Under the Lawman's Protection

by Laura Scott

  She didn’t like it, either.

  And even though she tried not to think about the worst-case scenario, the images kept flitting through her mind. All she could do was put her faith in God.

  * * *

  Isaac scrubbed his hands over his face, the sick feeling in his gut getting worse with every minute that passed. Okay, maybe it made sense for Cam Walker to do a little digging into his background before trusting him, but certainly it wouldn’t take this long. Not with the resources the ATF had at their disposal.

  Once they returned to the cabin, he stoked the fire to get rid of the chill in the air. When his phone rang, he dropped the poker and hurried to pick up the call, fearing Walker wouldn’t give him much time. “Yeah?”

  “I’m not happy Hawk gave you my name,” Cam said in lieu of a greeting. “He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about this op.”

  Isaac didn’t like the guy’s attitude. “Yeah, well, he’s in trouble, so I don’t really care.”

  There was a long pause. “How do you know he’s in trouble?”

  “Because you know as well as I do that his cover is blown,” Isaac said curtly. “And there are dirty cops involved, aren’t there?”

  “Yeah, that’s what we believe, although we don’t have any proof,” Walker admitted.

  “You must have someone at the top of the suspect list?” Isaac pressed.

  Another pause. “Two names—Trey Birchwood and Aaron Winslow.”

  Isaac frowned, not quite understanding why Hawk hadn’t informed Cameron about Trey’s murder. But he wasn’t going to say anything if his buddy hadn’t. And Aaron Winslow was the same suspect Hawk had identified as well, the guy who’d claimed his car was stolen.

  Unfortunately, poking into Winslow’s background hadn’t turned up anything suspicious.

  “Good to know,” Isaac said.

  “When’s the last time you heard from Hawk?” Cameron asked.

  “Yesterday early afternoon,” he admitted. “Do you have any idea where we can find him?”

  “He’s been moving around a lot, but I think he’s been hiding in an abandoned shed located in a small town called Hanover, outside the city.”

  “Have you been there to meet with him?” Isaac demanded. He couldn’t understand why the ATF agent wasn’t doing more to help Hawk.

  “I’m heading there now, but I’m a good hour away,” Cameron responded. “Why don’t you meet me there? Maybe between the two of us we’ll be able to figure out where he might have gone.”

  “I will. Give me the closest cross street.” He quickly jotted down the information Walker gave him. “I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

  Isaac quickly called Caleb. “I need to drop off Leah and Ben for a couple of hours, if that’s okay.”

  “Sure. We’re having movie night and I know Kaitlin will be happy to spend time with Ben.”

  He could feel Leah’s gaze boring into his chest, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue. “Thanks. Be there shortly.”

  Leah was already dressed in jeans and a dark sweatshirt, and she was putting Ben’s coat on before Isaac even finished the call. But once they were settled in the car, she glared at him. “I’m going with you,” she said. “Don’t bother wasting your breath to try and stop me.”

  He scowled and tried to think of a way to make her see reason. “I’ll be able to move faster on my own,” he pointed out.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and he sighed when he recognized the stubborn look on her face. “Why haven’t you called Declan to go along?”

  “Deck hasn’t gotten back to me, so I’m assuming he’s busy with something else. And I don’t need anyone else with me. I’ll be working with the ATF agent.”

  “Fine. You and the ATF agent can do all the work. I’ll just be there to provide any medical help Shane needs.”

  Isaac couldn’t deny that having her nursing skills available might come in handy. But on the other hand, if Hawk was dead, he’d end up placing Leah in danger for no good reason.

  Glancing over at her, he knew he couldn’t point out that part. Better for her to have hope, at least until they knew the truth.

  When he pulled up in front of Caleb’s house, she didn’t move to get out of the vehicle. No way was he going to convince her to stay, short of using a sandblaster to pry her out of the car.

  “Okay, fine. You can come along, but you’re going to do everything I say, agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  Caleb strode out to meet them, and Isaac climbed out and helped Ben get down from his booster seat. “’Bye, Mom,” he yelled before running off to meet up with Kaitlin.

  “Thanks, Caleb,” Isaac said in a low tone. “I’ll be in touch as soon as possible.”

  “No worries, we’ll be fine,” his teammate assured him before turning to walk back inside.

  Isaac didn’t waste any time getting to the intersection Walker had given him. Dusk had fallen early, thanks to the dark clouds looming overhead.

  “We’re looking for a dirt road,” he said to Leah.

  “Is that it?” she said, gesturing to a space between some trees. The road started out okay, but up ahead he could see two deep ruts in the mud.

  No way was the car going to handle that. He drove forward, glad to see there was a small clearing off to the right, just large enough to park the car. He pulled forward, the low-hanging tree branches scraping the top of the car. When they fell over the back window, offering a bit of coverage, he stopped and turned off the engine.

  “I want you to stay here,” he said, handing Leah the car keys. “And if anything goes wrong, you get out of here and head back to Caleb’s house.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it again without saying a word. He was glad she planned to adhere to her side of the bargain.

  He opened his door, but then turned back to give her a quick kiss. The stunned expression on her face made him smile as he ducked outside, softly closing the door behind him.

  But as he moved through the trees, avoiding the muddy drive, he kept his gun close at hand, ready for anything.

  He wasn’t sure exactly where this abandoned shed was located, so he tried to follow the general direction indicated by the muddy ruts. But when he noticed a dark shape looming to the right, he turned in that direction.

  The dilapidated building looked like an abandoned shed. He crouched near a large tree, looking for any sign of life. Of course there was nothing.

  He didn’t want to believe that was because Hawk was already dead. Pushing the dire thought away, Isaac debated what to do. He didn’t see any sign of the ATF agent. Granted, he was a little early, so maybe Walker had run into traffic on the way here.

  After waiting a minute, Isaac decided to make his move. At the very least he needed to make sure that Hawk wasn’t lying on the floor inside, injured or worse. Staying low, he ran over to the corner closest to the door, which was hanging half-open on one rusty hinge.

  He quickly slid inside the shed, nearly choking on the rank, musty smell that filled the place. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when he still couldn’t see well enough, he pulled out his phone and cupped his hand over the screen to provide a sliver of light.

  The shed was empty. But as he swept his gaze about, he could see there were scuff marks on the floor, as if someone might have been hiding there. Stepping farther into the building, he discovered there was an old army blanket stuffed in a corner.

  And a dark, rusty smear on the edge of a wooden plank that might have been blood.

  Isaac stood and made his way back toward the half-open shed door. Hawk had definitely been hiding out here at one time.

  But where was he now?

  * * *

  Leah huddled in the corner of the passenger seat, trying to keep
warm. No sense in complaining, since it was her own fault that she’d come along.

  The area around her appeared to be deserted. She eased the passenger door open and climbed out so she could walk around to get her blood moving.

  Besides, she should sit in the driver’s seat in case she had to leave in a hurry.

  The air outside the car was cool and breezy, but having room to move around helped. She did a series of high steps as silently as possible, feeling much warmer afterward.

  Anxious to know what was going on, she crept through the brush with painstaking slowness, trying not to make any noise. She caught a glimpse of the abandoned shed and hunkered down to watch.

  Not that it was easy to see much in the darkness. Out here there were no street lamps for miles. The dark clouds obliterated any potential light from the stars and moon.

  There was a sudden flash of light beyond the shed, in the clearing behind it. Her pulse leaped at the possibility that the light had something to do with her brother. Was he trying to signal for help?

  She stayed where she was, even though every cell in her body wanted nothing more than to rush over to see if that light was connected to Shane. But the potential that she might be wrong kept her rooted in place.

  Her legs eventually ached from the uncomfortable position, but she did her best to ignore it. She remembered the first night she’d met Isaac, when the Jeep tire had been blown out. So much had happened since then, yet amazingly enough, the time could be measured in days.

  A few days, yet it seemed like a lifetime ago.

  She saw the flash of light again and caught a glimpse of a man before darkness surrounded him once more. She’d seen the guy’s face for only barest of seconds, but knew he seemed familiar. She followed the dark figure as he moved through the area, hoping and praying he’d flash his light again.

  The next time he did, the man’s features clicked in her memory. He looked like Kirk Nash, Shane’s boss, from the Fifth District.

  She frowned. Why would Lieutenant Nash be out here in the darkness? What was he searching for? She didn’t understand, but somehow knew that something wasn’t right.

  A movement near the shed caught her attention and she sucked in a harsh breath when she recognized Isaac creeping along the side of the building. He must have noticed the flickering light, too, and she wished there was a way to warn him about Nash. But calling his cell would only put him in danger.

  Plus he’d be upset if he knew she was so close, so she eased back, retracing her steps to hide farther back in the woods, since she couldn’t bring herself to go all the way to the car.

  She needed to trust that Isaac knew what he was doing. He wasn’t part of the SWAT team for nothing. If there was a way for him to find Shane and bring him back, he would.

  So Leah silently prayed for strength and patience.

  * * *

  Isaac peered around the corner of the shed, waiting for the flash of light to return. He’d noticed it when he happened to glance at the right moment through the open window.

  There it was again! It was so quick he might have missed it if he’d blinked.

  But there was no doubt about it—someone was out there. Hawk? Or Cameron Walker?

  It occurred to Isaac that he didn’t know what Cam Walker looked like. What if the guy out there wasn’t Walker at all? What if the dirty cops had been tipped off about the location of the shed? They could right now be out there waiting to ambush him.

  He took a deep breath to calm his racing pulse. There was no way to know if the person out there with the light was friend or foe. And he didn’t plan to show himself until he knew for sure one way or the other.

  It was hard to imagine why Cameron would have lured him here. Maybe they thought that if they captured him, they’d have leverage with Hawk? But that would mean Cameron Walker was dirty, and Isaac wasn’t quite ready to go there yet.

  The next flash was closer, and he caught enough of a glimpse to realize the guy was looking down in the brush. Was he searching for a blood trail?

  The tiny hairs on the back of Isaac’s neck lifted in alarm. Something about this whole scenario didn’t seem right. If the guy out there was Cameron Walker, why didn’t he say something?

  Whoever he was, he was making his way closer to the shed. Maybe he was Cameron Walker and maybe he wasn’t, but somehow Isaac didn’t think he should stick around long enough to find out.

  Especially since there was no sign of Hawk.

  Isaac went in the opposite direction, keeping the shed between himself and the other man. He needed to get back to the car and take off before this guy realized he’d ever been here.

  Moving silently through the woods wasn’t easy. He didn’t dare go too fast, though everything in his body urged him to get back to Leah as soon as possible.

  He neared the area where he thought he’d left the car, but didn’t see it. Had he gone too far?

  After making another sweep of the area, he spotted it, closer to the main road than he remembered. As he approached, he didn’t see Leah inside and his chest squeezed with fear. Had someone taken her?

  The sound of a twig snapping to his left had him swiveling around, his gun drawn. Every ounce of tension drained from his body when he recognized Leah.

  “Isaac,” she whispered, stumbling toward him. “Did you see him?”

  “Let’s get in the car,” he whispered back, unwilling to have this conversation out where the man in the woods could still find them.

  She nodded and pressed the keys into his hand. Opening and closing the car door seemed unusually loud, and once they were both safe inside, he jammed the key into the ignition, started the engine and took off.

  There wasn’t a moment to waste. He wanted to put as much distance between them and the guy back there as possible.

  Leah must have sensed the seriousness of the situation because she didn’t say a word until a good ten minutes had passed.

  “Do you think he’s following us?” she asked, craning around in her seat to peer out the back window.

  “Not yet,” he answered grimly. “I almost had a heart attack when I saw you hiding in the trees. Why didn’t you stay in the car like I asked?”

  “Don’t yell at me, okay? I know I shouldn’t have gone out there, but I’m glad I did. Did you see that guy searching the clearing around the shed with his light?”

  “Yeah, I saw him. I’m sure it was the ATF agent, Cameron Walker.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” she corrected. “I managed to get a glimpse of his face and I recognized him. He’s Lieutenant Kirk Nash, Shane’s boss.”

  “Are you sure?” Isaac demanded.

  “I’m sure. I’ve met him before.” Leah sounded positive and he had no reason to doubt her.

  Before he could ask more questions, there was a low groan from the rear of the sedan. The sound was so unexpected, he jerked the steering wheel sharply, nearly running them off the road.

  Someone was back there!

  THIRTEEN

  Leah’s heart leaped into her throat as she swiveled to peer into the backseat.

  “Get down,” Isaac said harshly. He pulled over to the side of the road and abruptly stopped the car.

  Leah ignored him, using her phone as a flashlight so she could see better. “Shane?” she asked incredulously. “How did you get in here?”

  “I crawled,” he said before letting out another low groan. “Good thing I saw you.”

  “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt?” Leah could hardly believe her brother was here, after all this time. And from what she could tell, not a moment too soon. Shane looked awful.

  “Wait a minute! Hawk? Is that really you?” Isaac had opened the back door and was standing there, holding his gun ready.

  “Yeah. Took a hit—in my shoulde
r.”

  “Let me see.” Leah quickly got out of the car and came around to where Isaac was standing, clearly dumbfounded. “I need to take a look at his wound.”

  “Not now,” Shane protested in a low voice. “Keep driving. Need to get away.”

  Leah ignored him, although it wasn’t easy to climb into the backseat with her brother sprawled half on and half off the cushions.

  “He’s right, Leah,” Isaac said. “We need to get out of here.”

  No way was she leaving her brother’s side. “I’m staying back here.”

  Isaac sighed and muttered, “Fine” before he closed the door after her and slid back behind the wheel. Within seconds he had the car on the road again.

  Leah couldn’t see much in the darkness, but just being near her brother brought a level of comfort. Ever since she’d heard him cry out in pain on the other end of the phone, she’d secretly feared the worst.

  “Where’s your wound?” she asked, bracing herself on the seat. “We need to apply pressure to minimize the blood loss.”

  “Left shoulder,” he said with a grunt. “Bleeding seems to have slowed down.”

  She felt along his left side, following his arm up to his shoulder. When she felt beneath his jacket, she found the fabric of his shirt hardened with dried blood. She noticed he was shaking and understood that he was in shock, either from blood loss, infection or both.

  “Isaac, will you crank the heat?” she asked, shrugging out of her sweatshirt. She was glad it was dark as she quickly stripped off the T-shirt she was wearing underneath before putting her sweatshirt back on.

  “Sure. How is he?”

  “Hanging in there,” she responded, pressing her balled-up shirt against her brother’s shoulder. Gunshot wounds were nothing to play around with. “We need to get him to a hospital as soon as possible.”

  “No hospital,” Shane said, reaching out to grasp her arm with a strength that surprised her. “I mean it, Leah—no hospital.”

  “Look, I know gunshot wounds have to be reported to the police,” she said. “But I promise I won’t leave you alone.”