by Rebecca Deel
At the back of the sanctuary, he guided Stella out of the traffic flow. “Where do you want to sit, baby?”
“There are a few spots halfway toward the front for us and Deke. What about your teammates?”
“Don’t worry about them. They’ll blend into the crowd.”
As they walked the aisle, one mourner after another twisted to stare at them. Whispers started in earnest as they passed. Stella tightened her grip on his hand and raised her chin. Defiance and sheer determination radiated from her. She had serious grit. Couldn’t help but admire that. Yet one more thing about her to love.
They sat on the pew Stella indicated, leaving enough room for Deke to slide in next to them.
“My skin’s crawling,” Deke muttered. “If this weren’t a church, more than one gun would be pointed our direction.”
“Whatever happened to innocent until proved guilty?”
“Doesn’t apply to us. Nobody does cold fury better than cops.”
Nate scanned the church, noted the positions of his teammates. No surprise that Alex chose a seat in the balcony. Durango’s sniper preferred the high ground. The rest were scattered through the bottom floor of the sanctuary. Craig Jordan entered the building. His gaze fixed on Josh, eyes narrowed. Oh, yeah. The FBI agent was not happy to confirm Josh’s presence in town.
At that moment, the Barnes family walked down the center aisle to sit on the front pew and the service began. The preacher gave the eulogy and four other people shared memories of Ty Barnes. Despite the sadness of the occasion, there were moments of shared laughter. When the service concluded, the pall bearers escorted the casket bearing the fallen officer down the aisle. As Grace approached the pew where he, Stella, and Deke stood, she stopped. Several people in the immediate area gasped.
The widow moved to stand in front of Deke. She glanced at the horrified expressions of the people nearby before returning her gaze to his. “Thank you for coming,” she murmured. “It took great courage to come.”
Deke hugged her. “I’m so sorry about Ty. He was a great friend and we’ll all miss him.”
Grace swiped the fresh tears from her face and turned to Stella who bent and kissed her cheek. “When you find out who did this to my husband, I want to know who and why,” she whispered.
“You have my word.”
Grace rejoined what was left of her family and continued down the aisle in the casket’s wake to the accompaniment of stunned silence.
Deke, Nate, and Stella joined the mourners filing from the church into the dreary afternoon. Fifty cars were in line behind the hearse for the short drive to the cemetery across the street.
“Do you want to attend the graveside?” Nate asked the marshals.
“We’ve made enough waves today,” Deke said. “Grace deserves to say a final goodbye to her husband without dealing with the animosity against us.”
“I can’t believe Grace stopped to talk,” Stella murmured.
“I think it was her way of telling everyone she believes we’re innocent, not that it did much good. She may be the only one who thinks someone else is the killer.”
A black-haired man, mid-thirties, stopped, surprise on his face. “Stella, Deke. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Deke said, “Nate, this is Gage Yates, a fellow marshal. Gage, Nate Armstrong, Stella’s boyfriend.”
Nate held out his hand and found his engulfed in a very strong grip. He resisted the urge to engage in a dominance battle the young marshal wanted.
“You a cop, Armstrong?”
“I train bodyguards.” Among other things. Wouldn’t this green cop be interested to know he taught men how to set and defuse bombs. He watched contempt grow in the other man’s eyes. Yep, figured that would be his reaction. Suited Nate. He preferred to be underestimated every time.
Yates moved a step closer to Stella.
Nate couldn’t help his reaction to the aggressive move. He encircled her waist with his arm, his hold one that allowed him to protect her should the need arise. If she didn’t drop the other marshal where he stood first. His lips twitched. Handy that his future wife could defend herself.
“Riley’s gone off the rails,” the marshal whispered to Stella. “He’s insane if he thinks you killed Ty.”
“You believe I’m innocent?”
“Of course. You and Deke.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Deke said. “You’re the only one. Everyone else is convinced we’re guilty.”
“Riley hasn’t helped the situation. He’s mouthing off about Stella having an affair with Ty, then killing him when he wouldn’t leave his wife and kids.” His gaze shifted to Nate for a moment. “Guess that’s not the case. I didin’t know you were dating anyone.”
Stella smiled. “I’ve been seeing Nate for a few months. In fact, we’re engaged.”
Yates’ eyebrows zoomed up. “Wow. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“Listen, I have to get back to work. I wanted to stop and tell you I believe you’re innocent. There’s nothing I hate more than for an innocent to be railroaded. What can I do to help?”
Nate drew Stella in closer to his side. Interesting.
“Thank you,” Deke said. “You’re pretty good with computers, right?”
The other marshal brightened. “What do you need?”
“Can you get into the other computers at the office?”
“Sure. What am I looking for?”
“Anyone that’s been accessing the files of Milo Wall, Ken James, Chris Turner, Luke Dyson, and Natalie Fisher.”
“You think there’s a connection between the witnesses and the marshals?”
“We know there is,” Stella said. “All we have to do is figure out what it is.”
“If you say so.” His tone said he thought she and Deke were traveling down the wrong path, but he’d indulge them anyway. “If I find anything, how do I contact you? Riley confiscated your phone.” He frowned. “He’s been harassing the tech people, telling them to look for anything you deleted.”
“Contact MNPD homicide detective Cal Taylor if you learn anything we should know,” Nate said. “He’ll be able to reach us.”
Yates frowned. “There’s no cell phone number I can use?”
None he was willing to share. Their phones might be encrypted, but it would be foolish to give the marshals too much information to work with. “Do Stella and Deke have your number?”
“All of us have numbers for each marshal in the office.”
“Excellent. They’ll contact you. If you need to send a message to them, call Taylor.”
“And he knows where you are?”
Nosy, much? “Taylor’s a friend.”
“I’ll do what I can to help clear you and Deke,” Yates said to Stella. “Believing you two killed Ty is a stretch. Adding Pete’s murder to that is unbelievable.” He laid his hand on Stella’s shoulder. “I’ll be in touch soon.” With a nod at Nate, he walked away from the group.
“Eager to help, isn’t he?” Deke murmured, watching the marshal leave.
“Maybe he’s ticked off at the injustice,” Stella said.
“Or he could be grandstanding.” Nate reserved judgment for now.
An older man with salt-and-pepper hair approached. “How are you, Stella? Heard you landed in the hospital the night Ty was killed.”
“I’m healing, Mike. Thanks for asking.” She turned to Nate. “This is Mike Daniels. Mike, my boyfriend, Nate Armstrong.”
A nod in his direction before Daniels’ attention returned to Stella and Deke. “Riley and the fed, Jordan, are determined to put you two in prison.”
A snort from Deke. “Tell us something we don’t know.”
He glanced around to be sure no one was near to overhear. “Pete was the last to leave the office last night.”
“And you know this, how?” Nate asked.
“I forgot my wife’s birthday present in my office.” He grimaced. “I made it all the way home be
fore I realized I’d left her new iPad. When I went back to get it, I saw Pete leaving the building.”
“Did you talk to him?” Deke asked.
“Nope. He was moving fast with a large envelope under his arm.”
“See anyone else?” Nate asked.
Daniels frowned. “Come to think of it, a vehicle cranked up about the time Pete drove from the lot. Could have been someone from another building.”
“Did you notice anything about the vehicle or the driver?” Stella asked. “Maybe a license plate?”
“Sorry.” He turned to watch the hearse leave the grounds and head across the street. “You know what’s worse? We have to do this again in a few days.” The other marshal jammed his hands in the pockets of his ill-fitting black suit. “Don’t make me have to attend your funerals, too.” With that he walked toward his vehicle.
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” hissed an outraged male voice to their left.
“You might have a problem with our presence, Green, but Grace and her family didn’t,” Deke said, his tone curt.
“Grace isn’t a cop. She doesn’t know the overwhelming evidence of Stella’s guilt and your probable complicity.” He turned his hate-filled gaze on Stella. “It wasn’t enough for you to kill Ty so you took down Pete? What did he ever do to you?”
“I know you were friends, Eric. I had no reason to kill Pete. He was a good man.”
His jaw flexed. “You were the one to discover the body. You know how many people call in to report a murder when they actually committed the crime.” He leaned in close. “I think Pete found out what you did and you killed him to shut him up.”
Nate stepped between them. “Back off, Green.”
“Or what?” he snapped.
“Do you really want to push this?” He would oblige the man, but it wouldn’t be pretty. No doubt he’d be forced to call in a favor or two to stay out of jail.
“Touch me and you’ll be in jail so fast your head will spin.”
“You don’t want to do this, Green.” Deke nudged him back a few steps. “You’ll come out on the losing end of the deal. He knows some very high-powered people who will make your life miserable after he dumps you in the dirt.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Not what, who. Armstrong is close friends with the president.”
Green paled, his gaze skating back to Nate. “How do you know the president?”
“I was part of the team that rescued his daughter.”
Nate didn’t think the young marshal could get any paler. He was wrong. “I’m still entitled to my opinion.”
“You are. You should reserve judgment until all the facts are in, Marshal Green. As it is, I’m not impressed with you or your investigative prowess. If we depended on you, Deke and Stella would be rotting in jail.”
“Because they’re guilty. They killed my boss and my best friend.”
Nate stilled. That explained the marshal’s extreme animosity. No stranger to losing men he cared about in war zones in inhospitable countries, some of his fury at the other man lessened. “I’m sorry for your loss, Green. Has Riley bothered to inform the office that Stella and Deke have an alibi for the time of Pete Kelly’s murder?”
The other marshal dragged a hand over his face. “No, he didn’t.”
“Figures,” Deke said. “The deputy director wants us to be guilty so he’s ignoring the evidence.”
He sent a dark look Stella’s direction. “That doesn’t mean she didn’t kill Ty.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” He stalked across the grass to his car.
Josh and Alex crossed the open space to stand beside Stella. “What was that about?” Josh asked.
“Eric Green was Pete Kelly’s best friend. He’s hurting.”
“I thought you were going to lay into him when he went after Stella,” Alex said. “What held you back?”
“I’d prefer not to redeem my get-out-of-jail-free card for this.” He glanced around, noted most of the mourners had left the church and parking lot. “Let’s get out of here. I want to ditch this monkey suit.”
Stella stroked his arm. “Too bad. You look amazing.”
His teammates and Deke chuckled. “Sweetheart, I love you, but I’m not staying in a suit to make you happy. Besides, what’s wrong with the clothes I normally wear?”
“Not a thing. This is a new look for me to enjoy.” She sighed and batted her eyes. “Take my word for it. I’m definitely enjoying the view.”
“Please,” Quinn said as he stepped up beside Nate. “Spare our sensitive feelings.”
Stella grinned.
“See anything unusual?” Josh asked his team.
“A lot of very suspicious cops,” Alex said. “Hard to believe how many had already tried and convicted Stella and Deke.”
“Everybody around me was shocked at Grace Barnes talking to them on the way out of the church,” Rio added.
“So were we,” Deke said. He tugged off his tie. “I’m starving. Anybody have a preference on food choice?”
“How about Logan’s?” Stella suggested.
After agreeing to meet at the restaurant, Nate walked with Stella to his SUV. As he pulled out of the parking lot behind Alex, his cell phone chimed. He glanced at the readout on his dashboard and hit the call button. “Zane, what’s up?”
“You were right. There is a connection between the witnesses.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Stella tensed in her seat. “What kind of connection?”
A pause, then, “Hello, Marshal Grayson. I’m Zane Murphy, a communication and research specialist at Fortress Security.”
Good grief. Zane’s rich, deep voice would star in some other woman’s fantasies. He’d make a mint as a singer. “Please, call me Stella. Thank you for spending so much time helping me.”
“I owe Nate a favor.”
She twisted in her seat in time to see her future husband grimace. “Can you tell me about it?” Nate didn’t share most details of their operations. Some things he couldn’t share for security reasons. That’s why she never asked about his time in Delta or the Rangers. His missions were classified.
“He and his teammates saved the lives of two very good friends of mine last week. Remy Doucet and Lily Stanton.”
“I met them last month in Washington, D.C. Are they okay?”
“They will be, thanks to Durango. Remy was shot, but Rio and his teammates saved his life.”
“What did you find out, Z?” Nate asked.
Stella smiled at Nate’s obvious change of subject. She never had to worry about him being a glory hound.
“All the witnesses attended the same high school, including Dyson’s girlfriend, Natalie.”
“There has to be something more than them attending the same school or you wouldn’t have called.”
“The records are sealed because they were all juveniles. Do you want me to hack into the system and find out what’s in them?”
Stella frowned. She just didn’t see Luke and Natalie tangling with the law as teenagers. “All of them have juvie records?”
“Only Wall, James, and Turner. I couldn’t find anything on Dyson or his girlfriend.”
That was something, she supposed. Stella would hate to think she’d misjudged the young couple. The other three having records was no surprise based on their reasons for being in the witness security program. “Don’t break into the files yet. Whatever we find won’t tell the whole story if there’s an incident in their past that’s prompting the murders. I’d like to contact Luke and Natalie. Can we Skype them on a secure channel?”
“If you and Nate swing by here, I’ll set it up.”
“Z, we’ll be in after lunch. Say two hours?”
“I’ll be ready.”
After their meal, Deke rode to Fortress headquarters with Stella and Nate. Maddox waited for them in the lobby. “Fifth floor conference room. We arranged for
Luke and Natalie to use Harris’ computer for the call.” He studied Stella’s face. “How are you, sugar?”
“Rough day. We weren’t greeted with open arms.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Deke muttered. “We were lucky to leave the funeral without a bullet in the back.”
“We’ll clear you,” Maddox said, “and the attitudes will change.”
Would it be enough? They rode the elevator to the fifth floor and Nate led her to a large conference room. Inside, a monitor filled most of one wall. Working on a laptop, a dark-haired man glanced up from his wheelchair.
“Thanks for setting this up, Zane,” Nate said. He shook the other man’s hand.
“No problem, man.” Zane’s eyes twinkled at Stella. “You must be Stella Grayson.” He held out his hand. “It’s great to meet you. Nate raves about you to anyone who will listen. I have to admit, the Army grunt has great taste.”
Zane Murphy was a charmer. “Thank you. You weren’t in the Army?”
He winced. “Bite your tongue, Marshal. I was Navy. That’s where the real men are.”
“Don’t hit on my girl, Murphy.” Nate scowled at his friend.
“If you tire of him, Stella, look me up. I promise to treat you like a queen.” He winked at her before turning his attention to Maddox. “We’re ready to go, boss.”
Maddox motioned for him to make the call. Within minutes, Luke and Natalie’s faces were on the wall screen.
“How’s it going, Luke?” Deke asked.
“It’s beautiful here and the people are friendly at PSI. I feel sorry for the trainees, Nate. You guys run them pretty hard.”
“We want them to survive. The harder we make the training, the better chance they have of completing their missions in one piece. Have you been in town yet?”
“Our bodyguards took us to the bookstore,” Natalie said. “We met Del and Ivy and left with a bag of books each.”
“If you don’t find what you need in the store, Del will order it for you. Her supplier is pretty fast.”