Love Inspired Suspense January 2014

by Shirlee McCoy

  As the vehicle whipped out of the parking lot, Josh scrambled up, throwing aside self-preservation, and rushed into the parking lot, trying to identify the SUV or the driver, but he wasn’t fast enough. The vehicle was off in the direction of 185, swallowed by traffic.

  If the glass wasn’t already broken, he’d have put his fist through it.

  Even though he knew Andrea was okay, he turned on his heel to go check on her, to see for himself that some megabullet hadn’t pierced the interior walls and hit her in her office. As he pulled the door open, he traced the path of the round that had destroyed the glass. The mirror over the reception desk hung crooked, glass lying in jagged pieces on the bookcase beneath it.

  “The message couldn’t be any clearer, could it?” Andrea’s voice came from her office door.

  Josh turned, wishing he’d moved faster, had somehow caught the shooter in the parking lot. “Message?”

  “That bullet took out the door glass, the only glass in the building that had my name on it. That’s no coincidence. They aren’t kidding about me shutting down.”

  Biting back words he knew he shouldn’t say, he pulled her into the office. “Maybe you should listen to them, at least until this blows over. If this is really about shutting you down, then giving them what they want, even temporarily—”

  Cameron rose slowly from where he’d taken a dive behind the chair in front of the desk. “Are they gone?”

  Biting back words Josh knew he shouldn’t say, he swallowed silent anger at the interruption. Then one glance at Andrea’s face, stormy with anger, and he decided it might be better this way. If he’d said much more, she might have taken another swipe at him. Knowing her, she wasn’t going anywhere, threats or not. He addressed Cameron instead. “They’re gone.”

  “I should have seen this coming.” Andrea snatched a piece of paper from her desk. “And I’m not shutting down. Even temporarily. I refuse to run. What would happen if I did?” She held the paper out with a rustle.

  The edges wrinkled in his grip. “When was this taken?”

  “This morning. They sent it to my printer. It’s wireless. Somehow…”

  Josh wanted nothing more than to cross the room and pull her into his arms, to let her know he’d shelter her no matter what happened. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t make a promise to protect her, and he couldn’t let himself want her in the irrational way he did right now. He was starting to think he needed the services of a counselor more than he ever had before.

  Rather than think any more about that, he dropped the photo to the desk and yanked his phone from his pocket, dialing 911.

  “What are you doing?” Wade seemed to grow two inches taller as his spine straightened.

  Had he really asked that question? “Calling the police. There was a shooting here, remember?”

  “You can’t call the police. That will make everything worse. Everything.” Cameron stepped closer. “First Sergeant, I’m begging you not to do that.”

  Josh refused to take a step back from the kid. He telegraphed a silent warning to Andrea, then motioned her forward and passed her the phone. As soon as he knew the operator was on the line, he edged closer, toe-to-toe with the young soldier who was quaking more by the moment. “And how is Andrea supposed to explain the bullet hole in her wall? It’s too late. They’ll find out whether we tell them or not. Guns don’t get fired at buildings without someone noticing.”

  “Nobody’s going to call the police. Not around here.”

  “What’s so menacing around here that no one would call the cops?” As more time passed, he trusted Cameron less and less. Something undefinable muddied the air in the room, and it originated with the young soldier in front of him. “What’s really going on?”

  Andrea stepped up beside him. “They’re on the way.”

  Sheer terror slipped a veil over Wade Cameron’s face. “They know. Everything.” He shook his head and dug his fingers into his thighs. “And they’ll be back.”

  “Everything about what?” Before Josh fully formed the words, Cameron leaped forward and shoved Andrea to the side.

  Josh could only watch as her back crashed into the wall with so much force that she bounced off, hitting the floor on her hands and knees, gasping for air.

  Cameron hesitated before he took advantage of the distraction and bolted past Josh, out of the office and into the afternoon heat. It took a split second for Josh to process all of the motion and to react.

  It was enough time to put him at a disadvantage. He was barely out the door before the truck roared to life and spun out of the parking lot.

  But this time he was able to get a license plate number.

  He recited it over and over as he raced back into the office to check on Andrea. If she was hurt… If he’d let harm come to her while he stood there and watched…

  When he tore back into the office, she was settling back on the floor, sucking in deep breath after deep breath. Her head came up when he entered. “Fine. I’m fine.”

  Josh knelt beside her and once again fought the urge to pull her to him. “Really?”

  “Yeah. Got the air knocked out of me, that’s all.” She pulled in another breath and held it like she was trying to force her body into some sense of rhythm, her face white but regaining color as he watched. “Why’d he run?”

  “Because you called the cops and he’s using?” Josh rocked back on his heels to put distance between them before he did something supremely out of place and stupid. “I don’t know. But everything makes less sense now than it did before.” He pressed his hands against his thighs and stood, his elbow aching in old accusation. He battled the urge to go off and handle all of this by himself. Instead, he strode to the door and stared across the parking lot, listening as the faint sound of distant sirens drew closer.

  Andrea watched him for a moment, then gripped the edge of her desk and pulled herself to her feet, wincing as she did. “What happens next?”

  “The cops couldn’t look for Cameron before because he took off on his own, but they can sure go after him now.”

  “For what?”

  “Assault.” A police car raced into the parking lot, another close behind. “One way or another, they’re going to bring him in this time.”

  FIVE

  Andrea rubbed the corner of one eye with her index finger and dropped her fork onto her paper plate of fast-food Chinese orange chicken, too exhausted to chew another bite. Admitting defeat, she sat back and stared across the table at Josh.

  “You look like death warmed over.” He popped a French fry into his mouth and eyed her. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

  “Not until early this morning.” After yesterday’s shooting she’d wandered the apartment wrapped in a sweater, too scared to close her eyes. Just before 3:00 a.m., she’d dared to peek out the window and spotted Josh’s truck in the parking lot, at the end of a line of trees where he likely believed he was hidden. The thought that she should invite him up or at least take him a cup of coffee had crossed her mind, but the next thing she knew, it was daylight, and she was sprawled out on the oversize chair in her alcove, her body protesting a sleep position she hadn’t attempted since college.

  Today, neither of them had mentioned his vigil. But it wasn’t fair that he looked wide awake and gorgeous while she looked like a new recruit after week one of basic. Yeah, she’d seen herself in the mirror this morning. It was a wonder Josh hadn’t lost his appetite.

  The large room hummed around them as diners searched for tables and shoppers sought bargains in the small stores that lined the wall opposite the fast-food counters. In hindsight, the food court at the Post Exchange on the Saturday of a payday weekend probably hadn’t been the wisest of choices for lunch, but the activity gave her something to focus on other than her thoughts.

  After a lengthy discussion with the police while Mr. Miller and Josh boarded up the remnants of her front door, then a nearly sleepless night spent staring into shadows, Andrea defini
tely needed this outlet. When Josh had called at ten and offered to take her to lunch, she’d jumped at the chance to avoid more pacing in her apartment. And, if she had to be honest, to spend more time with him.

  This was getting dangerous, and not just because she seemed to be a marked target. There were her former unhealthy feelings for Josh Walker to contend with, also. Still, that didn’t stop her from being grateful he was here now.

  Josh sipped a long draw on his soda before he settled his cup on the table, clearly more awake than Andrea could ever dream of being.

  Speaking of that…Andrea thunked the side of her brown plastic tray. She had thought she’d keep her knowledge of Josh’s nighttime vigil a secret, but the fact that he looked so refreshed just wouldn’t let her. “How do you do it?”

  “Do what? Eat them like this?” He slathered a French fry in mustard and held it out to her. “I learned it from a buddy in Germany. You should try it.”

  She batted his hand away. Mustard wouldn’t cross her lips if it was the last condiment on earth.

  “That’s right.” He nodded with a grin. “You don’t eat mustard. Guess I forgot.”

  The fact that he remembered at all was enough to make her woozy. She cleared her throat. Focus. “No. How do you stay up all night and still look like you do today?”

  The mustarded fry hesitated halfway to his mouth, then he popped it in with one smooth motion. “What makes you think I did anything other than sleep like a baby?”

  Andrea swirled her fork through a pile of fried rice. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe that was someone else’s truck in her parking lot. Someone else with the same Auburn University license plate on the front bumper. No. She was right. “I saw your truck. Parked under the tree.”

  “Hmm.” At least he had the good sense to look sheepish. “Interesting. You sure it was mine?”

  She arched an eyebrow and waited.

  “Okay. You caught me. Although I wish you hadn’t.” He braced his elbows on the table and leaned closer. “I went home, but I couldn’t sleep, wondering if anything was happening. So I figured I might as well not sleep in my truck as not sleep in my house.” He swiped at the corner of his mouth with a napkin. “I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

  Uncomfortable? Was he kidding? It made her feel…a whole bunch of things she didn’t want to feel. She’d been down this road with Josh before, and it ended in a whole lot of tears and gallons of ice cream. Her metabolism was too old for that much fudge ripple. Still, one look at him and she realized trying to lie was impossible. “Actually…it helped me fall asleep.”

  Grinning, Josh sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re welcome.”

  “So did staying awake all night give you any new insight?”

  “Just more questions. None of it makes any sense.” Josh ran a hand across his chin, which testified to the fact he had a four-day weekend and hadn’t shaved in at least two days. “What was Wade’s big deal about getting into the lobby last night? And what did he mean about protecting more of my soldiers?”

  Andrea slid her plate to the side with one finger. There was a slight bruise across her knuckles where she’d made contact with Josh’s face just two days ago. It felt like so much longer, in so many ways. “The real question is why he’s using his files and my office as a safety net.”

  “We should have asked him those questions last night.”

  “I feel dumb for not digging deeper.”

  “You were too busy reeling over him telling you he skipped alcohol and hit heroin. Maybe the drugs made him crazy.”

  Andrea chewed on the inside of her lower lip. She’d spent years analyzing Brendan’s behavior in retrospect, wondering what she’d missed as her brother dove off the cliff into his addiction. Now she’d missed the same signs with Wade. “I don’t know. Any drug can cause erratic behavior, even excessive alcohol. But I don’t think he was high yesterday. That seemed more like mental illness, and there’s never been a single indicator of that from him before.” She sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe all of this is taking a toll and I’m just way off my game.”

  Josh sat up and leaned forward. His hand slid across the table toward hers, then stopped a mere inch away, close enough for her to feel the warmth, to make her wish he’d slip that last little bit. “I’d imagine this kind of pressure would do things to your head.”

  Andrea nodded and swallowed the fear that had crept up once she’d locked her door last night and truly realized the import of the previous twenty-four hours. “I feel like I’m dancing on the edge. It’s not what happened that bothers me, but what could have happened.” Her ankle throbbed its agreement, and she tried again to shift the conversation. Her job was to listen to other people’s problems. Diving into her own had never been comfortable for her.

  Waving her bruised knuckles, she said, “Actually, I think the worst injury of the night was to your cheek.” The bruise still mocked her. If someone had told her in high school that she’d be responsible for that kind of mark on his face, she’d have been mortified.

  Josh slid his finger along his cheek. “Maybe I’ll grow a beard to cover it up.” He tipped his head at something over her shoulder. “Maybe I should grow one like that guy back there. That would hide a multitude of imperfections.”

  Like he had any to hide. Andrea looked over her shoulder to find the man Josh was talking about. A heavyset biker in a leather vest sat by the door. “Yeah, you’d have to work long and hard to grow that beard. It would take longer than a four-day weekend, and you can’t have one in your job, anyway.”

  “Speaking of beards…” Josh wadded up his napkin and threw it on his tray. “I’m out of razor blades. Want to go in the PX with me?”

  Andrea dragged her fork through her food again. She wasn’t sure what it was, but something about getting razor blades with the man felt…intimate. It was probably a childish thought, but it was there nonetheless. “Go ahead. I want to finish eating.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Josh—” she looked around the room and back up at him “—there are a million people in here and you’ll be right up the hall under the same roof. Nothing’s going to happen. And a little bit of alone time where I can breathe without worrying might do me good.” She forced herself to take a bite of orange chicken, even though the thought of eating made her gag. She just needed a few minutes to beat down any feelings for Josh that floated to the surface.

  He looked as if it was against his better judgment but finally, he stood and hefted his tray. “If you’re sure.”

  “I’m a big girl. I’ve even been to war. I’ll be fine.”

  “Says the woman in the horror movie right before the creature jumps in and grabs her.”

  “Really?” Andrea’s fork clicked against her plate as she dropped it. “Did you really just make that analogy?”

  Holding out both hands, Josh stepped back. “Five minutes. Don’t go running off anywhere.”

  “I promise.” Andrea watched him dump his trash and disappear around the corner before slumping in her seat. Honestly. God couldn’t possibly think it was cute to bring them together under these circumstances. She didn’t want to need Josh, but she did. And that just wasn’t funny.

  She picked at her orange chicken for a few more minutes, then gave up entirely and drained the rest of her soda. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been gone, but it felt like more than five minutes. Maybe she should go find Josh. Except she’d promised she wouldn’t go anywhere. Two more minutes, then—

  Her next breath caught in her throat as her gaze locked on the man at the door. The one dressed in jeans and a navy blue T-shirt who scanned the food court with purpose. The one with the close-cropped dark hair and an angry bruise along one side of his jaw and up into his cheek.

  *

  Three blades? Four blades? Razors with batteries?

  Josh ran his thumb along the stinging bruise that striped his cheek and squashed thoughts of Andrea as he considered the selection of raz
ors at the Post Exchange. He wasn’t one of those guys who was married to a brand. He just wanted whatever was cheapest. And then he wanted to get back to Andrea.

  So much for getting a little bit of distance from her. She refused to leave his thoughts.

  A cart clipped him from behind and nearly took his knee out from under him as a giggly voice said, “I just ran right into some guy. I’m blaming you for it.”

  Josh stepped aside, out of the way of the girl who attempted to talk on her cell phone, maneuver her cart and reach for a pack of soap in one smooth motion that didn’t quite work without three hands.

  This was why he hated shopping on post when it was payday weekend. Too many people packed in not enough space and paying not enough attention. He grabbed the soap and passed it to the woman, who didn’t even acknowledge him as she chattered away.

  He bit back a sarcastic comment as he slipped around her cart to the other side of the display, although he did drop a muttered, “You’re welcome,” as he passed. She didn’t even notice. So much for gratitude.

  He grabbed the nearest pack of razors with the lowest price and headed for the checkout. He didn’t like having Andrea out of his sight for this long. This probably wasn’t a mess he should be tangled in, but after what happened with her brother…

  His phone vibrated against his hip. Without bothering to look at the screen, he answered and propped the cell between his ear and his shoulder as he dug his wallet out of his back pocket. “Walker here.”

  There was a pause so long he thought the connection died. “Anybody there?”

  “Josh?” The whisper was almost too low to hear in the crowded aisle.

  He stopped walking, gripped the phone and straightened. “Andrea?”

  “It’s me.” The low hum of her voice spoke of urgency and more than a little fear.

  His pulse drove into overtime. Something wasn’t right. Andrea Donovan was not the type of girl to carry on whispered conversations with any man. A woman who could pack a punch like she did and stay sane under pressure like the past couple of days wouldn’t play that kind of game. “What’s wrong?”