She set Winnie down on the driver’s-side seat, perpendicular to the steering wheel, and bent over to put on the shoes before helping her stand upright on the road. “Is that better?” Winnie’s grin was all the answer she needed.
She looked up to find Bruce staring at her as if he’d never seen her before. She touched her face self-consciously and ran her fingers through her ponytail just in case she had twigs or leaves attached in odd places. More likely, he was still upset that someone had been tracking Winnie. For that matter, she was upset about it herself. “I’ll want your help in making a list of everyone who had contact with her from the moment you went to work Saturday morning until now. I’ll cross-reference it myself to make sure each person is investigated until we find out who did it.”
He blinked rapidly. “I’ll take a quick look at the car, but I think it’s a lost cause.” He leaned forward and for the briefest of moments Delaney wondered if he was going to kiss her. “Excuse me.” His voice was almost a whisper but all that registered were his gorgeous green eyes. He squinted in confusion before he twisted around her and pulled the hood-release valve.
She took a step back, finally understanding that had been his intention all along. Maybe the sun had addled her brain. “I’ll take a look at the map. We need to get out of here as fast as possible.”
He lifted the hood, sweat glistening on his forearms. “If I had to guess, we ran over something that broke the oil pan. No oil means a very hot engine so it blew the radiator and seized up.”
She pulled out the Iowa map from the side door pocket. “I’m guessing you can’t fix it.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Yeah, you could say that.” He shut the hood and picked up Winnie, scanning the horizon.
Delaney put the weapons back in the black gun case, zipped it up and threw the handles over her right shoulder. She reloaded the mailbag with the snacks and water bottles and handed it to Bruce.
The walk wasn’t going to be comfortable with a bag of firepower on her back, but she wasn’t about to lead her charge into the plains without a way to protect them. At least the case was padded so the sharp edge of the shotgun wouldn’t bother her. “I hate to say it, but I think we need to walk north through the cornfield for a while.”
He frowned. “Can’t we follow the train tracks instead?”
“But the train tracks offer heavy exposure and access. I want to be where we’re least expected and with some cover if anything else decides to hover over us.”
His shoulders dropped. “Understood. Come on, sweetie.”
“We’re going to walk in the plants?”
“At least for a little bit,” Delaney answered, double-checking the map. “Hopefully not too long. Maybe a quarter of a mile.”
Bruce stepped in between the rows of stalks. The tops of the leaves just passed his head. In another month or so, harvest season would begin. The stalks would reach almost twelve feet.
“This is making me hungry for corn on the cob,” Bruce said.
“This is field corn. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t enjoy it as much as sweet corn.”
Winnie ran around his legs and led the way down the path. Delaney didn’t mind, seeing as Bruce’s shoulders brushed against the leaves that tried to slap her if she got too close.
“How’d you know that running in corn rows would cut you? Do that a lot as a kid, did you?”
“I detasseled in the summer like almost every other teenager in my class. Have you never done it?”
He shook his head. “No. We moved around a fair amount when I was growing up. It’s why I wanted to make sure I could build a stable life for Winnie, so she could make friends and feel like part of a community. So you grew up here?”
“Actually Southern Iowa, but I came here for a lot of events in high school and college and never left.”
“What was it like growing up in one place? In Iowa?”
“Um, I don’t know. The biggest excitement was football games and different festivals. At the time I thought I could never live long enough to grow up. It just seemed so endlessly far away.”
“Like you were on an endless escalator where the view never changes?”
She laughed. “Yes. Like that. Only when you grow up and it finally does change, it isn’t quite what you’d imagined.”
Truth was, she’d had a great childhood. It was adulthood that had gone badly. The plan had never been to fall into an unhealthy relationship, ending up unwed and pregnant. Somewhere along that escalator, she got lost.
“I’m pretty sure every kid feels like that no matter where they grow up. At least, I did. Your parents must be excited to have you back in the Midwest.”
Dread settled in her stomach. “Actually, I haven’t told them.” What had gotten into her that she was revealing things that were none of his business? Her heart beat faster as she smacked the corn leaves out of her way. “Yet,” she added. She would have to face her family sooner or later, but she didn’t want to let Bruce know the reasons they were estranged in the first place. She shouldn’t care what he thought.
She did care, though. His compassion and dedication to do the right thing were more attractive than his green eyes, his warm smile, his broad shoulders... She grimaced. He was proving just as dangerous to her heart as his daughter.
* * *
Despite the snapping and rustling of leaves, Bruce noticed the change in Delaney’s tone. He’d hit on a sore spot, but he didn’t know if she’d want to talk about it or if it was best to change the subject. He was a little emotionally drained himself, so he wasn’t sure if he should risk a conversation that could be a potential minefield.
The rage over someone putting a tracker in his daughter’s favorite shoes had fueled his frantic run to the train. The fire in his bones had continued to sizzle until he saw Delaney bent down, helping his daughter with her shoes.
Then the anger fizzled, giving way to a warm liquid feeling as if he’d just put on his favorite sweatshirt and drunk a cup of warm cocoa. The waves in Delaney’s ponytail had blown backward as she smiled at Winnie. His girls only had eyes for each—
Bruce stumbled over a rock in the dirt but caught himself before falling over Winnie. His girls? Where had that come from? He blew out a breath. Until he knew for sure whether he would have to take Winnie into WITSEC, he needed a better rein on his heart. Besides, it was probably just a logical longing for a family again. That was all.
“Okay, fine, you win.” Delaney huffed. “Your silence is deafening. I can almost hear the questions spinning in your brain.”
He nearly laughed. Thankfully, she couldn’t really hear his thoughts or she’d be horrified. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk about it.”
“I don’t, but I know how persistent you can be.” She took a deep breath. “My family is disappointed in me. I made a series of decisions a few years ago—ones I very much regret now—but when they made their feelings known at the time I couldn’t really handle hearing them. So I shut them out.”
“Does it by chance have to do with Raymond?” The question was out before he could filter it.
“Yes. But you probably know more than you ever wanted to know about your assigned deputy now.”
He stopped and turned so he could look at her wide blue eyes. “I don’t think of you as my assigned deputy. I’d like to think that if we’d met at a different time, in a different situation, we could’ve been...” He knew he’d said too much when she stepped backward, her lip slightly curled as if horrified. “Friends. I hope that doesn’t offend you.”
Her shoulders sagged in what looked like relief. “Uh, no.” She tilted her head and looked past him. “Winnie didn’t slow down. We should keep up with her.”
He should’ve kept his big mouth closed.
Winnie still pumped her arms, purposeful and strong, clearly enjoying the feeling of being in charge,
leading adults down the row. A burst of light roughly twenty feet ahead promised open spaces. The stalks suddenly leaned to the right, smacking Bruce in the forehead. He rushed forward to hold his arms over his daughter’s head in case they got too close to her. “Do you know what the forecast is today?”
“No, but it is August in Iowa. Anything can happen.”
As if agreeing with her, a rumble in the distance sounded.
“We should be fine,” she added, though she didn’t sound convinced. “A storm should significantly decrease the chance of drones discovering us. Let me go ahead of you two and check the road.”
He turned sideways and she tried to step past him but they ended up face-to-face. Her breath still smelled like the peanut-butter chocolate she ate on the bus. “I didn’t peg you for a silver lining type of person.” He met her eyes but couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting to her lips.
She sucked in a breath, visibly flustered by their close proximity. “I must be spending too much time with you.” A smile played on the edges of her lips as she moved past him and Winnie. “You’re a runner, right? If my map is current, we have roughly a mile due east before a little-known road will take us right to the safe house. I think we can walk again once we get past the railroad tracks, as there’ll be a fair amount of tree cover. Think you can run that far while she piggybacks?”
“Maybe not piggyback. I don’t think her legs can wrap around my back, but she’s light enough I can hold her with one arm.” He needed to at least be able to pump one arm if he was going to run fast. His right thigh twinged at the thought of it.
While Bruce ran often, he didn’t often sprint like he had done to get the tracker onto the freight train. He’d strained one muscle but it wasn’t so bad he couldn’t work through the pain. The gear bag on Delaney’s back looked heavy, probably a good twenty pounds. “You sure you can run with that?”
She turned back and rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have brought it up if I couldn’t do it. Marshal basic training academy taught me a lot, but what I remember most is the running.” She sighed. “So much running.”
She held one hand up as an indicator to stay back as she stuck her head out of the row of corn and pulled it back in. “Wait,” she whispered.
For a second the only noises were crickets in the distance and stalks brushing against each other from the wind. A low rumbling of large motors grew in volume accompanied by snapping branches. Delaney swung the bag around her torso so the front rested on her chest as she unzipped the bag and slipped her hand inside.
Bruce picked up Winnie. There was no chance he was going to let her run ahead and risk getting caught in the crossfire. The rumbling sound faded as fast as it had crescendoed. Sweat dripped down his neck.
Winnie wrinkled her nose. “You’re wet, Daddy.”
“I know, sweetie.”
“Stay put.” Delaney stuck her head out a second time before she disappeared entirely. Seconds turned into minutes, and for a brief moment, Bruce wondered if she’d given up on them. “Come out,” she called.
Bruce had changed his mind. Corn was the last thing he craved, although butter and salt on anything sounded good. His stomach growled.
Delaney had zipped her gun bag up. “They went down the other tractor road and sped off after the train. By now, they’ve passed the curve and won’t be able to see us.”
“Same trucks as before?”
Delaney paled. “Not sure, but we can’t take any chances.”
Did her reaction mean the deputy marshals they’d left behind on the main highway hadn’t survived? Delaney shook her head as if thinking the same thing. “For all we know, these men got away and circled back around. I think it’s safe to say getting the trackers on the train worked.”
For some reason, that didn’t soothe Bruce’s nerves. “I’m ready.”
“Stay on the opposite side of the dirt road from me. If you hear anything, see anything out of place, or I point at you, hide in the fields. I’ll cover you.” She patted the strap of her bag. “Run hard until we get under the cover of the trees then we’ll catch a breath and reevaluate.” She eyed Winnie and broke out a smile that would’ve fried a wattage meter. “Remember when you said you wanted to run together? Let’s go.” Delaney took off at a run without another word.
“Catch her, Daddy!” Winnie’s words prompted him into motion but his mind and heart were trying to catch up with his limbs. If they hadn’t been running for their lives, would he have been bothered by Winnie’s enthusiasm, as if they were on a family run? She giggled as she bounced in his arms, the noise jarring his senses. As if to heighten every emotion on purpose, the heavens erupted with rain. His feet slid slightly as the dirt turned to slick mud within seconds.
He squinted, and as Delaney swung her arms in rhythm, he thought he detected the smallest of smiles. “Are you enjoying this?” he shouted over the rain. Winnie’s hair hung down the sides of her face, providing the illusion that her blue eyes had doubled in size. She giggled again when Delaney flashed another smile.
“The only spot we’re fully out in the open is when we cross the railroad tracks. With this rain, there’s no way they can see us.”
The tightness across his chest didn’t let up. Delaney probably didn’t understand that the high-tech drones that had been following them could fly and see just fine in rain or snow. He just hoped he had a chance to tell her before they were spotted.
TWELVE
The horrible weather was fitting. The moment the skies had erupted, Delaney fought the urge to cry, scream and yell, but it was so perfectly in keeping with this whole assignment that she had to laugh. Everything that could’ve gone wrong about the case, had, and she wasn’t going to let a little—okay, a lot—of rain be her breaking point. She would make sure Bruce and Winnie got to safety if it was the last thing she did. Though she really didn’t want it to be the last thing.
Keeping up with Bruce’s long stride was slightly challenging, but she managed. They both leaped over the train tracks and didn’t slow down until the rain decreased to a drizzle underneath the trees. Delaney stopped underneath a thick oak’s covering and wrung out her ponytail.
“Do that to me,” Winnie said, eyes ever watchful. Delaney didn’t hesitate and leaned over to squeeze the moisture from her hair. Winnie’s smile and the intensity of Bruce’s gaze heated her chest despite the raindrops chilling her arms.
Did Delaney’s daughter have a mother and father who right now were laughing in the rain together? Or were they watching the rain from inside as they prepared dinner together?
She didn’t want to look directly at Bruce, but she couldn’t help it. She was drawn to him. Was this what had happened to Kurt with his witness Rebecca?
Sudden clarity caused her to step backward. “Kurt.”
Bruce frowned, confused. “Your mentor?”
“Yes.” She gestured with her head for him to start walking north under cover of the branches. “If I got to a pay phone, say at a gas station, could I call him without worrying about someone tracking us.”
He shrugged. “The CryptTakers would have no reason to be monitoring a pay phone or Kurt. You said he’s in Idaho?” She nodded. “You might be onto something. You could use him as a middleman to get us some help.”
“We’re almost to the safe house. If I remember right, there is an old mom-and-pop gas station just half a mile from here.” They continued walking in silence and Delaney wondered if he had picked up on her thoughts about family. If so, it had likely scared him even more than it scared her. She was falling for Bruce, and she couldn’t let her heart soften any more. It couldn’t survive breaking a second time.
She didn’t deserve a family, and he would never understand why she had given up her daughter. A wave of sorrow, so unexpected, took her breath away.
“Are you okay? Did you twist your ankle or something?”
Delaney swallowed and kept her eyes focused on the leaves. “I’m fine. Sorry.” The hardness around her heart had been softening for days, leaving her vulnerable in a way she hadn’t been in years. She needed her guard back. Now.
“Daddy, I don’t want to be wet anymore.”
It was just the focus she needed. “Then let’s get you somewhere dry.” Thankfully, aside from the tops of their heads and shoulders, they weren’t drenched, and the strong warm wind blowing from the west helped fight the effects of humidity as well as sending the large rain cloud past them so that by the time they stepped out of the trees there was barely a drizzle.
She’d never been so thankful to wear shorts on the job, as it helped her walk quickly without discomfort. Her senses heightened as they found the gravel county road and crossed the intersection. It only took a few more minutes to find the gas station, and by then the rain had ceased.
Fortunately the pay phone was located near the back. She couldn’t recall if she’d ever called someone collect before, but she didn’t have enough change to do otherwise. Since when did payphones charge fifty cents per call? Fortunately, Kurt’s was one of the few numbers she had memorized. When the prompt asked her for her name she said instead, “I went to Iowa,” to avoid using her name on the phone, just in case.
The phone clicked and she heard Kurt’s voice accepting the charge. “I really want to tease you about calling collect, but I imagine this is serious.”
“You imagine right. I’m calling from a pay phone because we’re dealing with some heavy-duty techies that can track anyone.”
Bruce’s groan reached her ears, but she wasn’t going to worry about proper titles like hackers or crackers. “I need you and Mike to do some undercover internal affairs.” She listed the names of the deputies and police officers who’d had contact with Winnie between the murder of the security guard and Reiman Gardens. Kurt thought their IT guy, Mike, had the capability to find out if the law enforcement officers she’d mentioned had been in touch with the CryptTakers. “It isn’t exactly procedure, but we can investigate their communications and accounts.”
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