“We’re on the way. And, Kaitlyn, we found your dog.”
Bentley. As she hung up the phone, Kaitlyn blinked back tears. The small pet represented so much, a start at things she’d never had. A home, friends and maybe someday a family—as she knew her gradual healing would become stronger each day.
She thought of Reed, ached to hear his voice. She debated calling him, too, but since she didn’t know if he might be at Alex’s, she didn’t.
Instead, she went to the front of the store and locked the door, turning out the lights. She’d sit in the dark and wait until Zoe and Brock showed up.
* * *
Damn cell phone kept ringing. One hand on the steering wheel, Reed glanced at it. Caller ID showed it was Brock McCauley. No doubt he wanted to try and talk Reed out of doing something foolish. Doubts and warnings weren’t something he was in the mood to hear. Brock called again, then Zoe. Finally, Brock flipped the ringer to Off, and stuck the phone back in his pocket.
The FBI agents’ unmarked vehicle rode his tail, right behind him. Reed grinned, adrenaline making him feel savage. No doubt those agents were making frantic calls to get their warrant in place. At least he hoped so. Because he knew better than most that there was no way he would be able to get inside Alex’s mansion without it.
Kaitlyn. Her name kept running through his head like a mantra. Right now, she’d have shut down, all the light gone from her bright blue eyes. The bastard better not have touched her, or there’d be hell to pay.
As he approached the massive gates, Reed pulled over. The agents parked right behind him.
The taller of the two got out, his black suit flapping in the breeze. “You need to wait here,” he ordered. “Our team is on the way with the warrant.”
Reed nodded. “She’s in there somewhere. We’ve got to get her out.”
Just as he finished speaking, gunfire rang out.
The agent shoved Reed to the ground. “Take cover. Follow me.” The two of them crab-walked, putting Reed’s truck between them and the structure.
Reed pointed. “The house is too far away for anyone firing from inside to have a prayer of hitting us. I’m thinking this might be something else entirely.”
“Maybe. But we’re not taking any chances.”
For the next moment, all was silent. The other agent spoke into his phone. Reed heard him say, “Shots fired.”
The words had barely left his mouth when another round of gunfire erupted.
“Damn it,” the first agent said. “We need our team. What’s their ETA?”
“Less than five.”
“Then we take cover and wait.”
* * *
Headlights lit up the darkness as a car pulled into the parking lot. Overly cautious, Kaitlyn stayed hidden, peering out from in between the slats of the blinds. When she saw Brock and Zoe, she ran to unlock the door.
“Oh my gosh, you had us so worried.” Zoe enveloped her in a fierce hug. “Why on earth did you go running off like that?”
Kaitlyn shook her head, blinking back unwanted tears. “I didn’t,” she said, and told them what had happened. “I checked to make sure I didn’t kill George when I hit him with the skillet. He still had a pulse, but I don’t know what kind of condition he’s in.”
Remembering the video camera, she winced. “And since he left the camera recording, whoever finds him will have a clear picture of me knocking him out.”
“George deserves what he got,” Zoe said. “The nerve of that man, wearing a uniform and pretending to be a real law enforcement officer. I can’t believe he took advantage of his position and betrayed the public trust.”
“That’s it.” Brock raged. “I’m calling Roger. He needs to know what his deputies are up to.”
“Wait.” Kaitlyn grabbed his arm. “What if the entire sheriff’s office is on Alex’s payroll?”
“Maybe some of them are, like George. But Roger Giles is a good man. He takes being a sheriff seriously. There’s no way he’d get in bed with someone like Alex.”
Kaitlyn glanced at Zoe, who nodded. “He tried his best to help me when Shayna disappeared, though at the time I didn’t feel he did enough. He’s honest.”
“Maybe we should feel him out first,” Kaitlyn said. Despite her best efforts, her voice shook a little. “Just to be safe. You never know about some people.”
“I’m calling him.” Brock took out his phone. “But if it makes you feel better, I’ll scope him out first.”
Slowly, she nodded. This, too, was part of the growing part. Learning to trust others.
“Do you know where the mobile home is located?” Brock asked.
“Yes. I drove to town from there.” She gave him a quick set of directions, which he jotted down.
Punching in a number, he asked to speak with the sheriff and moved away to have his conversation with a modicum of privacy.
“Where’s Bentley?” Kaitlyn asked, looking around for her pup. “I was so worried about him.”
“He’s out in the truck. I left the AC on, so he’d stay cool. I’ll go get him and bring him in.” Zoe went out. A moment later, she returned carrying the squirming bundle of fur. She placed him on the ground. He yipped once and launched himself at Kaitlyn.
She laughed as she caught him midleap. Whimpering, he licked her nose, her cheek, her chin. “He missed me,” Kaitlyn said, amazed and delighted.
“He knows you’re his mama.” Zoe smiled. “It kinda warms the heart.”
It sure did. Kaitlyn smiled back, still tussling with her dog. “I won’t lose you again, little guy.”
Brock returned. “Roger is pissed. He had no idea. He tried to get a hold of George, but no answer. I told him George is probably still unconscious. He sent a patrol car out to the location you mentioned. He also sent a couple of guys to retrieve the squad car. I told him where you’d left it.”
Suddenly nervous, Kaitlyn nodded. “Now what.”
Brock sighed, dragging his hand through his hair. “I’ve been trying to call Reed, but he doesn’t answer. I’ve left him a message, though, so I’m sure he’ll get in touch when he can.”
“I’m worried about him,” Kaitlyn confessed. “I don’t think he understands how ruthless Alex can be. Worse, I think Alex might be on to him.”
“Reed can take care of himself,” Brock said, patting her shoulder in reassurance. “We’ve got to keep our focus where it belongs. Taking down Alex Ramirez. That’s what Reed wants. To get justice for Tim’s murder and to clear his name.”
She nodded, though right now she’d trade Reed’s safety for Alex’s arrest. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something had gone very wrong.
* * *
More gunshots rang out, tearing up the side of the government-issue vehicle. Reed cursed, not entirely sure what the hell Alex was up to.
Finally, the SWAT team and their armored vehicle came rolling up. They stopped, acknowledged the two agents with Reed, and then crashed through the gates, heading toward the mansion.
Reed and the other agents jumped in their bullet-riddled car and followed behind.
As the SWAT vehicle reached the front of the mansion, the vehicle’s back door swung open and armed men poured out. Normally, Reed supposed they would have stopped and contacted the homeowner to inform him of the warrant.
The fact that they’d been fired on changed all that.
Using some sort of makeshift battering ram, the SWAT team crashed through the double doors, splintering the expensive mahogany and shattering leaded glass.
“Stay back with us,” the FBI agents told him. “We don’t go in until the place is cleared.”
“Gotcha.” Reed looked around. “At least they’ve stopped shooting.”
“For now,” the man agreed. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”
The team fanned out, leaving one agent to stay with Reed. Babysitting. It pissed him off to no end, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
He was forced to stand in one place
, fuming, while the agents searched.
Finally, one of the men returned.
“She’s not here.” The FBI agent didn’t look too happy. In fact, judging from the grim set of his mouth, the man was downright furious. “And Alex Ramirez is saying he has no idea what you’re talking about. He claims his fiancée is still missing.”
“That’s bull.” Teeth clenched, Reed shoved his fingers through his hair. “Just this morning he told me he had her back.”
“Yeah, that’s another thing. Mr. Ramirez claims you’re a disgruntled employee. Are you—or were you—working for him?”
Reed didn’t even bother to answer. This agent hadn’t been with the two who’d come to him asking for his help. This guy clearly didn’t know what was going on.
Brushing past two more people with FBI on their black jackets, Reed hurried up the staircase. When he reached Kaitlyn’s room, he entered and remembering, turned and shot the camera the bird.
A sound behind him made him freeze. Straightening, he turned.
“What are you doing in here?” It was the agent who’d hassled him downstairs.
“Just looking around,” Reed said easily. “Hoping to find clues.”
The man tilted his head. “How did you know this was Kaitlyn’s room? And that there was a camera in the corner for you to flip off?”
The hair on the back of Reed’s neck rose. “You work for Alex, don’t you?”
Instead of answering, the FBI agent pulled his gun. “One move, and I’ll shoot you. I can always say you tried to grab my weapon.”
Except for the camera. Reed resisted glancing up at it.
“Whatever,” he said. “Since you work for the bureau, you should know Alex is under investigation. Getting rid of me isn’t going to help him at all.” He took a deep breath. “If you’re going to shoot me, you might as well do it now. Otherwise, I’m going to walk away.”
The other man stared at him, his gun still raised. Reed shook his head and brushed past him, his heart pounding hard in his chest. He made it to the door when the agent shouted at him to stop.
Instead, Reed leaped around the corner. The bullet hit the door frame. Reed cursed. He couldn’t believe the idiot had really fired at him.
Instantly, two agents appeared, the two who’d first asked for Reed’s help. They ran down the hall toward him, weapons drawn. Reed pointed, legs shaky.
Just as they reached the doorway, another shot rang out.
Followed by a thud.
Exchanging glances, one of the men asked the other to cover him and, leading with his pistol, swung around the corner.
“Clear,” he shouted. “He’s dead.”
Reed followed the other agent into the room. The blood spatter and brain matter made him feel like he might puke.
Damn. The man had shot himself. Reed could hardly believe it. “I don’t understand,” he said.
“You need to leave.” The first agent took Reed’s arm, steering him toward the door. “This is a crime scene now. Can’t let you accidently contaminate the evidence.”
“Evidence? This clearly was a suicide.”
“We still have to investigate it. Now get out.”
Slowly, Reed nodded and began backing away. He had to figure out who he could trust. And most important, find out where the hell Alex had stashed Kaitlyn. Clearly, she wasn’t in the mansion.
He made it to the front door before someone stopped him. The man wore a suit but had the look of either a federal agent or a drug kingpin. Reed instantly suspected he was another one of the agents in Alex’s employ.
“Reed Westbrook?”
Wary, Reed nodded an affirmative.
The man twisted Reed’s arm behind him, whipped out a pair of handcuffs and slapped them on Reed. “You’re under arrest. Anything you might say can and will be used against you.”
Dumbfounded, at first Reed couldn’t move. “On what charge?”
“Kidnapping and extortion, to begin with. We know you took Kaitlyn Nuhn and tried to extort Alex Ramirez. We also know a deputy sheriff has disappeared and you’re considered a prime suspect.”
* * *
Set up. Once he’d been booked, he was strip-searched, his belongings taken from him, and assigned an orange jumpsuit. Next Reed had been dumped in a holding cell until his court-appointed lawyer arrived.
It all felt way too familiar. And the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that this time, too, there would be no true justice. Not for him, not for Kaitlyn.
As far as he could tell, he’d been locked up in some county jail, not Dallas county, but smaller. Maybe Kaufman County, since that was on the way toward Dallas. Which made absolutely no sense.
If the FBI had brought him in, he would be in FBI custody, wouldn’t he? Reed didn’t know, as he’d never been arrested on federal charges before.
He’d asked his court-appointed attorney, when that person finally showed up.
Instead of the lawyer, one of the dark-suited feds came into the room, his expression sober. “I can’t believe you tried to play us. Don’t you realize we find everything out sooner or later?”
“Play you?” Reed grimaced, pretty damn sure whatever he said was going to fall on deaf ears. “I’m not the one doing that. Alex Ramirez is.”
The agent began shaking his head before Reed even finished. “We have you on video, Reed. We have you boasting to a sheriff’s deputy that Alex was paying you fifty thousand dollars.”
Reed bit back a groan. “If you bother to listen to the entire conversation, you’ll hear I said that for information. George Putchinski is actually on Alex’s payroll. I told him that to try and find out who had Kaitlyn. That morning, Alex told me he’d located her and had no more need for my services.”
The man stared at Reed, tapping his pencil on the table in staccato fashion. “You do realize, the more elaborate the story, the easier it is to trip yourself up?”
“It isn’t a story.” Frustrated, Reed wanted to lash out. This interview reminded him uncomfortably of the one after which he’d been wrongfully convicted of armed robbery.
“What about the gunshots?” he asked, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. “Alex’s people shot at federal agents when we pulled up to his estate.”
“He showed us the gate camera. He saw you and two men. He felt threatened. He says he shot you in self-defense.”
“That’s bull,” Reed protested hotly. “All of this is. Don’t you see what he’s doing?”
“Reed.” The agent leaned close, fixing Reed with a hard glare. “We also have you on tape asking Alex Ramirez for money. Any one of these things alone is enough to make an arrest. All three of them? A surefire conviction. And with your previous record...”
Realizing everything had been heavily edited, Reed asked for a lawyer. Unfortunately, he’d come to accept the truth in what Kaitlyn had warned him about.
He had no idea who to trust. And worse, no idea where Kaitlyn was or who actually had her.
* * *
Kaitlyn had never actually met Roger Giles, the sheriff. From the faces she made when his name came up, Zoe didn’t seem to like him much, but Brock was all smiles as he welcomed the man into the feed store.
Roger listened without interrupting until the entire story was out. In the silence that followed, Kaitlyn found herself silently praying that he, too, wasn’t on Alex’s payroll.
“Our only hope is the media,” he finally announced.
“But what if Alex owns people there, too?” Kaitlyn couldn’t help but ask.
“He can’t have every station in his pocket. We’ll alert the NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX affiliates in Dallas. I’ll also make sure the story is picked up by the Associated Press.”
Kaitlyn glanced at Zoe to see what she thought. Zoe nodded. “That makes sense. I take it you’re going to call a press conference?”
“Yes.”
“How will you protect her until then?” Brock asked, sounding protective.
Roger smile
d to show he appreciated the concern. “First off, I’m not going to give them much time. They can either use their choppers to get their reporters here, or miss out on the story. Second, I’m going to state the press conference will be held at the sheriff’s department, so anyone looking to silence you will go there. Once everyone is assembled, I’ll bring them here.”
“Sounds good.” Brock glanced back at Kaitlyn and winked. “You’ve just got to stay hidden a little bit longer.”
She nodded. “What about Reed? We need to make sure he’s safe.”
Before anyone could answer, Roger’s cell phone rang. He listened, grunted a thanks and ended the call. “Alex Ramirez has just announced a press conference of his own.”
Kaitlyn’s heart dropped all the way to her feet. “For what? What could he possibly have to say?”
Roger flashed a grim smile. “I don’t know. But since he beat us to the punch, let’s hear him out. Once we find out what he’s up to, we’ll have a better idea how to proceed.”
“Where’s it at? His mansion?”
“No. Surprisingly, he’s asked to have it here in town. At Sue’s Catfish Hut.” He shrugged. “No idea why.”
Kaitlyn knew why. Even now, Alex the ultimate politician, was motivated by votes. “He’s seeking a warm, homespun environment to spin whatever lie he’s planning.” She took a deep breath. “Try Reed again.”
Brock did, grimacing. “The call went straight to voice mail. Like his phone is turned off.” He met Kaitlyn’s eyes. “Hopefully he’ll call when he can and let us know what’s going on.”
Though she tried to fight the panic, she couldn’t shake the sense that something had gone majorly wrong. But seeing the concern in everyone’s face as they watched her, she managed to nod.
“Maybe you folks ought to come with me,” Roger said.
“No.” Brock, Zoe and Kaitlyn all spoke at once.
Roger cocked his head. “Okay. Then tell me, what are ya’ll planning to do?”
“We’ll stay holed up here,” Brock told him. “With the door locked and the front lights off. No one will look for Kaitlyn here.”
“And we have a television in the back room, so we can catch Alex’s press conference.” Zoe looked grim. “Thanks for your help.” She sounded anything but thankful.
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