Explosive Alliance

by Susan Sleeman

  TWENTY-THREE

  Krista tried to wrench free from Ian’s bruising grip, but he held fast and dragged her down steep steps. A cold wind whipped through the trees and cut through her shirt. Ian had taken the time to shrug into one of Opa’s jackets hanging on the hook by the door but he’d wanted her to suffer so he denied her a jacket.

  “Stop fighting me, Krista.” Ian’s face was so close she could feel his breath. “You’re the only one who’s going to get hurt.”

  “I’m not stupid. I know you won’t kill me until you find the money.”

  He laughed, an ugly, guttural sound. “Doesn’t mean I won’t make your every remaining moment a nightmare until you talk.”

  A shiver worked over her body.

  “That’s right, sweetheart.” He laughed again. “You should be afraid.”

  He stopped for a moment. Listened. She did, too. Heard nothing but the wind. What was he noticing? He suddenly shook his head and continued on, picking up speed.

  Her foot hit a rock. She tumbled to the ground, a sharp stick slicing into her cheek. She stifled a cry of distress. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing her pain.

  He jerked her to her feet. His fingers bit like a vise under her elbow, making her wince. They moved closer to the trees lining the river. She heard the water rushing downstream.

  Fear threatened to swamp her, and her whole body trembled. He didn’t plan to kill her, but the sound of the water reminded her that things could go wrong. Very wrong. She doubted he had any experience with water torture—what if he misjudged how much she could handle before drowning? Or he could lose his hold on her, leaving the river to catch her and sweep her downstream. With her hands tied, she wouldn’t be able to swim.

  Oh, God, no, she prayed as her heart started pounding.

  Cash’s face came to mind. She wished he was here with her. To help her, yes, but she desperately wanted to look into his eyes one more time and forget her past. Forget everything and tell him that she’d been wrong to fear her feelings for him. That she loved him. Of that, she was now certain. She needed to survive this ordeal so she could tell him.

  * * *

  Gun drawn, Cash eased up to the family room window. He saw Brady tied to a chair, his hands restrained behind his back and a gag around his mouth. No sign of Krista or the man who’d taken Otto hostage. Cash circled around the house to look in other windows. Nearing the back, he saw a short, stocky man holding a gun to Krista’s head and dragging her down the hill by cable ties circling her wrists.

  Relief over seeing her alive nearly brought him to his knees. Fear for her safety as the man moved her steadily toward the river instantly replaced it. Cash wanted to bolt after them, but that would be certain death for her. He needed Brady’s help. He swung back around the house and charged through the door.

  “Otto was in his car. I got him out. He’s safe,” Cash explained as he removed Brady’s gag and cut the ties with his Leatherman. “He told me this guy who has Krista thinks she’s got the missing money.”

  “Guy’s name is Ian Summers.” Brady cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, man. Krista said he was her husband’s friend, or I would never have let him in the house.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Cash felt panic threatening to take him down, but he remembered his Delta training, took a few breaths and focused on the problem instead of the people involved. “Let’s get a better look at where he’s taking Krista and make a plan.”

  Cash grabbed Otto’s bird-watching binoculars on the way out to the deck. He scanned the riverbank, lingering where he saw Summers take Krista into thick scrub. Cash zoomed out to include the water.

  “Summers is putting her into a canoe. We need to get onto the water.” Cash remembered seeing a small motorboat at the neighbor’s house during one of his perimeter checks. He confirmed it was still tied in place, then handed the binoculars to Brady. “Check out the boat. We can use it for a diversion. You head upriver to the boat. I’ll swim underwater to Krista and unsettle Summers.”

  Brady nodded. “With the element of surprise on our side that just might work.”

  “Let’s roll.” Cash took the stairs two at a time, Brady right behind him.

  On the ground, they wordlessly bumped fists and split up. Cash charged through deep grass toward the water. He’d never been so afraid in his life. Not even when he’d lost his team. That was a sad, sorrow-filled day, but the bomb dropped so quickly Cash had no time to be afraid.

  Not today. Today he fought with every breath to keep calm. Their plan had to work. It just had to.

  He moved into position and signaled for Brady to fire up the motor. The rumble sounded through the quiet. He gunned the motor, sending the boat winding crazily downstream. Side to side. Back and forth, he made a spectacle of himself.

  Summers fixed his attention on Brady just as Cash had planned. He shed his shoes and dived into the water. The cold sapped his breath, but he held a Special Ops Diver badge and had experienced far more difficult conditions. He could easily withstand the temperatures long enough to reach Krista.

  He surfaced for a final breath and went back under. He skimmed boulders on the bottom of the river until he caught sight of the canoe above. Careful not to make a sound, he surfaced behind Summers, who sat in the middle of the canoe. Cash gripped the aluminum side with stiff hands and took a few deep breaths. With a sudden burst, he thrust his body up and blindsided Summers, knocking his gun into the river.

  “Cash,” he heard Krista exclaim before Summers lurched to his feet and turned. He wobbled. The canoe bobbed wildly. Summers lost his balance, tipping over the canoe and ripping it from Cash’s hands. Both occupants tumbled into the river.

  “No!” Cash shouted as the current quickly carried Krista downriver with her hands still bound.

  Summers grabbed for Cash’s arm. Cash kneed Summers in the gut. Air hurled from Summers’s throat and he let go.

  Cash set off after Krista. He pumped his arms. Hand over hand. Stroke after stroke, keeping his eyes on her. She sank, then resurfaced. Sank again.

  Father, please, he begged, his muscles burning with fatigue and threatening to seize up.

  He focused on his rhythm instead. Kept moving. Pulling hard. Gaining on her bit by bit. She went under again and didn’t resurface this time. He dived. Searched through murky water. Found her. Dragged her into his arms and pushed to the surface. He surged higher, lifting her head above water.

  She coughed, water spitting from her mouth. She gasped for air and coughed again.

  “It’s okay, honey,” he soothed and trod water as he felt the current pulling them farther downstream. “I’ve got you. Just relax and breathe.”

  He wanted to keep talking to her, but a large outcropping of rocks directly ahead caught his attention. With both arms around her, he couldn’t fight the current and they’d slam into the rocks.

  He looked into her eyes. “I need you to put your legs around my waist and hold on so I can cut your restraints.”

  “Okay.” The word fell from trembling lips.

  She wrapped her legs around him, but there was little strength in the muscles.

  “Hold tight, honey.” He shifted all of her weight to his left arm. The current tried to rip her free, but Cash held fast and retrieved his knife. It took some crazy maneuvering, but he managed to get his Leatherman open and slice the tie. “Can you put your arms around my neck?”

  “They’re so stiff from being tied and the cold.” She slowly moved her arms, groaning when she brought them up around his neck.

  “That’s my girl,” he said as he heard Brady approaching. He’d fished Summers out of the water and held him down in the boat with a boot lodged in his back.

  Brady pulled up next to them and grinned. “Need a ride?”

  Cash rolled his eyes and grab
bed the boat. “Okay, honey,” he said to Krista. “Time to climb in the boat.” He maneuvered them so she could grab the edge.

  “If you don’t want to be a hood ornament for those rocks, you’d best haul yourself into this boat,” Brady warned.

  The rocks loomed in Cash’s peripheral vision. If Brady didn’t want to crash the boat and kill all the occupants, he would have to veer the boat sharply away in mere moments and head upstream. Cash couldn’t get them both in the boat in time, but he could make sure Krista made it. “We only have one chance at this, honey. I’ll give you a push on the count of three, and Brady will grab you, okay?”

  She nodded. He counted and shoved, his body submerging under the water until he felt her lift herself over the edge.

  He popped up in time to see a massive rock not five feet away. “Go!” he shouted at Brady. “Get us turned around and head upstream. I’ll hold on to the side.”

  Brady gunned the engine and turned the bow in a sudden shift. Cash’s arms threatened to wrench from the sockets, but he held fast. The edge of the rock caught his back, tearing his shirt and ripping through his skin.

  Krista fell to her knees and grabbed his wrists. She was so weak from the cold and the strain on her arms that she wasn’t helping much. But looking into the eyes of the woman he loved, he could do anything. No matter the challenge.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  One of Cash’s hands slipped from the boat.

  “Do something, Brady!” Krista screamed. “He’s losing his grip.”

  The boat suddenly stilled. Brady shuffled over her and planted a knee in Ian’s back before grabbing Cash’s hand at the exact moment his other hand let go. Brady groaned from exertion, but he soon had both of Cash’s arms over the edge. He grabbed Cash’s belt and hauled him in. Cash fell on top of Ian, who grumbled.

  Cash coughed out water, cleared his throat hard and stared at Ian. “I’d like to do a whole lot more than fall on you, buddy. If you don’t stop whining, I will.” He turned his focus over to his friend. “Get us to the dock, Brady,” Cash commanded as he slid back toward Krista.

  When he came up beside her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He was chilled to the bone, but just looking at her warmed his soul. “Otto’s at the house waiting for you. I found him in Summers’s car, and he’s fine.”

  Thank You, God, she prayed and suddenly felt so blessed. She looked at Cash. “What about Leo Ketchum? Is he the bomber?”

  Cash nodded. “He says he didn’t ransack your house, though. And obviously he didn’t take Otto.”

  “Ian confessed to breaking in and trashing the house in his search for the money.”

  “Then it looks like this is all over.” He grinned at her. “Just promise me, next time you want to go swimming, you’ll wait until summer.”

  She smiled up at him. “I love that you can joke at a time like this, and I love that you came to my rescue.” She touched his cheek that had somehow gotten a nasty scrape in all the action.

  He drew her closer. “We have to talk. But not with others around.”

  “I agree.” She scooted closer to him. “A talk is most definitely in order.”

  * * *

  At the stairway to the deck at the back of the house, Cash stepped closer to Krista and wrapped his arm around her. He needed to keep touching her as proof that she hadn’t been seriously harmed. She snuggled closer. A shock of emotions shot through his body and made his heart soar.

  This was right. She was right. They were right. So right.

  “Hey, Krista,” Brady called from behind.

  They both turned to look at him as he handed Summers off to a patrol officer.

  “I’m sorry,” Brady said. “I never should’ve let this creep in the house.”

  “We thought he was a friend. You couldn’t have known.” She smiled. “Besides, you saved my hide in the end and that’s all that matters.”

  “Okay, then.” He fired off a salute and they continued up the stairs.

  “I didn’t know what to think of Brady at first,” she said. “But he’s starting to grow on me.”

  Cash glanced back at his buddy. “He doesn’t pull any punches even if you want him to, but he’s as loyal and dependable as the day is long. I’m proud to call him my friend.”

  “You’ve got a lot of friends on your team.”

  “That I do,” he said and decided right then and there that he was done keeping them all at arm’s length. Life was just too short not to appreciate and enjoy good people.

  The door swung open, and Otto hobbled out. “Liebchen. You are safe. And you, too, Cash.” Otto lifted his face to the sky. “Thank You, Father, for Your protection.”

  Krista threw herself into Otto’s arms, nearly knocking him over. Cash couldn’t believe she had any strength left. “It was Toby’s friend. Ian Summers. He did it. Toby wasn’t involved at all.”

  “I knew my instincts about Toby were right on target.” Otto leaned back and smiled at her. “And might I remind you that I told you your judgment was sound all along, and Toby was a good man.”

  “I should have listened to you.”

  His smile broadened. “Say that louder, my strong-willed granddaughter, so Cash can hear.”

  They laughed together, and Cash’s heart filled with happiness as he watched them. What a pair. Otto was quite a man, and Krista was an amazing woman. They stood for everything Cash was aching for. A home. Family. Unconditional love and acceptance. Lifelong love and togetherness. He needed those things in his life. Needed Krista. Forever.

  A cold wind howled through the woods and whipped across the elevated deck. She shivered.

  Cash was over to her in a flash, a protective arm going around her and hugging her close. “We should change into dry clothes.”

  He escorted her inside and reluctantly released her so she could shower while he did the same thing in Otto’s bathroom. After he’d dressed in a pair of scrubs Darcie kept in the rig, he went to the family room. The FRS team had settled in, taking over the small room and making themselves at home. Otto was napping in his bedroom. Hopefully, this episode hadn’t damaged his health.

  Krista hadn’t come out of her room so Cash took a seat on the sofa next to Darcie where he could see Krista the minute she walked in. Veronica was near the door, packing up her equipment, and Brady was explaining to the other FRS team members how Summers had duped Toby.

  Cash wondered if learning about Toby’s innocence would ease Krista’s distrust of men or add to it. Toby hadn’t scammed people, but he’d still kept a big secret.

  Just as Cash was doing. He had to get time alone with Krista to tell her about his past. Unfortunately, it was looking as if it would take a bomb to get his teammates to leave.

  Krista stepped into the room wearing heavy fleece pants and a thick sweatshirt. Her hair was still wet, but her cheeks were rosy.

  “Here, take my spot.” Cash jumped to his feet and helped her to the sofa. He sat on the arm, staying as close to her as he could. All eyes were on Krista, and it wasn’t hard to see how uncomfortable she felt.

  She lifted her chin and pulled back her shoulders. “Someone might as well come out and say what you’re all thinking.”

  “Where’s the money?” Brady said with his usual grin.

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “Of course it would be you to speak first.”

  “You can always count on Brady for that.” Darcie winked at him. “But we love him anyway.”

  “So-o-o.” He fixed his gaze on Krista. “About the money.”

  Krista slid to the edge of the sofa as if uncertain where she should start.

  “Hey, sweetie,” Darcie rushed in. “Don’t freak out. We don’t think you took it. We’re just wondering what you think Toby did with it.”

  �
��I have no idea.”

  “If it was so easy to locate, the detectives would have found it,” Skyler said.

  Chewing on her lip, Veronica approached them. “I hope you don’t mind, but I have an idea.”

  “Go on,” Jake suggested.

  She gestured at the desk in the corner with a computer and laser printer. “Was Toby tech savvy?”

  Krista nodded. “He kept up on all the latest trends, but Ian told me he already searched the computer.” She shivered and clutched her arms around her waist.

  Cash hated seeing her suffer from the memory. He squeezed her shoulder. She looked at him and smiled. Soft, sweet and—dare he hope—trusting?

  Veronica took a step closer. “Maybe what you’re looking for isn’t in the computer. Maybe it’s in the printer.”

  “I don’t understand,” Krista said. “You think there’s a jam or something? But it wouldn’t work then, would it?”

  “I’m not talking about paper. It’s not common knowledge, but many laser printers have internal hard drives. The drive writes images of items that have been scanned, printed or copied to the hard drive.”

  “If Toby knew that,” Skyler said excitedly, “he might have copied a page that gave the location of the money.”

  “Sounds brilliant to me,” Darcie said. “No one would think to look there, right?”

  “Um, Darcie.” Brady grinned. “Veronica just did.”

  She swatted a hand at him. “Obviously no one thought to look in the last four years.”

  “Can you check it out, Veronica?” Krista asked.

  “Yes, but not here. We’ll have to take the printer in where we can image the hard drive first.”

  “Like you did with the flash drive?” Cash asked.

  She nodded. “But before you get excited, not all printers have a hard drive.” She pulled out her phone. “If you give me a minute, I can find the specifications for this one online.”

  All eyes remained on Veronica. Time ticked by slowly and everyone sat quietly in anticipation. Even Brady’s foot had stilled.