out front?”
“No.”
The stern denial from Josh was enough to strike fear into Andrea’s heart. Wade would never open up under that kind of duress. “We’d be wide open out there. In here, nobody can see you.” She shifted in her chair. “Now, what made you run away?”
Wade didn’t seem to hear her.
Josh looked over his shoulder and caught Andrea’s eye. She hoped he could read her plea for help. If they didn’t get him to talk they were no better off than when he was missing.
“Answer her, Cameron.” He barked the order then turned away, obviously confident that his soldier would obey.
It sure didn’t seem that way. The look of anger and fear that raced across Wade’s face sent a shudder down Andrea’s spine. For a guy who trusted his first sergeant enough to make him a point of contact and a rightful observer of his counseling files, Wade didn’t seem to like Josh very much. “We have to talk out there.”
“No, we don’t.” The tone behind her words brooked no argument.
For the sparest instant, Wade tensed like he was going to lunge for the door. As quick as the stance appeared, it evaporated. Wade loosened his grip on the chair and tilted his head to stare at the floor in front of the desk, sheer resignation covering his features. “He told you, didn’t he? Why I made him bring me here?”
“You started drinking again.” Andrea’s muscles tensed.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to. I had it cold. I had it beat, then…” His chin dropped to his chest. “They kept pressuring me. And I fell.”
“Who was pressuring you?” Josh’s voice was hard, but Andrea couldn’t tell what the emotion was behind it. Anger, fear and sorrow all warred in those words.
“They were!” Wade balled his fists. He bolted from the chair, an iron rod of unleashed fury focused solely on Josh. “I can’t tell you. Okay? It was them!” He whipped toward Andrea, but his eyes focused past her at the wall behind her desk before his shoulders slumped. “It’s so much more than you think.”
The words plunged through Andrea’s chest and gripped her heart so tightly she had to struggle for another breath. Everything about Wade’s behavior drew into sharp focus even as the room around them seemed to fade. “You’re using. And it’s stronger than alcohol.”
Wade jerked his head back to stare at the ceiling. His breathing slowed, and once again he sat in the chair, leaning forward and pressing his hands into his close-cropped hair. “Heroin.”
The room whirled like a carnival ride. Heroin. The same monster that had ripped her brother out of this world. How could he? How could he know her pain and still fall prey? She’d poured her heart and soul into him. Believed in him. Trusted that it was safe for Wade to step down from counseling and simply go to meetings with his sponsor.
She’d been wrong. She’d missed something big. She’d failed both of them.
“Andrea.” Josh’s voice cut through the anger and grief, but it wasn’t until he said it the second time that she lifted her head.
He still stood in the doorway, dividing his attention between her and the world outside. It was hard to tell from here if he was angry at Wade or feeling sorry for her, but neither was something she could handle.
“This is not about you.”
Momentary rage swelled in her. This was so about her, about Brendan, about…
One glance at Cameron’s broken countenance stopped the tide of self-pity. Her shoulders squared. Josh was right. She could grieve for her brother and berate herself for her failure later. Right now, the young man in front of her needed her full attention. She forced her muscles to untighten. One second at a time. “What happened?”
“Can’t we talk about this out front?”
A sharp gesture from Josh dismissed the recurring question. “You’ll leave this room when I say so. Now, answer her question.”
“Wade.” Andrea slid her chair forward, bringing herself next to her former patient. She wanted to repeat the original question, but it was clear he wasn’t going to answer. Someone was watching Wade and her. The two of them in the same room was bound to be a temptation that couldn’t be resisted for long. As much as she ached for Wade, she needed answers, to know who had attacked her. It seemed there was no way to get Wade to talk without coaxing him step by step, so she started at the beginning. “Why did you come here yesterday?”
“I didn’t know where else to go.”
From where he stood looking out into the lobby Josh asked, “And why run?”
Wade ran his hands down his thighs, gripping his knees. “I got here and realized how much trouble I could be in with you and that I couldn’t—”
“Not buying it.”
Andrea silently urged Josh to back off, but he either wasn’t receiving the message or he didn’t care. Something about Wade’s confession had stiffened his backbone and hardened his countenance. There would be no more pity.
Wade sat forward like he was going to leap up again, then settled back into his seat. “My…dealer. He saw me when I came in. He pulled into the parking lot of the gas station next door.” He looked up and met Andrea’s eyes, telegraphing fear. “I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t about to grab the phone, dial the police and ask for help because my drug suppliers are breathing down my neck.”
“They wanted a look at your file.” Andrea gauged Wade’s reaction to see if any of her words hit a raw nerve.
He tugged at his shirt collar. “Please, Andrea. The lobby. It’s claustrophobic in here. I can’t breathe.”
Had Wade Cameron developed a phobia on top of his slide past the bottle into drugs? “You’re not telling me something.”
Wade sucked in a deep breath. “My file.” The words held a note of resignation. “I put something in it they don’t want you to see. You have to give it to me or—”
“Are we supposed to believe this?” Josh’s voice came low across the room. “You aren’t making any sense. Do you owe these guys money?”
“Not exactly.”
The hesitation in the denial sapped the last of Andrea’s strength. She gripped the edge of her desk, feeling the situation spin further and further out of control. “You were selling.” The words brought bile into the back of her throat with them. For a panicked second, she thought she’d have to dive for the trash can under her desk, but a deep breath and a slow count to ten stopped the room from spinning.
“No.” Wade shook his head, panic coloring his expression. “I…I knew what they were doing and I wanted to stop them, so I got them to let me start moving product for them.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s so much better than selling.” Josh’s utter lack of respect weighted the air in the room.
At the moment, Andrea didn’t have the heart to reprimand him. She felt the same level of disgust, although hers was aimed more at herself than at the kid in front of her. If she’d handled his case right from the start and seen the signs, he wouldn’t be in this situation now, so messed up that he talked in riddles and circles.
Wade seemed to read their thoughts. He slid forward in the chair. “You’re getting it all wrong. They wanted me to do things I didn’t want to do, so I took their stuff. I hid it. I never delivered it. And now…”
“Now they’re after you?” Andrea choked on fear for Wade. “What were you thinking? Why didn’t you go to the cops?”
“You went vigilante, Cameron?” It was hard to tell if Josh’s words held anger or respect.
&nbs
p; “I just wanted to stop them from sucking more of your soldiers in. It’s too late for me, but I wanted to keep them from…” Wade broke into a coughing fit so hard his face turned red. “But it turns out these aren’t local Columbus or Phenix City guys.” He choked, sputtered then gained control. “These guys are capable of way more than I thought. I can’t win. I can’t save—”
At the door, Josh straightened and dropped his hands to his sides, the movement shaking Wade out of his confession.
Andrea’s senses leaped into high alert, adrenaline striking her heart. “What do you see?”
“They’re here, aren’t they?” Wade’s voice sounded flat, not agitated or alarmed as she’d have expected. “They heard me. I said too much.” He slumped in the chair, apparently resigned that this was his end.
Josh pressed his lips together and didn’t answer for a second. “Somebody’s here. A car drove through the parking lot and slowed down. Just hang tight.”
Keys shook on the ring as Andrea snatched them from the desk drawer. “We can go out the back.”
“Last resort.” Josh shook his head as Wade stood. “We don’t know who’s back there. Andrea, get ready to dial 911.”
For the second time in an hour, Andrea gripped the desk phone and prepared to make the kind of call that only happened in nightmares. But when she pulled it to her ear, she heard nothing. “It’s dead.”
“We’re not getting out,” Wade muttered, slipping out of his chair to his knees.
Josh pointed at her desk. “Use your cell.”
It took a second for her fear-gripped muscles to respond. It was like she was under water, and she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move fast enough through the resistance. Everything slowed down, and her senses took it all in. The ticking of the clock on her desk, the rasp of Wade’s breathing.
As her fingers brushed the rugged case of her cell phone, time slipped back to normal. A split second later Josh dove for the floor and shouted, “Get down!”
Overlaying the command was the crack of a gunshot, the sound of breaking glass and Andrea’s own screams.
*
The SUV’s tires squealed against the pavement as Josh propped himself on his elbows and peered around the door. Glass littered the floor from the shattered front door, the top panel obliterated.
Love Inspired Suspense January 2014 Page 66