by Stormy Glenn
As soon as Kapheri’s Koffee Korner was out of sight, Adam pulled off to the side of the road and pulled out his cell phone. He quickly dialed the sheriff’s direct number just in case the police band was being monitored. Adam wasn’t sure when he had become so paranoid, but he was.
“John, this is Adam. I was just down at the coffee shop, and Brandon told me that Mrs. Blaecleah was late bringing in her usual batch of blueberry muffins because her daughter was sick. I thought I’d call and find out how she is.”
“What the fuck?” John shouted.
“He’s terrified, man. Something is going on down at the coffee shop, and Brandon is about to lose his shit.”
“I’m on my way,” John replied. “Where are you?”
“A couple of blocks away. I didn’t want to let on that I knew anything was wrong.” It had been all he could do to walk out of the coffee shop as if nothing was happening.
“Was there anyone else in the place?”
“Just Brandon as far as I could see.” That in itself had been strange, but Adam hadn’t been thinking about it until Brandon had started talking.
“Okay, stay out of sight. Yancy and I are on our way.”
That was a relief.
Adam hung up. He thought about driving away now that he had alerted the authorities, but that just didn’t seem right. Instead, he turned off his truck and climbed out.
“This is a really bad idea,” he told himself as he started walking down the block back the way he came. “Man, Mike is going to be pissed.”
Mike.
Adam stopped and quickly dialed Mike’s number. He pressed himself up against the wooden wall of the feed and seed store as he waited for Mike to answer.
“Is everything okay with Cato?” Mike asked as he answered. “You’ve been gone a long time.”
“Someone is holding up the coffee shop again.”
“What?”
Adam knew from Mike’s shout that he now had Mike’s full attention. “I went to get us some pastries. I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed. Brandon said some things that led me to believe he was being held hostage. I left and drove around the corner where I couldn’t be seen and called the sheriff.”
“I’m on my way.”
Somehow, Adam had suspected that was what Mike would say.
“I’m around the corner at Fletcher’s Feed and Seed.”
“Stay there.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, Mike. Unlike some people, I don’t like danger.” He smiled when Mike grunted.
“Oh, hold on,” Adam said when his phone beeped. “The sheriff is calling me.”
“Adam, damn it, you’d better—”
Adam smiled as he clicked over. “Yes, Sheriff?”
“Where are you?”
“Around the corner of the feed store.”
“Can you see anything?”
“Hold on.” Adam hurried to the corner and peeked around the edge of the building. There didn’t seem to be much activity going on. It took him a moment to figure out the coffee shop looked closed. “I think Brandon closed up for business. The lights are all out.”
“Keep an eye on the place until we get there. We’re about five minutes out.”
Shit. They had to be driving like a bat out of hell. The Blaecleah ranch was a good twenty minutes from Cade Creek.
“I’m going to call dispatch and have everyone meet at Fletcher’s. Let Gus know we’re coming in the back way.”
That actually made a lot of sense. It was across the corner of the park from the coffee shop. From there, they would be able to have a straight view of the coffee shop without standing right out in the open.
“Okay, Sheriff.”
When the sheriff hung up, Adam switched back to Mike and then started walking toward the back entrance of the feed and seed store. “You still there, Mike?”
“Yes, I am.” Pure steel laced that tone. “Don’t ever—”
“Hold on a minute.” Adam pressed the phone to his chest and glanced around the backside of the feed store for Gus. He knew the store owner usually worked on unloading inventory early in the morning.
Except he couldn’t see him anywhere.
Adam hurried up to the back door. Before knocking on it, he pressed his ear to the solid wooden door and listened. Considering what he had run into at the coffee shop, he wasn’t taking any chances.
When he didn’t hear anything, he knocked on the door. It took a few knocks, but finally the door was pulled open. Gus was tucking his pants in. It was immediately apparent from the flush on the man’s face what Adam had interrupted.
“I am so sorry, man. The sheriff asked me to get a hold of you. Something fishy is going on over at the coffee shop, and he wants to use your store as a base of operations so his people can come in the back way and not be seen.”
“Geez, yeah, of course.” Gus stood back to allow Adam inside the store. “I’m glad I didn’t make my usual coffee run this morning.”
Adam quickly relayed everything that had happened since he walked into Kapheri’s Koffee Korner. “Brandon is still in there,” he explained. “I don’t know who else might be there, but something is definitely off.”
Adam jumped when the back door slammed open, and Mike stormed inside. Oh, he did not look happy. There was a really interesting tic in his jaw line. Adam had just enough time to hang up his phone and slide it into his pocket before he was hauled into the man’s arms.
“If you ever scare me like that again,” Mike snapped, “I will paddle your ass so hard you won’t sit down for a week.”
Adam hugged Mike back. He saw Robby smiled at him from behind the counter. The man held his thumb up. Adam grinned. He had it good, and he knew it.
“I was never in any danger, Mike.”
“Yes, you were.”
“No, I—”
Mike grabbed him by the arms and gave him a little shake. “You went into that place where someone was being held hostage. How is that not going into danger?”
Oh, well, when put like that…
“I left just as soon as I could. By the time I called you, I was perfectly safe.”
When the front window shattered and Mike tossed him to the ground, Adam knew he should have kept his mouth shut. Tempting fate just wasn’t a good idea.
“Stay down,” Mike shouted as he scampered across the floor to the front window.
Adam lifted up off the floor far enough to watch the man in action. Mike had his gun drawn—something Adam hadn’t realized the man had brought with him—and he was peering out into the morning light.
“Do you see anything?” Adam asked.
“There’s a lot of activity over by the coffee shop.”
“The sheriff?”
“No.”
That one word sent a chill up Adam’s back. He rolled onto his hands and knees and crawled across the floor.
“Stay down!”
Adam glared at Mike. “I am down.”
Mike’s jaw tightened. The tic was back. Adam scooted down just a little farther appease the man and then peeked over the edge of the windowsill. “Where do you think the shot came from?”
“How do you know it was a gunshot?”
“Seriously?”
Mike just looked at him.
“I might not be a DEA agent, but I am a country boy. I can recognize the sound of a gun going off as much as anyone who grew up in Cade Creek can.”
“He’s right, Mike,” Gus said from across the room.
When Adam glanced at the man, he was squatting down next to the counter. Adam could see Robby peeking out of the office.
“Anyone who has grown up in Cade Creek would know that was a gunshot,” Gus said. “Between hunting, wild animals, and protecting ourselves, guns are kind of a way of life in the country. Not everyone has them, but we all know what they sound like.”
Mike stared at Gus for a moment before looking back out the window. “I don’t know where the shot came from,
but…”
Mike’s voice faded away as Adam watched a red dot appear on the man’s shirt. Adam stared at it for a moment before the implications of what it was soaked into his brain. He lunged at Mike, slamming into his body as they both went crashing to the floor.
“Adam, wha—”
“Red dot on your chest.” Adam really didn’t think he needed to say more.
“Get away from the window.” Mike began pushing Adam back toward one of the aisle shelves. Adam would have argued, but Mike came with him, not stopping until they were both hidden from view. “Call the sheriff. Tell him we have a shooter. High up, probably across the park on one of the building roofs. High-powered rifle, red-dot scope.”
Adam’s hand shook as he called the sheriff and relayed the information. The sheriff told him to stay hidden inside of the feed store and to stay away from the windows until they got there.
Big duh.
When the sheriff began relaying information to him, Adam nodded even though the man couldn’t see it. It just seemed like a natural reaction when the imposing man was talking to him.
“The sheriff is almost here. He’s going to send Yancy up to check the buildings across the way. The sheriff is going to call for backup.”
Mike lifted an eyebrow as he glanced down at Adam. “Backup?”
Adam shrugged. He had no idea. He was a veterinarian. Danger to him was examining pissed off poodle.
Chapter Thirteen
Mike was far from thrilled that Adam was involved in another dangerous situation. Again. This time he was determined that Adam wouldn’t go running into danger like he had the last time.
Of course, not getting shot would probably help that idea along a little bit. Adam only ever seemed to do something that put his life in jeopardy when Mike’s life was in jeopardy. As grateful as he was for Adam saving his life—twice—the thought of his love being hurt turned Mike’s gut into one big knot.
When the back door opened, Mike swung around and pointed his gun, ready to take down any threat. He blew out a breath and lowered his gun when the sheriff walked in, followed by three other men.
“Dorian, Bear, Harvey.” He nodded to each man as he stood. He reached up to pull Adam to his feet, tucking the man into his side.
They each nodded back.
“What have we got?” Dorian asked.
“Sometime tried to shoot Mike,” Adam said. “I saw the red dot and got him out of the way in time, but they shot out the window.”
Dorian lifted an eyebrow as he glanced toward the front of the store. “Do we know where the shooter is?”
“Yancy is searching the buildings across the way now,” the sheriff said. “Nick and Eddie are moving in on the coffee shop.”
“Could the two incidents be connected?”
Mike’s eyebrows shot up. “You think someone took the coffee shop hostage and then decided to shoot up the town?”
“No, I think someone took the coffee shop hostage to draw you out and then tried to shoot you.”
“You think this is about me?” Mike asked. How? Who knew he was here? It wasn’t like he advertised the fact that he had moved to Cade Creek.
“I think you pissed someone off. Bad. And they want their revenge.”
Mike snorted. “Well, that could be any of a hundred people.”
“Or just one very pissed-off former DEA supervisor,” Dorian said.
“Waltz?” It just wasn’t possible. “He’s an idiot.”
“He’s an idiot with an almost perfect record on the gun range.”
“How do you know this?”
Dorian’s eyes rolled. “You didn’t think I spent all of my time on the back of a motorcycle, did you?”
Yeah, he actually kind of did.
“Besides, Hudson warned me to keep an eye out for Waltz after the guy was placed on administrative leave. Anyone who had the balls to give his agents shit assignments because of who they slept with wasn’t going to take it very well if one of those agents got him in trouble with is supervisors.”
“The guy is an ass.”
“True.” Dorian nodded. “But it looks like he might be an ass with a gun.”
Mike glanced toward the front of the store. Everything was quiet at the moment, but that didn’t mean it would remain that way. “We still don’t know it’s Waltz.”
“No, we don’t, but we don’t know it’s not him either.” Dorian snickered. “Unless someone else is after your ass.”
Well, until now, Mike hadn’t thought there was, but now he wondered if he was just deluding himself. “I have no fucking clue, Dorian. If you had asked me five minutes ago who it was, I probably would have told you it was just some fanatic with a gun. Now…”
Dorian crossed his arms over his wide chest. “Oh, it’s still a fanatic. It just seems like it might be one we know, and that, my friend, gives us a leg up.”
Mike’s eyebrows snapped together as he frowned. “How?”
Dorian shot him a look that Mike feel like a first-year probie. “Because Waltz is just stupid enough to follow procedure.”
“There’s a procedure for shooting someone?”
“Oh yeah.”
Mike blinked. “I must have been sick the day they taught that class.”
Dorian chuckled.
“So, how does Waltz—assuming this is Waltz—following procedure help us?”
“At the academy, we’re taught to do things in a certain way. Knowing Waltz, he’s following that protocol to the letter. That means we can flank him and catch him before he can kill anyone else. We just need to know which building he’s on.”
“I’d say it’s one of the ones across the street from where we are now.” Mike frowned as he considered the trajectory of a shot it would take to shatter the window. “But not directly across the park. Maybe kitty-corner.”
“Now you’re thinking like an agent.” Dorian glanced toward the window again. “I’d say he’s on one of the two buildings to the right of the coffee shop. If he took people hostage there to draw you out, then he wouldn’t want to go too far in order to get set up. He probably already had his nest ready to go by the time you got here.”
“I still don’t understand how taking hostages at the coffee shop would draw me out.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, but how did he know it would work?”
“Look, when I talked to Hudson, he told me about the situation with Waltz. He also said you told Waltz you had been recovering in Cade Creek with your fiancé.” Dorian glanced at Adam. “I suspect he put two and two together and figured out this was where you would be. He probably assumed you would be called in for support in a hostage situation, especially as you’ve been given your own field office.”
Mike really hated how much that made sense.
“How does he think he could get away with something like this?” Adam asked. “Someone would know.”
“The coffee shop was held up a couple of weeks ago,” the sheriff said.
“Everyone knows that,” Adam pointed out. “It’s not like that’s news.”
“If no one finds the shooter, and since the place had already been held up,” the sheriff explained, “Waltz probably figured everyone would think it was just someone holding it up again. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t evidence somewhere pointing to the same group of people who held it up before, either a vehicle or bodies or something. Waltz is sure to do whatever he has to do to point the finger at someone else.”
As ideas went, it wasn’t a bad one. Waltz probably just never expected someone with the sheriff’s brains in a small town like Cade Creek. Small town did not mean the authorities were idiots.
The sheriff’s radio squawked, but it was a series of beeps instead of words. John reached up and pressed his communication button several times before looking at Mike. “Yancy says the shooter is on the third floor of the jewelry store building.”
Mike wanted to look so badly.
“Okay, so how do
we play this?”
“Bazooka,” Bear Black remarked with a perfectly straight face.
The sheriff and Dorian ignored him, so Mike did, too.
John grabbed a piece of paper off the counter and started drawing a picture of the downtown district, complete with streets, buildings, and arrows. “We’re going to have to go out the back and move around the buildings until we reach the jewelry store. If we break into two separate teams, we can come at him from two different sides. Yancy will keep an eye on the shooter, but he won’t make a move until we’re in position.”
“Bear and I will take the left side,” Dorian said. “We work best together.”
The sheriff nodded. “Okay, Mike, you’re with me.”
“What about me?” Adam asked.
Simple.
“You stay here where you’re safe.”
“Mike—”
“Baby, this is what I do. You need to let me do it.”
“I won’t let him get shot, Adam,” the sheriff assured the man.
“How?” Adam huffed. “He seems so good at being a target.”
Mike chuckled as he hugged Adam to his chest. “I’ll be careful, Adam. I promise.”
“You’d better be. Mom will be pissed if she has to delay the wedding because you got shot again.”
Mike could read Adam’s fear between the lines and knew the man was terrified for his safety. He pressed a kiss to the top of Adam’s head. “I won’t be long, baby.”
It was all Mike could do to release Adam and walk away.
“I love you,” Adam called just as Mike reached the backdoor.
Mike paused and glanced over his shoulder. Adam stood there, his arms wrapped around himself as if he was fighting off a chill. Tears hung to his eyelashes, darkening his beautiful hazel eyes.
“I love you, too, Adam.”
Adam gave a brief nod that he had heard him. Mike turned and walked through the door. He swallowed tightly, a lump growing thick in his throat.
“It’s never easy walking away,” John said. “Be lucky he’s not one of my deputies. I get to leave Seamus at home, but Yancy walks into danger every single day, and I have to let him.”
Not for love or money.
“I don’t envy you that.” Mike was perfectly happy with Adam being a veterinarian.