“Kayla Harris, too.”
“Whatever you want, Manny.” Like he was going to let that happen. “Just let him go and we’ll get in your truck.”
*
Kayla leaned against the wall where she was able to see out the window, in almost the exact spot where Conner had seen whatever had made him rush out like that. Okay, so she understood he had priorities, and with the scene now taking place on the street, she was seriously glad he’d gone down there.
Especially when something terrible was about to happen. Lord, protect those people. She wasn’t too worried about herself. Everyone’s attention was on the street, not on her huddled up here by herself. Kayla had to stay put, but used Conner’s cell to call the sheriff’s personal number.
“Sheriff Johnson.” He sounded breathy.
“This is Kayla Harris. You have to get to Main Street right—”
“Two men with guns facing off?”
He was going to find out when he got there. “It’s Manny. He works for Andis. The other is Conner.”
“Are you safe? Out of the way?” When she said yes, she was, he answered, “Good. I’ve got two deputies with me, and I’m almost there. I need to let you go.”
Kayla heard the click on the line and exhaled the breath she’d been holding. Conner and the sheriff both wanted no casualties and, ideally, no one hurt. They were trained, and she was a lawyer who’d taken some self-defense courses. So long as she hung out here and stayed hidden, she would be okay.
Totally safe.
A floorboard in the hall creaked.
*
A siren sounded for a second, and blue-and-red flashing lights reflected on windows. “You’re almost out of time, Manny. Let’s get out of here.” Conner had no desire to explain himself to the sheriff. This looked bad no matter how it was viewed. Though he was on camera attempting to defuse the situation, that wouldn’t mean much when everyone knew he’d been working with Manny just yesterday.
Multiple cars pulled up around them, boxing them in. Deputies gave orders for the crowd to disperse. The face-off was probably the most excitement these small-town folks had seen in weeks, while Conner was seriously ready for a vacation. Maybe if he got this done fast enough, he could get on that detail going with the president to Hawaii in a few months. He could probably persuade Kayla to come, too.
“Put the gun down, Manny. This doesn’t have to end badly.”
The man sneered. “You even sound like a cop. Put the gun down,” he mocked. “You only care about collateral, like I won’t spray buckshot into this entire crowd. I shot you yesterday.”
“I know. I have the bruise under my vest to prove it.”
“Only a coward wears a vest, Thorne. You’re nothing but a—” His voice descended into insults. “Next time I see you, you’ll give me the girl and then I’ll kill you. Andis can forget his grand plan.”
Andis had a different plan? Conner wouldn’t mind knowing more about that, but instead he said, “You won’t see me again if I can help it. And you won’t get your hands on Kayla.”
As soon as he explained a couple of things to the sheriff, Conner was going to get out of here and get back to making sure she was okay.
The sheriff pulled up, along with two other county vehicles. In the pharmacy window’s reflection, Conner could see the sheriff get out of his vehicle, one hand on the weapon on his hip. As the deputies and the sheriff walked over, guns now drawn, Conner glanced up at the window of Kayla’s office. He couldn’t see her, but he knew she was waiting for him.
“Guns down, gentlemen.” The sheriff’s methodology was so passive Conner had long figured it would get him in trouble. The man relied on the respect he’d earned after years of service to sway people. Which was fine with those who genuinely appreciated what he did. The rest of the county’s citizens didn’t care what he ordered them to do.
Conner shifted his grip so his finger was nowhere near the trigger and turned his gun sideways. He waited for Manny to begin to crouch and lowered himself in sync with the man. “Sheriff, if I could have a—”
A deputy grabbed Conner’s hands and pulled them behind his back. Another did the same with Manny while the sheriff made his way to the pharmacist.
“Both of you can say what you have to say at my office.”
What? He couldn’t get hauled in. He had to get back to Kayla. To make sure she was safe. “But I—”
Manny shot a dirty look at Conner.
“They were going to kill me,” the pharmacist yelled.
He turned to the old man, who still had both hands raised. Beyond him, the crowd had drifted away. No one was there. “Kayla’s hiding, and I need to make sure she’s—”
The sheriff grabbed his arm. “Conner Thorne, you’re under arrest.”
*
Kayla watched the man duck into the kitchen. The phone pressed against her ear was warm now. “Yes, he went in.”
“Then go. Run, Kayla.”
Who’d have thought the last number before she’d dialed the sheriff—labeled Mom in Conner’s contacts—would turn out to be his handler. He’d said it, but she hadn’t really believed it. She’d needed help, so she’d prayed and dialed. Thank You, Lord. He’d saved her again, His love for her overwhelming even when she was alone and in danger.
Now Greg’s voice gave her the strength she needed to hold on to the laptop and the mental clarity to pray she didn’t fall down the stairs. Her head still pounded from the crash the night before, and her body ached in ways she didn’t want to think about, none of which were going to go away soon.
Her car was still trashed. That whole incident hit her all over again, and she had to force herself to think even as she turned and ran down the sidewalk toward Conner’s truck. He’d left the keys in the visor—another blessing. She’d seen the sheriff haul him away and had told Greg.
“How are you doing?”
Right. He was still on the line. “Almost there.”
“Good girl. We can get you to the team. You just have to get in the truck and you can meet them halfway.”
The truck.
Kayla pumped her legs as hard as she could and sucked in breaths, but her diaphragm didn’t want her to go that fast. Even if it was going to save her life.
She didn’t know the man who’d been in her office. She’d never seen him before, but he was huge and not someone she wanted to be alone with. She wanted Conner, who’d been hauled away by the sheriff like some common criminal instead of the good man he was. So good. More noble than she could ever credit herself with being.
Kayla told her body to slow, but not quickly enough. She collided with the truck’s driver’s door with an “Oof.”
Greg said, “Kayla, you okay?”
“Yep.” She shifted the laptop in her arm and exhaled.
“I have all day, Kayla. I’m not going to let you off the phone.”
Because he was Secret Service, and that was what he was paid for. Not that she wasn’t grateful. Kayla respected the job the agents did and the raw deal they sometimes got when the president’s schedule was packed out and they were rotated from detail to detail with hardly any breaks.
Kayla hauled the door open. It creaked all the way until it was wide enough for her to slip in, but she never made it.
The warmth of a person. A huge person. Came up right behind her. Close enough to touch.
“Give me the laptop.”
EIGHT
The sheriff entered the interrogation room—the only one in this dinky small-town office—carrying a paper cup of coffee. He set it down on his side of the table and sat across from Conner. Like he hadn’t kept Conner cuffed and waiting for an hour.
“All righty, let’s get started, shall we?”
Conner had exhausted his patience. “How about you start with what you’re charging me with.”
The sheriff lifted one gray eyebrow. “That can wait, I think. We have things to talk about. Besides, from what I saw, Manny was the one with the beef and
you were trying to protect innocents.” He paused. “Which tells me I might be on the right track.”
“If we’re just talking, maybe I could call Kayla. Make sure she’s safe.”
The sheriff took a sip of his coffee. “She’s good. She’s the one who called and told me about Manny, though I was already on my way there.”
Conner exhaled. Hopefully, she was hanging tight in her office. She had his phone, and she knew who to call if she needed help. Still, all Conner wanted to do was get this over with so he could find Kayla and reassure himself that she was safe.
The sheriff set his cup down. He hadn’t brought a file in with him, but he still might have looked up Conner’s name. He’d have found only what the Secret Service planted on Conner’s record. A couple of fake misdemeanors that showed a penchant toward being a hothead. When added to his Secret Service record, they made him look unpredictable, like a loose cannon.
“Now, you feel like telling me what the bad blood is between you and Manny Santee?”
“He wants to kill me,” Conner said. “He also wants to kill Kayla. But I thought we weren’t going to talk about what just happened.”
The sheriff didn’t answer the question. “And why would he want that?”
“Orders.”
“From Andis?”
Conner shrugged. “He didn’t really take the time to explain while he was burning down Kayla’s office, running us off the road with his truck and threatening to kill the pharmacist.”
The sheriff’s eyebrows rose. “So press charges. I can only do so much with what I have from the fire and what I saw today on the street. My dispatcher didn’t show up for work today and no one’s seen her. I need your statements if I’m going to make a case stick.”
“Kayla was planning to come see you today. If you let me call her, I can get her here and she can make her statement.”
“Funny, you don’t talk like a common thug.”
“Regardless of what I do for a living now, you don’t get to be a Secret Service agent by being dumb.”
The older man frowned. “No, I don’t suppose you do.”
“And working for Andis Bamir doesn’t make me heartless. As much as he might want me to be.”
The sheriff’s attention stilled. “Which makes me wonder, guy like you, smart as you are, why would you be hanging out with Andis Bamir? Rolling with his guys, leaning on townspeople so they live in fear of the next time they see Manny’s truck drive down the street.”
“If he’s the threat, why am I here? You should be talking to him, shouldn’t you?”
“You tell me.” The sheriff took another healthy sip of coffee. “Mmm. That’s good stuff.”
Conner could have rolled his eyes. Was the guy trying to make him crack and spill everything he knew just because he was thirsty?
When he didn’t say anything, the sheriff shrugged. “So Manny’s trying to kill both of you because Andis ordered him to, or maybe for another reason. Here’s what I think.” The older man paused for dramatic effect. If Conner wasn’t so preoccupied worrying about Kayla, he’d have laughed. “I think there might be a reason why you’re here, working for Andis. A reason that might be more than money or the chance to do something illegal for the rush of it. I don’t doubt this is a job—I’m just wondering precisely what kind of job it is.”
Okay, so he was reaching for Conner to tell him that he was undercover Secret Service here to bring down Andis. Like he’d actually come out and say that. Manny and Andis distrusting and suspecting him now was one thing. Telling the sheriff voluntarily was entirely something else. There was no way Conner would give this man the satisfaction of letting him know he guessed right while Conner was sitting here cuffed and Kayla was still very much in danger.
The sheriff stared. “Not going to answer?”
This man might be a “good” guy, but Conner wasn’t going to break cover. It was just so ingrained in him not to, whether word was out or not. The sheriff could be asking for Andis, or he could be asking completely innocently. Conner had no way to tell, and he didn’t know the sheriff well enough to figure it out. There was no reason for this man to know why Conner was in town or that he worked undercover for the Secret Service. He’d lie to protect the integrity of the job, and he’d definitely lie to protect Kayla.
“Not saying anything is, in effect, speaking.” The sheriff paused again for a swig of his coffee. “So here’s the thing. The reason I’m talking to you and not to Manny. Yet. Tell me, what would you say to a…partnership of sorts? Not officially, you understand. I can’t put any of this on record. But I feel like we could help each other out.”
Conner leaned back in his chair. The man wanted to team up? Conner had burned whatever trust he’d worked at with Andis. The man wanted him taken down, and Manny was the weapon he would use to carry out that sentence. Whatever the sheriff had planned, he doubted it would work. He had no credibility now, not with anyone except Greg.
They needed to get this over with so Conner could go find Kayla. For the sake of moving things along, he said, “Tell me what you want me to do.” As long as the sheriff thought he was interested, he wouldn’t charge Conner with anything.
Conner had never been tempted to pray before, but he was now. He knew Kayla had faith in God and that God didn’t always do what she thought He should, but she said she trusted that He knew what was best regardless.
Keep her safe.
He figured God had a vested interest in someone who followed Him. He wouldn’t let her come to harm. And if the sheriff wanted to talk, that was fine. This was a chance to find out where this guy was at.
“Well, it goes like this,” the sheriff said. “All you’d need to do is shoot me a text when Andis is headed somewhere. Let me know when he’s off to make a deal or what he’s working on. Maybe take a photo of someone he meets with and pass me the picture. Shouldn’t be too hard. Not for a man with your…training. It would help me out a lot, especially if you see him hanging around a certain property. The old paper mill out west of town.”
“It’s abandoned now, isn’t it? They closed it down.” That was common knowledge in town. As were the two murders that had taken place there years ago.
“I’d like to know if Andis is ever there.”
Conner shrugged like there was nothing special about that property. He’d figured Andis used the mill to get the distinct paper he needed to print counterfeit money, but he’d never found any evidence of recent activity. It was like no new money had been printed in months, for some reason. If the sheriff suspected Andis was conducting business there, then it could be that Andis had simply relocated his operation.
Regardless of whether Conner was a Secret Service agent or not, the sheriff was playing a dangerous game. He wanted Conner to spy on Andis for him, like some kind of double agent? The man had just handed Conner his safety, and his career, on a platter.
*
Kayla struggled. Fire burned in her arms as she gripped the laptop for dear life.
“Give it to me,” the man grunted.
“No!”
Kayla stomped for his shoe, missed and caught his shin. The man cried out as her heel glanced off the front of his leg. He called her a foul name, but Kayla didn’t let it bother her. She jabbed two fingers at his eyes. He let go and she grabbed the door handle.
She pulled the door open and moved to get in but her body was hauled back by two meaty hands. Kayla swung at him with the laptop.
*
Conner sat up straight. Since the fire at Kayla’s office he’d blown his cover. Andis had probably put it together that he was still Secret Service—though no one would officially confirm it either way.
He said, “If I go straight to Andis and tell him what you asked me to do, what do you think will happen? I could trade you to get my position back, and you’re hosed. Done. Dead, probably.”
The sheriff coughed. “Yes, I would imagine my life somewhat short-lived after that.”
“Because he’d se
nd Manny to put a bullet in you. The way he tried to do with me.” Conner could only hope the sheriff wouldn’t get killed the way he and Kayla almost had.
The sheriff said, “There are risks and I understand that. What I need you to understand is that the people of this town can’t live much longer under the thumb of a criminal. A thug.”
“You want to go up against him?”
The sheriff’s face contorted. “Andis Bamir will pay for what he’s doing to this town.” His face reddened. He balled his fist and slammed it on the table. “He’ll pay!”
“Because you’re going to kill him?”
“I’m going to bring him down.” The sheriff lifted his hand in a fist and punched the air with the force of a tossed balloon.
Conner got up. This man wanted to start a war with Conner—and Kayla—in the middle? They were already in the fight of their lives.
“Sit down, Agent Thorne.”
Conner turned but didn’t sit. If Sheriff Johnson wanted him to keep listening, the man was going to have to bring charges against him. There wasn’t much the sheriff could say that would induce Conner to make a deal that put Kayla’s life in even more danger.
Conner said, “A man like you, I figure you have your hand on the pulse of what’s going on in this town. You’ll understand why I had to work twice as hard to make sure Andis trusted me. Manny never did. Not with my history as an agent. It was only because of the intel I could give them that they let me in at all.”
The sheriff huffed.
“So tell me,” Conner said. There had to be something. The sheriff’s reaction wasn’t just about a crime wave, not when he’d gotten that emotional. “What is between you and Andis?”
“Aside from me being the law in this county and his breaking it?”
Conner shrugged one shoulder.
“It was back when Andis first came to this town. Those two murders at the mill had gone cold, and I knew I’d never figure it out. Then Andis showed up.” Sheriff Johnson sighed. “Saw him for what he was right away. But what was I going to do? Surveillance, sure. But I’m no covert agent, so Andis knew I was watching for him to trip up. Turns out it was me who would trip.
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