Trail of Secrets

by Sandra Robbins

  Her face flamed with anger. “When you get home?”

  He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands at his sides. “Yes. You’re not going with me. Now let’s get out of here before somebody comes by and recognizes me.”

  She started to say something else, but after a moment she whirled around and stormed toward the car. She climbed inside and slammed the door closed. Seth hesitated a moment and stared at her through the windshield, but she refused to look him in the eye.

  Her anger was understandable. She wanted the person caught who had tried to kill her and her uncle. He wanted that, too, but not at the expense of putting her life in danger again. Carlos Allen had been on his way to a lifetime career in crime when Seth had first encountered him. It surprised him to think that somehow he had managed to stay under the radar all these years, enough to keep out of jail. Being picked for hit jobs wasn’t something that went to inexperienced guys, so he must have been active in criminal circles all this time.

  If so, why hadn’t he surfaced before now? Finding out what he’d been doing for the past few years was just one more secret to be unraveled. Seth hoped the stakeout he planned for tonight would lead to many questions being answered.

  * * *

  Callie took a bite of the cheeseburger on her plate, washed it down with a sip of her soft drink and glanced around the room. The proprietor, whose name tag identified him as Sam, had frowned when she’d first walked in. With its high-carb, high-fat menu, the single women who came in here probably weren’t his favorite customers, but he had lightened up some when she ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Lucky for her this place was a grill as well as a bar. She’d never been a drinker and wouldn’t have known what to say if all Sam served was alcohol.

  Now she sat in the back booth and kept a watch on every patron who walked in the door of Sam’s Bar and Grill. So far most of those who had entered didn’t come close to matching what she remembered about Carlos’s size and appearance. Even if she was able to recognize him, she had no idea what she would do. She couldn’t walk up to him and accuse him of trying to kill her.

  But then, what if he recognized her? Her heart lurched at the thought. Maybe coming here hadn’t been such a good idea after all. She would never have done it if Seth had just given in and let her accompany him, maybe sit in a police car around the corner. When he’d refused, she’d become so angry that she was determined she was going to be at Sam’s Bar and Grill to see firsthand what went down on a police sting operation.

  She’d no sooner completed the thought than the door opened, and Seth walked inside. As his gaze drifted over the room, she slid down in the booth in hopes he wouldn’t see her, but this wasn’t her lucky day.

  His eyes locked on her, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Callie squirmed in her seat as his lips thinned into an angry expression, and his eyes darkened. With fists clenched at his side, he strode across the room and stopped at her booth.

  “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  She straightened in her seat and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. “I’m having dinner. Want to join me?”

  He flattened his palms on the table and leaned closer to glare at her. “Don’t try to be funny with me. I told you not to come.”

  She scooted toward the wall of the booth in an effort to distance herself from him. “I wanted to be here in case anything happened.”

  He slid into the seat beside her. “I was thinking of your safety when I said I didn’t want you here.”

  Callie realized he had blocked her escape. She might as well try to make the best of the situation. She sighed. “I know you were, Seth, and I appreciate it. I thought if Carlos did show up I might be able to identify him. After all, I did get a look at the tattoo on his neck and the scar on his face. You can’t arrest him without evidence and I’m your only witness—other than Melvin, who wouldn’t be willing to testify, right?”

  Seth stared at her for a moment before he let out a deep breath. “How did you get away from my mother to come here?”

  Her face warmed, and she reached for her soft drink. “When she came home, she told me she had just talked to you. She said it was just going to be the two of us for dinner because you were getting ready to leave on a stakeout. I told her that I had somewhere else I needed to be, and that I’d called a cab so she didn’t need to drive me. The cab pulled up just then, so she didn’t have time to ask any questions. I came down here in hopes I’d arrive first. And I did.”

  “Yes, you did.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Where is the officer who was in front of the house?”

  “He’s outside in his car. I told him I wouldn’t be here long.”

  “Did you tell him this was a stakeout?”

  “Well, no, but...”

  “You should have told him, Callie.” Seth frowned and shook his head. “He has to take you home now.”

  She shook her head. “No, please let me stay.”

  “This is no place...”

  Before he could finish the sentence, the front door opened, and a man ambled in. Seth straightened in his seat and spoke into his lapel mike. “Suspect just entered the premises. He’s approaching the bar. Be on alert. I’m going to intercept him now.”

  Callie stared at the man who strolled across the room as if he didn’t have a care in the world. She frowned and studied his features. He wasn’t as young as she’d expected. Maybe forty-five years old. But she couldn’t make out the tattoo from where she was sitting. The build and coloring seemed right...but she couldn’t be sure. Beside her Seth started to move, and she grabbed his arm.

  “Seth, wait.”

  He glanced at her hand on his arm and then up at her. “Don’t worry. There are police officers outside. If all goes well, we should have our suspect in custody in a few minutes. If he draws a gun, try to stay out of the line of fire.”

  Fear flowed through her, but she nodded as Seth pushed to his feet. She reached out to him once more. “Be careful.”

  He turned back to her, and a smile curled his lip. “I will. Now wait here for me.”

  She nodded as he started to turn toward the bar, not realizing someone was directly behind him. She tried to warn him, but nothing came out of her mouth. As if in slow motion, he turned, took a step and plowed into a waitress carrying a tray stacked high with dirty dishes. She tried to rebalance the tray, but it was no use.

  Patrons spun around in their booths and on their bar stools as the crash of shattering plates and glasses cut through the quiet of the room. Carlos Allen had just stopped on his way to the bar. He whirled at the noise and fastened his gaze on Seth.

  Recognition lit his face. With a snarl he reached underneath his shirt and pulled a gun out. He aimed at Seth, who dove for cover at the end of the bar. In an instant Seth had his back pressed against the end of the bar and his gun out of its holster. “Police!” he yelled. “Put your weapon down, Carlos.”

  Several patrons at the bar jumped up off their stools and leaped to the floor on the other side of the bar. A woman at a table screamed, and the man she was with pulled her to the floor. Callie cringed in the booth, unable to move, until Carlos took a sideways step that gave him a clear view of Seth—just before Carlos cocked the trigger and grinned.

  Callie grabbed the bottle of ketchup on the table, jumped to her feet and hurled it at Carlos before he could fire. The bottle hit him in the chest, and he growled. He whirled, and his eyes grew wide when he spotted Callie standing next to the booth. “You!” he yelled and pointed the gun at Callie.

  “Callie!” She heard the panic in Seth’s voice. Then a force like being tackled by a linebacker slammed into her, and she landed in the seat of the booth with Seth shielding her body. A bullet whizzed over the top of the booth and struck the far wall.

  She waited for the second shot, but all she heard was the ba
nging of the front door. In the next moment Seth jumped to a standing position, and she could hear him speaking into his lapel mike.

  “Suspect armed and on his way out the front door.”

  Callie wriggled upright from the booth seat, but her heart was beating so fast she didn’t think she could get to her feet. Seth glanced at the door, then back at her. “Are you all right?”

  “I—I think so.”

  “I’ve got to go after Carlos. Stay here until I get back.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he ran toward the door. He’d just reached out to open it when gunfire from outside split the air. He jerked the door open and ducked as a bullet shattered the door frame above his head.

  He only hesitated a moment before he ran outside, leaving Callie to wonder what had happened on the sidewalk in front of the bar. Several more gunshots split the night air before silence descended. Several patrons in the bar rose from where they’d tried to seek cover. She jumped to her feet and debated what she should do.

  Guilt welled up in her and sucked the breath from her body. What had happened outside? Had her presence tonight compromised Seth’s stakeout? Was he lying on the sidewalk injured or even worse, dead because of her? She had to find out. Stifling a sob, she ran to the door.

  SIX

  The scene on the sidewalk outside the bar and grill reminded Callie of something from the movies. Police cars, their lights flashing, sat in the street, and policemen in bulletproof vests stood around the prone figure of Carlos Allen, who lay in a pool of blood. She knew right away he was dead.

  Seth, still holding his gun, stared down at the body as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. He looked up at the police lieutenant standing next to him. “Lieutenant Weaver, I thought I made it clear in our briefing that I wanted him taken alive. What happened?”

  The officer hurried to say, “I know you did, Detective. When he came out of the bar, we yelled at him to put down his gun, but he raised it as if he was going to fire. There was nothing we could do once he made the threat. We had to return fire.”

  Seth shook his head. “Return fire? Did he actually fire the gun, or did he only raise it?”

  The muscle in Weaver’s jaw flexed, and he frowned at Seth. “I don’t know. Everything happened so fast. Are you saying that we acted too soon?”

  “I’m saying that you knew I was on my way out of the bar, and all of you were well covered. Who fired the first shot?”

  “There was so much happening at once, it was hard to tell where the shot came from.”

  Seth frowned. “So you’re telling me you really don’t know what happened?”

  The lieutenant’s face turned red, and he glared at Seth. “I’ll have you know—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, another police car pulled up to the curb and Anthony Wilson climbed out. Callie breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he could calm the confrontation between Seth and the officer.

  Anthony stepped up on the sidewalk and glanced down at the body. “What happened here?”

  Before Seth could speak, Weaver blurted out his response. “I had my men out here on backup. When this guy ran out of the bar, Detective Dawtry notified us he was armed. We yelled for him to lay down his weapon, but he raised it instead, and my officers fired. Now the detective is blaming us for being too quick to react. I might expect this from the media, but not from a member of the force.”

  Seth shook his head. “I’m not blaming him. I’m just frustrated.” Seth pointed to Carlos’s body. “This is the guy who tried to kill Dan. Now that he’s dead, we may never know who hired him.”

  Anthony took a step so that he was almost between the two of them and held up a hand. “Blaming each other is not going to help any. We’ve all worked stakeouts enough to know that the unexpected can happen. I’m sorry this man’s dead, especially if he knew something about the attack on Dan. However, we can’t fight among ourselves. Let’s get this scene processed and the body out of here.”

  Weaver bit down on his lip, gave a slight nod and glared at Seth once more before he turned and walked to where a group of officers stood. Anthony put a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “You’ve overreacted here, Seth. If you’d been outside, you might have done the same thing. Marty Weaver is a well-respected officer. He’s been honored several times for bravery beyond the call of duty, and you as much as called him incompetent tonight. I’m afraid your relationship with Dan is clouding your judgment.”

  Seth shook his head. “No, it’s not, Anthony. I promise you, I’m thinking clearly. I just thought if we could bring Carlos in, we could find out who wanted to kill Dan.”

  “We will find out, Seth, but not with this lead. You’ll have to find another one.” He looked over Seth’s shoulder and when he saw Callie, his eyes grew wide. “Callie, what are you doing here?”

  Callie eased forward. “I thought I might be able to identify Carlos as the man who tried to kill Uncle Dan in the hospital.”

  He turned a disbelieving stare on Seth. “You let her come on a police stakeout?”

  Before he could answer, Callie rushed forward. “No, Anthony. It wasn’t that way at all. In fact, Seth told me not to come, but I came anyway. I got here before he did and was waiting inside when he arrived.”

  “Do you know how dangerous that was, Callie?” Anthony asked. “How could I have ever faced Dan again if you’d been hurt?”

  Tears pooled in her eyes, and she glanced from Anthony to Seth. “I know, and I’m really sorry. I won’t interfere again. I promise.”

  Anthony swallowed and shook his head. “See that you don’t. Now, I think you need to go home. Seth, can you take her? I’ll stay here until Lieutenant Weaver and his men get through and the crime scene guys get things cleaned up.”

  Seth nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll do that. And thank you, sir, for talking with me. I’ll apologize to Lieutenant Weaver tomorrow.” He turned to stare at Callie. “And about that police officer you led here...”

  She stared down at her feet and nodded. “I know. I owe him an apology, too. I’ll go talk with him now.”

  Ten minutes later, after making her apology, Callie took a deep breath and walked back to where Seth waited. Without speaking, he took her by the arm and propelled her around the corner and down the street to where he had parked his car. From time to time she looked up at him and saw him chewing on his bottom lip. She dreaded what he would say once they were in the car.

  When they were both seated in the car, she waited for him to speak but he sat there clutching the steering wheel. After a moment Callie could contain herself no longer. “Seth, I’m sorry I made such a mess of things today.”

  He turned to her, and a surprised look flashed on his face. “You think you made a mess of things?”

  “Yes. If I hadn’t been so concerned to get my own way, I would have stayed home like you asked. Then maybe you could have taken Carlos into custody. As it was, I proved to be a distraction. I’m so sorry.”

  He sighed and rubbed his hands across his eyes. “It wasn’t you, Callie. If I hadn’t been so clumsy and run into that waitress, we might have Carlos right now.” His gaze raked over her. “I hope I didn’t hurt you when I tackled you.”

  She smiled and reassured him, “I may be sore tomorrow, but I’m glad you did it. I didn’t know you could move so fast.”

  He grinned. “I figured it was the least I could do. After all, if you hadn’t tried to stop the bad guy with a ketchup bottle, I might be on my way to the hospital right now or the morgue.”

  Callie shuddered at the thought. “Don’t say that. I can’t stand to think about it.”

  The teasing look he’d had on his face a few minutes ago disappeared and was replaced by a somber one. “All kidding aside, that was very brave. I’m glad we both made it through okay, but I’m still having a hard time understandin
g why the men outside fired. We could easily have taken Carlos.”

  “Maybe so, but there’s nothing that can be done about it now. I think Anthony is right. We’re just going to have to find another lead. Have you thought what the next step should be?”

  He nodded and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “I know a guy who may be able to help us.”

  “Who is he?”

  “His name is Rick Thompson. He’s a computer genius. We use him a lot to find information for us. Maybe he can help us now.” He punched in a number, waited and then frowned. “I got his voice mail.” He listened and then left a message. “Rick, this is Seth Dawtry. I need some information on a man named Carlos Allen. He’s a former gang member, but we haven’t heard much from him over the past few years. See if you can dig up anything on what he might have been doing during that time and give me a call. Thanks.”

  He finished the call and slipped the phone back in his pocket. “Maybe Rick can come up with something that will help me know which direction to take. Carlos was a gun for hire—if he was attacking Dan, it was on someone’s orders. If we can track down who he’s been working for, that might give us some answers.”

  Callie buckled her seat belt and settled back in her seat. “I hope so. Now where are we going?”

  “I’m taking you back to my house. I think we need to get Dan’s notebook out and look at it again. Maybe he’s left a clue somewhere in there that will help us out.”

  Callie glanced at the clock on the dash. “And I need to check in with the nurses in the Critical Care Unit to see how Uncle Dan is doing. They promised they would call if his condition changed. I haven’t heard from them, but I still call them every few hours.”

  She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket as Seth started the car and pulled into traffic. She’d hoped the nurses would have good news for her, but it wasn’t to be tonight. By the time they arrived home, she was beginning to feel the disappointment Seth must have experienced earlier.

  Her uncle was barely hanging on to life, and the man who might have answered the question of who wanted him killed was now dead. Ever since she’d gotten off that plane, it had been one horrifying experience after another. When would all this come to an end?