by Debbie Mason
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing. He’s my best friend, and he’s in trouble.”
“I’ve got him, Jack. I’m not going to let anything happen to him. I’ve gotta go.” Just as she disconnected, Gage’s voice came over the radio. She could hear a hysterical Brandi in the background. Jill told him the same thing she’d told Jack, then added, “He has no reason to harm Trent and Annie, Gage. Just remember that, okay?”
He needed something to hang on to. So did she. The knowledge that Sawyer was smart, in great shape, and strong helped. Both physically and mentally, Steve Dawson was no match for Sawyer. He could take the man easily. Unless Steve was armed. Jill would like to believe that as an ex-con it would be impossible for him to get a gun, but she knew that wasn’t necessarily true. Where there was a will, there was a way. And he didn’t need a permit for a knife.
“Where are you?” Gage asked, his voice low and gruff.
She turned off the siren. “Five minutes from the plant.”
“How the hell did you get there so fast…Never mind, just hang back until you have backup. We should be there within twenty minutes.”
“Too long,” she said as the cruiser jolted over the bumps and dips on the dirt road. She slowed down. She didn’t want to announce her arrival. When she rounded a bend in the road, she made out the plant through the trees. Sawyer’s truck was there along with a white commercial van. The logo of the construction company Steve had worked for was on the side panel. Her fingers grew sweaty on the wheel, her heart racing. “He’s here. I’m going to park on the road and walk in. There’s good coverage. I’ll be fine.”
“All right, dammit, but you keep yourself safe. I mean it, Jill. Keep your radio—”
“No, I’m going silent, Gage. I can’t risk him getting spooked. See you in twenty,” she said, then turned off her radio and pulled off the gravel road. She got out of the cruiser, carefully closed the door, and locked it. Then she headed down a small incline toward the plant. She stayed low, using the trees and scrub brush for cover. She did a quick scan of the area before sprinting across the clearing to the parked vehicles. She crouched behind Sawyer’s truck, relieved to see no signs of violence or blood. Then she heard a dull thumping coming from the back of Steve’s van. As she moved to approach, a shot rang out.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The first shot was followed quickly by a second and then a third. They were fired from within the warehouse. She heard the ping of one hitting metal, the sound of a man crying out in pain. She couldn’t make out who it was, but she was betting it wasn’t Steve. Somehow the bastard had gotten hold of a gun. The thumping in the van grew louder.
Jill crouched down and duck-walked the few feet. When she reached the cover of the van, she straightened and opened the door. Trent and Annie sat with their backs together, their wrists and ankles bound with ropes, their mouths gagged. Relief surged through her that they appeared to be unharmed, traumatized from the looks in their eyes, but physically okay. Someone inside the warehouse wasn’t.
She jumped inside the van, removing the gags from their mouths first. “As soon as I untie you, you’re going to run through the bush and up to my patrol car. I’ll cover you until you’re out of sight. How many guns does Steve have? Does he have any other weapons that you could see?” she asked as she removed the knife from her utility belt and cut the rope binding their ankles.
Trent followed her lead and whispered back, “One, I think. Maybe a hunting knife, too.”
“The gun looked like yours, Jill,” Annie said.
Good girl. That’s exactly the information Jill needed. A Glock was accurate at close range, not so much at a distance. She couldn’t be sure of the size of the magnum, but on the high side, he’d have fifteen rounds. He’d used three unless… “Did you hear any gunshots before the last ones? Did he have any more clips?”
Annie shook her head and rubbed her wrists. “No. I didn’t see any.”
“Great. You guys are doing awesome. Now let’s get you out of here. Just let me check first.” She jumped from the van and scanned the area. She heard a crash from within the warehouse, then a shouted curse. Now that sounded like Steve. She helped the kids out of the van and gave them a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be fine.” She pointed to where her patrol car was and handed Annie the keys. “Your dad’s on his way. I want you to run that way, and not in a straight line, okay? Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.”
Annie’s eyes filled with tears. “Sawyer and Mr. Dane—”
“Don’t let him get away, Jill. Don’t let my… Steve get away.”
She pulled them both to her and gave them a quick hug. “Sawyer and Calder will be all right. And trust me, Trent. Steve isn’t going anywhere but jail. Now go, run.”
As she watched the kids race across the clearing, Jill turned on her radio and gave Gage an update, ordering an ambulance for whoever had been hit. Once Annie and Trent disappeared from view, she ran toward the warehouse with her gun drawn. Right now she had the element of surprise. She prayed that would work to her advantage.
With her back to the building, she turned her head to see if she could hear anything. As she listened, she worked on relaxing her muscles and slowing her racing heart. She had to believe Sawyer and Calder were all right. If she planned on keeping them that way, she didn’t need her reaction time impaired by fear.
Another crash and the sound of breaking glass came from within the warehouse. Jill judged it to have come from somewhere around the middle of the plant and on the opposite side to her. She didn’t have time to waste. She ran for the entrance doors. She carefully inched one open and shouldered her way inside, allowing in as little light as possible. She crouched down, scanning the space.
The plant was the size of a football field. The only light came from the windows, but she could make out the basic layout. Three rows of conveyor belts, boilers at one end, various types of bulky machinery in the center aisles, and other equipment like rolling ladders and metal shelving throughout. Lots of places for Sawyer and Calder to hide. But if she had to guess, she figured they were hiding out in the offices at the far end of the second level. They were accessible by a set of metal stairs. The window in what appeared to be the main office had a clear view of the floor.
Jill slipped off her boots, then made a run for the boiler across from her.
“I’m getting tired of playing hide-and-seek, Anderson. The old man must be bleeding out by now. You want him to live, come on out and face me like a man.”
Steve was one aisle over from her, closer than Jill had thought. She knew Sawyer, and if there was any truth to what Steve said, she had only moments to act before… She heard the door of the office open and cursed under her breath before yelling, “Steve, you’re surrounded. Drop your weapon.”
He turned in the direction of her voice and fired. She ducked behind the boiler, the bullet pinging off the conveyor belt. She heard him running in the opposite direction, toward Sawyer and the office. “Sawyer, shut the door and get down,” she shouted. Not waiting to see if he listened to her, Jill edged around the boiler in case she’d misjudged the direction Steve had taken. She hadn’t; he had a foot on the first step leading to the upper level. She had no choice. She ran several feet, closing the distance between them, and got in position. “This is your last warning, drop your weapon or I will shoot.”
He spun around with his gun raised. She fired. He jerked back, clutching his shoulder. He started to raise his gun again. “Drop it. It’s over.” She recognized the hopeless look that came over his face and, before he got off another shot, she fired again. Shooting the gun out of his hand. She kicked it out of the way, holstered her own, then flipped him onto his stomach, Mirandizing him as she cuffed him. She turned on her radio. “Suspect is contained. Repeat, suspect is contained.” She looked up to see Sawyer carrying Calder from the office. The older man’s pant leg was cut off at the knee, the fabric tied above the bleeding wound. “We have one male victim with a gun
shot wound in a lower extremity. Suspect has a gunshot wound to the upper right shoulder and hand. Ambulance ETA?” Jill asked as she hauled Dawson to his feet.
He struggled, cursing her out and threatening to charge her with excessive force.
“Two minutes,” Suze said at the same time Brad ran up the aisle. Jill handed off Dawson to the deputy. Brad gave her a fist bump. “Good job, Jill.”
“Thanks,” she said with a smile, turning as Sawyer came down the stairs. Her gaze moved over him, searching for injury. Tension and adrenalin were replaced with relief that he was unhurt. Their eyes met and held. “You okay?” she asked.
“I’m good. You?” he asked, even though he’d visually checked her over the same way she had him.
“Better now that I know you’re both okay. You had us worried.” She wanted to touch him and kiss him and hold him. Tell him that she was sorry and that she loved him. But she felt awkward, unable to read the emotion in his eyes.
“I know how that feels,” he said quietly as they walked down the aisle to the front of the warehouse. “You should have waited for backup.”
She glanced at him. “It may have been too late if I did. You shouldn’t have opened the office door. You could have been shot.”
He lifted a shoulder, then nodded at Calder, who appeared to be barely conscious. “Didn’t see that I had much choice.”
Jill touched the older man’s arm. “Calder, you’re going to be fine. The ambulance is here to take you to the hospital. They’ll take good care of you.”
“Thank you. You too, Sawyer.” His voice was whisper thin, his eyes half open, but at least he was talking.
The paramedics met them when they reached the front doors. As Sawyer helped the men settle Calder on the stretcher, Jill gathered up her boots and put them on. Once Calder was belted in, they followed the paramedics as they wheeled him out the doors. Patrol cars, two ambulances, and several vehicles crowded the warehouse parking lot. People were piling out of cars and SUVs, including her brother, Brandi, Nell, and Madison. Gage was standing beside his patrol car with Annie in his arms and a hand on Trent’s shoulder.
If Jill wanted a few moments alone with Sawyer, she had to act fast. “Sawyer, I wanted to talk to you for a minute. Do you think—”
He looked down at her, then glanced in Brandi and Trent’s direction. “I better check on them first. They’ll both be shaken up. I’ll—”
“I won’t keep you,” she said, struggling to keep the hurt from her voice. She started to walk away.
She heard him curse softly, then his hand closed around her arm. He turned her to face him. “Why do you keep walking away from me? You didn’t give—” He broke off as Brandi and Trent ran to him. He gathered the sobbing mother and son in his arms, looking at Jill over their heads.
He’d made his choice. She clenched her jaw to stop her chin from quivering and walked toward her brother, who was talking to Gage and Madison. Annie broke away from her father and mother and ran into Jill’s arms. It felt good to hang on to someone. “You should be proud of your daughter,” she said to Gage and Madison when they joined them. “She’s brave, observant, too.”
“She thinks you’re the bomb,” Gage informed her with a smile, rubbing his daughter’s head. “So do I. What you did…” His chest expanded on a deep, inward breath. “That was probably some of the finest investigative work I’ve ever seen. You followed your gut, and your instincts were right on. I’m not only recommending to the town council that you take over for me as sheriff, I’ll be your campaign manager.”
“Sorry honey, that job’s mine. You can be my assistant though,” Madison said, pulling Jill in for a hug. “I can’t ever thank you enough.”
“Just doing my job,” Jill said, a little overwhelmed by the attention and support.
“Yeah, I heard all about what you did,” her brother said, curving his hand around her neck to give it a gentle squeeze. He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t sell yourself short.”
“Your brother’s right, Jill,” said a familiar deep voice from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder. She might have appreciated Sawyer’s comment more if he didn’t have his arm around Brandi’s shoulders. Even as Jill processed the thought, she knew it was unfair. Brandi had every right to lean on him after what she’d been through.
Both Madison and Annie released her. The young girl went to stand with her boyfriend, glancing at her father before shyly taking Trent’s hand. Gage blew out a breath while Madison placed a hand on her husband’s arm.
Brandi offered Jill a watery smile. “Thank you. Gage told us that, if it wasn’t for how quickly you put everything together, things might have—” She lifted her hand, placing it over her mouth.
“You should be proud of Trent. Both he and Annie were great,” Jill said, once again feeling guilty for begrudging Brandi Sawyer’s support.
Jack went to his best friend and hugged him. “You had all of us worried, buddy. I don’t know how my sister kept it together. She—”
“I’ll see you all later. I, ah, have to get back to the station.” Jill cut her brother off before he embarrassed her by telling Sawyer she loved him in front of the woman he’d moved on with. “Come on, Jack. Walk me to my car.”
“But—”
“Jack.” She widened her eyes at him and nudged her head in the direction of her car then, having made her point, started walking. Did he follow her? No, of course he didn’t. She bowed her head when she heard him talking to Sawyer.
“Any reason in particular why you wanted to shut your brother up?” Sawyer asked when he caught up to her a few moments later.
She ground her teeth and stared straight ahead. “You should get back to Brandi and Trent.”
“Jack’s taking them home. I’ll go over later. I thought you wanted to talk to me.”
“Nope, I got my answer.”
“Interesting, I don’t remember you asking me a question or answering one.”
“You made your choice. It wasn’t me.”
“Is that right? So now you’re not only Christmas’s top cop, you’re psychic, too?”
Sawyer nudged her to side of the road as the ambulances drove by with their sirens on.
“I don’t need to be psychic to know that you’ve moved on with Brandi. Everyone in town saw the picture of the two of you at the restaurant. And—”
His mouth lifted at the corner. “Three. The three of us at the restaurant.”
“Whatever. You were looking pretty cozy. Well, that’s what everyone keeps telling me. And I saw Brandi today in her man-hunting outfit, and she bought you your favorite pumpkin spice cupcakes.”
“Man-hunting outfit?” He shook his head with a laugh. “Babe, that would be her win-the-new-principal-over outfit. The cupcakes were for him. It was parent-teacher interviews today. The principal isn’t happy with Trent’s grades and threatened to suspend him from extracurricular activities until they improved.”
“Oh, I…” She trailed off, glancing up at him as he started backing her off the side of the road and into a tree. She closed her fingers around his forearm. “What are you—”
“It’s not me who moved on, Jill. That was you. You shut me out of your life. Are you trying to tell me you want to let me back in?”
“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to tell you. But you were”—she gestured at the warehouse—“busy with Brandi and Trent.”
“That’s what friends do. They comfort one another.”
“Brandi’s not just a friend. She’s in love with you.”
“Nope, she was looking for a father for Trent. But she does think I’m hot and would totally jump my bones if I wanted her to.”
She crossed her arms. “I don’t think you’re funny.”
The amusement left his face. “I love you. I haven’t stopped. It’s you, Jill. You’re the one who keeps walking away from me, from us. I asked you to marry me. Maybe you don’t remember, but you said no.”
She touched his face and held his g
aze. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. For shutting you out and not being there for you like you tried to be there for me. I thought you’d convinced yourself you loved me because of the baby. But after talking to Jack, I realized that you really did love me.”
He angled his head. “Really? After everything I’ve said and done, you didn’t believe me. Yet one word from your brother and—”
She lifted up on her toes and touched her mouth to his. “I’m sorry. I love you.” She drew back at the look in his eyes. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Jill, I’ve told you I loved you about a hundred times. You’ve only told me once before now. The night at my apartment, and you said you were drunk.”
This was not the reaction she was hoping for. She wanted him to take her in his arms and kiss her until she melted into a puddle of lust. Swear his undying love. “I wasn’t drunk. I’ve loved you since I was ten and you let me tag along with you and Jack. I’ve loved you since you taught me to skate. Since the day you caught me skipping school and didn’t tell on me. I’ve loved you forever, Sawyer Anderson.”
He smiled. “Those are the memories of a little girl. But the woman I know, she keeps walking away from me. So—”
“I saved you!”
He started to laugh. “Yeah, you did. But that’s who you are. It’s your job. Sometimes, babe, actions speak louder than words.”
“Okay, how about this?” She fisted her hands in his plaid shirt and dragged his mouth to hers. She put every one of her feelings for him into the kiss: love, lust, admiration, hope, friendship, even the pain of their loss. For several beats of her heart, she wasn’t sure he would respond. But then his hands cupped the back of her head, protecting her from the rough bark of the tree as he responded with a long, slow kiss that left little doubt he wanted her. If it had, his body pressed against hers would have wiped them away. She felt his heat, his desire, as much as she felt her own.