Lethal Target

by Janice Cantore

  Oliver followed Tess as she flew down the trail. They’d heard a rash of gunfire, rat-a-tat-tat, followed by more shots and then silence. He didn’t want her to run straight into the mouth of danger but knew there was no way to stop her. He felt a strong connection with this woman, the kind of connection he never thought he’d feel with another woman after losing Anna.

  He prayed for clarity, guidance, and most of all, right now, for safety. She slowed as they approached the trailhead. She then cut right, scrambled up a little rise, and he climbed after her. The perch gave them the ability to look down at Arthur’s property.

  They were both breathing hard when she came to a stop. Dropping to her knees, she leaned forward to peer down into Arthur’s backyard. Oliver followed suit.

  He could see the back of Arthur’s house, the metal garage, and the ATVs and snowmobiles lined up next to the retaining wall. He didn’t see any people or movement.

  Then he heard voices.

  “This piece will work just fine.” The short man walked out of the garage. He held what looked to Oliver like an automatic handgun.

  “You get her up here, I’ll hit my target.”

  “That might be Garcia,” Tess whispered.

  As the man walked toward them, Oliver felt Tess tense next to him, but then the man veered to his right toward the house. He’d have to look up to see Oliver and Tess.

  “She should be here any minute. Get into position.” The tall man appeared, calling after Garcia and then glancing toward the driveway. Oliver couldn’t see the driveway from where he and Tess were positioned.

  “That’s Hemmings,” Tess said.

  Hemmings walked toward the driveway, stopped at the edge of the garage. He called out, “Where’s Chief O’Rourke?”

  “She’ll be along. What happened up here? You said you shot an intruder. Doesn’t actually explain why you’re here at Arthur’s house.” Oliver recognized Bender’s voice.

  “I’m working. This way, Officer Bender,” Hemmings said. “I’ll show you. Not sure what the guy thought he was doing trying to steal something, but when I caught sight of him in here, he pointed a gun, so I did what I had to do.” Hemmings stepped into the garage shadows.

  Bender hesitated, cautious maybe? Then he started to walk toward the center of the garage. Off to the far left, Garcia had moved. He was now crouched behind a car, poised to come in behind Bender.

  Oliver realized Hemmings was setting him up, and he wanted to cry out a warning, but Tess stopped him.

  “It’s a trap, but I’m too far away. You stay here. I’m going to try to get behind him.”

  Oliver grabbed her arm, fear spiking. “Tess, there are at least two armed and dangerous men down there.”

  “Three, and Bender’s on my side.” She smiled, strength and courage shining through. Oliver felt his chest tighten with emotion.

  “I’ve got this,” she said. “Give me a couple minutes, and if you think you need to create a diversion, toss a rock on top of the metal garage, okay?”

  He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

  She scurried down the way they’d just come. Oliver turned his attention back to Bender and Hemmings.

  – – –

  Tess drew her weapon as she reached the bottom of the rise. Hemmings lured Bender into the garage so Garcia could come in behind and shoot him. That was what it looked like to her. She leaned against a tree as the short man with the jagged scar on his face walked past, still several feet below her, concentrating on what was ahead of him. This close, she was certain it was José Garcia. He had a handgun. She had no shot from where she was positioned; she had to get closer, and she prayed that she had enough time. The man was obviously trying to sneak up on Bender. They’d lured him here while attempting to get her, she bet.

  As quickly as she dared, she slid down the hill to the edge of the retaining wall.

  “Where is he?” she heard Bender say. “I thought you said you shot a thief in here?”

  “We need someone to get the chief up here,” Garcia said.

  Tess jumped.

  Bender jerked toward the voice. Garcia pointed the gun. “Drop your weapon, Officer.”

  “What is going on here? Hemmings?”

  Tess saw Bender turn as Hemmings hit her officer with a sucker punch. Gabe went down. “He wants the chief, you idiot,” Hemmings screamed.

  That was enough for Tess.

  She leaped from behind the wall, weapon on target. “Both of you, freeze!”

  Her attention was on Garcia. He turned, gun pointed right at her, and she fired a burst of two. He went down, shock all over his face.

  She moved the weapon to aim at Hemmings. “It’s over, Sal. I knew there was a reason I didn’t like you. Now you get to be an ex-agent in jail.”

  “I don’t think so.” He reached into his jacket and skittered sideways. Tess fired and missed.

  He pointed his gun and she moved to find cover. But the snap of a Taser sounded, and Hemmings screamed and went down hard onto the concrete workroom floor.

  Tess hurried forward, kicking the gun away from a motionless Garcia as she did so. Bender climbed to his feet, Taser in hand.

  “You okay?”

  He nodded and wiped blood from his face. “That jerk. I just got this nose fixed.”

  Tess smiled, relief coursing through her like cold water, and holstered her weapon. Together they handcuffed Hemmings. She turned to check on Garcia and froze. There stood Don Cherry with an AK-47 cradled in his arms.

  65

  Oliver never got to throw the rock. Garcia pointed a gun at Tess, and he knew that she had no recourse but to shoot him. When he saw Hemmings fall, he relaxed, believing it was all over. He got up and brushed off his pants, heading down the way Tess had gone. Then he saw Don creeping up from the Hang Ten boundary. The man was looking toward the workshop, so he hadn’t noticed Oliver, who ducked. The rifle in Don’s hands stopped Oliver from calling out a warning. That would just give his position away and give Don time to shoot.

  Oliver scrambled down the hill as Cherry reached the spot near where his boss lay. Oliver peered around the edge of the retaining wall. He saw Tess and Gabe in the garage. Don had a straight, unobstructed shot; he could mow them down with very little effort.

  Garcia was squirming, bleeding. “What are you waiting for? Kill her. Shoot, you big moron!” he yelled.

  Oliver crept forward. He could see the surprise on Tess’s face. But her hands were empty; her gun was holstered. She couldn’t stop Cherry’s threat.

  “It’s over, Cherry. You’ve got no place to go. Give it up. Drop the gun.” Tess stepped forward, hands outstretched. Cherry’s attention was on her as Oliver moved steadily forward. He could hear sirens in the distance now. They were getting closer, but would they get here in time?

  “Stay where you are,” Cherry said and the gun moved ever so slightly.

  A surge of adrenaline swept through Oliver. He was not going to see Tess shot dead in front of him.

  “Nooo!” he yelled as he sprinted toward the big man.

  Cherry turned, a surprised expression on his face. He tried to bring the gun around, but Oliver lowered his shoulder and launched himself, hitting Don at waist level. It was like hitting solid rock and it took Oliver’s breath away, but Cherry went down, the gun went flying, and Oliver ended up on top of him.

  Oliver scrambled to straddle the big man, prepared to fight and keep him from the gun. He raised a fist, ready to smash it into the man’s face if he tried to resist. But his fist stopped midflight when he saw the look on Cherry’s face.

  He was grinning. His hands were out flat on the ground. “Okay, okay, padre, I give. Your lady’s safe. I surrender. Calling uncle.”

  Oliver sucked in a breath and relaxed as Tess jogged toward him. He dropped his fist as Tess picked up the AK-47.

  “Your lady’s safe.”

  Sirens were on top of them, and everything that happened after that was a blur as Arthur’s driveway filled
with emergency vehicles. There were state police cars, sheriff cars, a Rogue’s Hollow car, a Mercy Flights ambulance, and several black vehicles Oliver guessed were federal.

  Tess and Bender helped Oliver off Cherry, and the big man was handcuffed by a couple of state cops. Officers in all different uniforms swarmed the area.

  Oliver stepped back as officers peppered Tess with questions and paramedics began to tend to Garcia.

  Someone asked Oliver if he was all right and he said he was. He watched Tess and knew he was more than all right. She’d slain her dragon, and his heart swelled with love, pride, and happiness. Anna would approve, he was certain. Tess glanced his way as she continued her explanation, and he felt a fiery connection hit him like a flaming arrow. She would be his lady; Oliver would make sure of that.

  – – –

  Fear had hit Tess like an anvil when she saw Oliver rush Cherry. She didn’t dare fire her weapon for fear of striking Oliver instead of Cherry. Then the big man went down under Oliver’s tackle and dropped the gun.

  Doubting Oliver would survive a fight with the Hulk, she saw the most amazing thing. Cherry gave up. She even heard him say he surrendered. The pastor had slain a dragon of his own. After the big man was handcuffed and she watched Oliver dust himself off, she fought to keep from laughing and grabbing him in a close embrace as the area filled with cops.

  “Chief!”

  Tess turned. Agent Ledge jogged her way. “Looks like I missed the party.”

  Tess shook her head. “You may have, but your partner didn’t.” She pointed to the garage, where Hemmings was handcuffed, leaning against one of the cars.

  Ledge stopped, hands on hips. “Man, I’m so sorry about that. I should have seen the signs sooner. But Sal and I have worked together for so long, I just didn’t want to see it. Took me way too long to put two and two together.”

  “How’d you get here so fast?”

  “I figured Sal out, a day late and a dollar short. I amped up a task force yesterday. We hit your station a little while ago and got an earful from some hysterical woman and her brother. When we couldn’t find you, and Hemmings called in a shooting, asking for you, Officer Bender wanted to come up and see what was going on.”

  “It was a trap.”

  Ledge nodded. “We were right behind him. Now we’ll tear the pot farm apart.” He gestured to the Ghost. “Never thought we’d get a twofer.”

  Tess looked at the medics treating Garcia. “Not sure if he’ll make it, but he’s not a ghost anymore.”

  “Bet you have a tale to tell.”

  “I do, but I’m trying to find out where a couple of other people are.”

  “Bryce and Drake?” Curtis Pounder asked as he came walking up. He’d been off duty and was in plain clothes.

  “Yeah.”

  “They’re safe. Drake is on his way to the hospital. Tilly and Bart Dover came to the station with a story about Bryce being missing. Gabe called me and Del in when he couldn’t get ahold of you. We decided that Del should take one of the ATVs to check out her story about the logging camp. He found your car at the shed and guessed that’s what you had done. He took the Kubota to be your backup and met Bryce and Drake on their way back down.”

  “Then he called for help,” Bender said as he walked up. Ledge had taken custody of Hemmings. “I notified the state cops and the sheriff, and while we were waiting for help, Hemmings called asking for you.”

  “That’s why you came up here?”

  “Yeah, he had some story about having shot an intruder here, in Arthur’s garage. I didn’t tell him where you were. I just pretended you’d be with me and came up ’cause I knew the cavalry was en route.”

  Curtis nodded. “He’d only been gone a short time when Ledge showed up with all his people.”

  Gabe grinned. “It’s gonna be a fun jurisdiction fight.” He waved toward Oliver, who’d come to stand next to Tess. “Little did I know the cavalry was already here. Pastor Mac, I didn’t know you played football. That was some tackle.”

  Tess looked at the pastor and laughed. He smiled back and put an arm over her shoulders. “I’m just glad everyone is okay,” he said.

  Tess leaned into him, feeling strength, attraction, and some emotions she couldn’t even name, not caring what anyone thought or said.

  66

  Don Cherry asked to speak to Oliver before the sheriff could take him away. Oliver took a seat in the back of the car where Don was secured.

  “You want to talk to me?”

  He nodded but didn’t speak right away. Finally he said, “Padre, you said that you think I do believe in God, that I think we’re equals.”

  Oliver swallowed. Cherry was obviously struggling with something, and it was important to listen carefully and prayerfully say the right thing.

  “I do think you know there is a God. I also think you know, or at least have been told often, that if you confess your sins, God will forgive them. I think you’re looking for peace. Confession and repentance are the only way to get to what will give you peace.”

  Cherry chuckled mirthlessly. “You don’t know my sins, padre.”

  “I don’t have to know. God does.”

  Cherry studied his shoes.

  A thought occurred to Oliver. “Don, did you kill Hector?”

  “No, but I drove the boss there. He was planning on making it look like a murder-suicide, but the chief weren’t home. Then he hoped for a frame-up, but that didn’t work. He should have just left that day, but, man, he hates that chief.”

  “Are you going to tell the police that?”

  Cherry cocked his head. “You calling me a snitch?”

  “What is it you want from me, Don?”

  He sighed and shifted in the seat. “I know a lot. And I don’t particularly want to go back to prison. But I’ll go; I’ll do my time and keep my mouth shut. Unless you can prove to me that God is real, that he’ll listen to someone like me. If I flip, there’ll be a price on my head. I ain’t afraid. I can fight that battle, but it just ain’t worth the aggravation if all I’m fighting for is a few miserable years waiting for someone to stick me with a knife.”

  Oliver rubbed his forehead, wanting the right words. “I believe you’re asking me to prove something you already know to be true. What you’re really asking me is to help you lay down the ego, to show you how to humble yourself before God.”

  A DEA agent knocked on the window. Oliver held up his hand asking for another minute. He didn’t look happy, but he nodded.

  Oliver forged ahead. “All I have time for is a story. In the Bible, the children of Israel had to cross a river, the Jordan, to get to the Promised Land. God was going to part the waters, but they had to show their faith by getting their feet wet first. Once they did that, the waters parted and they crossed the river on dry ground. God is there, he’ll show himself, but you need to get your feet wet first, Don. Take the first step. After that, I’ll help you any way I can.”

  The DEA agent pulled the door open, and Oliver had to leave it at that.

  67

  Tess sat on one of Arthur’s snowmobiles and sipped water from a bottle a paramedic had given her while Oliver talked with Don Cherry. The big ex-con was probably their last best hope for answers. Hemmings had screamed for a lawyer before they put him in a car. Garcia was alive but losing blood, and it was anyone’s guess if he’d make it. If he did, he was certain not to talk. Would Cherry talk? Would Oliver ask him to?

  A late-arriving sheriff’s car pulled up and she saw Steve step out. He made his way past the tangle of official law enforcement vehicles and walked toward her.

  Tess was glad her anger with him was gone. In retrospect, she might have acted the same way he had, as painful as that was to admit. She was a cop, and cops were by nature suspicious. There might be no more romantic spark where Steve was concerned, but she would always agree that he was a good officer.

  “For someone who’s on vacation, you sure do a lot of work,” he said with a smile. H
e sat on the snowmobile next to her.

  “Well, I just hate sitting around twiddling my thumbs—know what I mean?”

  He smiled. “I do. Thought you’d like to know what’s going on at the Hang Ten.”

  She turned to him and arched an eyebrow.

  “DEA came armed with a warrant. They found a bunch of contraband stacked in two outbuildings, along with pill-making equipment and even more stuff in one of the bedrooms in the house.”

  “Contraband?”

  “Um, white powder, likely fentanyl, more stuff that is likely heroin, and homemade pills marked as oxycodone, but who knows. And there’s a bunch of steroids and banned sports performance-enhancing drugs.”

  “Steroids?”

  “Yep, and a boatload of weapons and stuff to make bombs.”

  “Gaston was storing all that there?”

  Steve shook his head. “No, Haywood is singing like a bird. He claims most of the stuff appeared after the raid in Yreka. Haywood says it’s all Garcia. He even says that he thinks Garcia killed Hector.”

  “He thinks?”

  “He wasn’t there. But he gives Garcia motive. Garcia hired Hector to bother you. But Hector wanted to leave and stiff Garcia a lot of money. They argued, and Garcia beat him up and threw him in a car. Next thing Haywood knows, Garcia is giving him a letter Hector supposedly wrote—”

  “Saying that I threatened to kill him.”

  Steve nodded. “And Hector was dead. It would help to find the gun and maybe a little more corroboration, but it looks like Belcher is going to have to back off where you’re concerned. Oh—” he reached into his pocket—“I almost forgot. Del gave me your phone to give you. You have a couple of messages.”

  “Thanks.” Tess looked down at the phone and then asked the question that had been bugging her since the day she found Hector’s body. “Why was Belcher pursuing to convict me so aggressively?”

  He hiked a shoulder. “On the surface, you were the only one with motive. He’s not a bad guy; he had tunnel vision. If it’s any consolation, I think he’ll see the light and be reasonable.” He stood. “I’d better go, make sure Belcher is updated on everything going on here. I’m sure he’ll have to call off the grand jury.”