Vote Then Read: Volume II

by Lauren Blakely

  Upton’s tone had a slight adversarial edge that had been absent yesterday. Unease slid down Alec’s spine. He must have read the Sun article. “Question her?”

  “There’s been a new development in the investigation into your abduction. New evidence.”

  “New evidence?” she asked in an apprehensive voice. “The newspaper article was hardly evidence.”

  Upton glanced at Alec, then fixed his gaze on Isabel. “I’d like to question you alone.”

  Alec adopted his command tone. “No.”

  “You’re the victim, Mr. Ravissant. That doesn’t mean you can dictate the course of the investigation.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Isabel said. “Just question me now.”

  Upton shrugged. “Explain to me how Ravissant’s blood ended up in your truck.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Alec’s blood was in my truck? That’s impossible. I didn’t return to my truck after I tended his wound. It was impounded.”

  “Yes. Impounded before you had a chance to hose out the back and wash away the evidence.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Isabel snapped.

  “What I can’t figure,” Upton continued, “is how you moved him yourself. Who helped you?”

  Isabel’s face turned a flushed, angry red. “No one. Because I didn’t move him—except to get him to the cabin. His blood must’ve been planted there by whoever abducted him.”

  Upton stared at her. Finally, he said, “Right now, this case is looking pretty simple. You could easily have an ATV stashed in the woods somewhere. With your truck, you got him to the ATV. From there you got him to the rock where you let him bleed to lend credence to your story. We call that means. You had a beef with Ravissant. That’s motive. You knew he was driving in that day, and passing the very woods where you were supposed to be working. That’s called opportunity.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Jesus, do you let the Sun do all your investigating, or did you just get lucky this time?”

  Upton’s gaze turned cold. “The Sun article has no bearing on the investigation. This is about blood analysis, which came back with a match for Ravissant.”

  “Alec was never in the back of my truck. Ever. And those woods run along the highway that happens to be the only road into Tamarack. I’ve done half a dozen timber sale surveys of parcels along that road in the last four months because the DNR plans to sell the logging rights next year. So it’s not too shocking or unusual that he or anyone going to Tamarack would drive down that road. And I didn’t know Alec was coming to the compound. If I had, I might have guessed who he was sooner.”

  Upton’s gaze flicked to Alec’s, “Mr. Ravissant, it’s no secret you and Ms. Dawson have become involved. Right now, we must consider that this relationship has come about to further Ms. Dawson’s real agenda.”

  “Bullshit!” Isabel said.

  “That’s a load of crap, Upton,” Alec said.

  “She wanted the compound shut down, and now it is,” Upton said.

  “I wanted the compound closed down because no one was investigating my brother’s murder! The end goal wasn’t a shutdown. Why would I do such a thing?”

  “Well, Ms. Dawson, aren’t you getting an investigation into your brother’s murder as well? Yesterday, Mr. Ravissant spent half his interview suggesting links between what happened to him and what happened to your brother.”

  She looked at Alec. “You did?”

  He gave a sharp nod even as he frowned. It was starting to feel like anything he said could be used against Isabel.

  “Listen, Upton. I get what you’re saying but I didn’t do it,” she said. “We just came back from the woods. We found the cave!”

  Upton cocked his head. “Is that true?” He asked Alec

  Again he gave a sharp nod.

  Did he believe Upton’s scenario? Hell, no. But if he dismissed the allegations too readily, it would just convince Upton he wasn’t taking the questions seriously, that he was blinded by his feelings for her.

  “Given that the two of you are involved, and you can’t be objective where she’s concerned, the Special Agent in Charge wants me to bring Ms. Dawson to Anchorage.”

  Upton’s statement only confirmed Alec’s concerns.

  Isabel stiffened. “Bring me to Anchorage. You’re arresting me?”

  “Will you go willingly?” Upton asked.

  “Later, sure. But right now we need to get to the compound. We found the cave—we—”

  Alec shook his head. If they told Upton about Godfrey now, he might arrest Alec. Or maybe assume Alec was covering for Isabel, because he had feelings for her. Which he did. But not because he’d Stockholmed. He needed time. He had every intention of telling Upton everything, but if the FBI agent and his superiors were focused on Isabel, then Nicole could very well get away with whatever it was she was doing.

  “If you won’t go willingly, I’m authorized to arrest you. We have enough evidence.” Upton pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

  “Wait! There’s no need for that,” Alec said

  “Again, Mr. Ravissant, you have no say in how this investigation is run. I have orders. The SAC doesn’t want you together when it’s clear you have feelings for her. You aren’t objective and you’ll get in the way.” Upton pulled Isabel’s hands behind her back and slapped the cuffs on her.

  Alec’s mind raced. He needed time to convince Upton to investigate Nicole. “You don’t have to take her all the way to Anchorage. Put her in the Tamarack lockup while we sort this out. I can take you to the cave. Explain things on the way.”

  “Put me in the jail! Alec, I’m not a dog that needs to be kenneled.”

  He gripped her biceps and kissed her forehead. “This way I’ll know you’re safe while we go after Nicole.”

  “Safe. In jail.”

  “What do you mean, go after Nicole? Is Markwell part of this?” Upton asked.

  “Yes.”

  “What evidence do you have?”

  Alec frowned. “Absolutely nothing.” Hell, they didn’t even know if Nicole had been in the cave—if there’d be anything there to tie her to what had happened to him.

  “I can’t work with nothing, Ravissant. My boss wants me to bring Dawson to Anchorage. If I don’t, I need more than vague speculation.”

  “Do you really think Isabel staged all this?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what the evidence can prove.” His gaze shifted from Alec to Isabel again. “I’ll give you one hour. We’ll take her to the Tamarack lockup, then go to the compound.”

  The cell door closed, and Isabel watched Upton walk away. Outrage, frustration, anger all bubbled inside her. Very similar to how she felt the last time she’d inhabited this cell.

  She sat down on the built-in bunk and rubbed a hand over her face.

  She wished she knew what Alec believed. He’d kissed her again before she’d been brought to the back of the post, but his lips had been stiff, the kiss perfunctory.

  Who was the kiss intended to fool, her or Upton?

  Days ago, she’d feared being charged with Alec’s abduction, and this morning she’d been painted the villain by a Maryland newspaper. Now, with solid evidence against her, it was a real possibility.

  Alec’s memories remained unclear. Even his belief that he killed Godfrey would likely never be proven, given the state of the man’s remains. His memories could be written off as a dream, as Vin’s had been. They could even claim she’d suggested the memories. Had manipulated him, seduced him so she could get close to him.

  Forget that she’d never even heard of infrasound until a few days ago.

  She paused in her bleak thoughts. She’d been hit with infrasound three times—two of which happened when she’d been alone, and the third, in the river, Alec hadn’t been hit with the same intensity as she had.

  It would be so easy for a prosecutor to claim she’d been faking.

  But Alec had been hit. He’d put a name to it without her suggestion. Surely
he believed her.

  Every person she’d ever cared about was gone. For ten minutes today, it had seemed possible this thing with Alec could be real. Now she didn’t know what to think.

  Westover sauntered down the hall. “You sure have gotten yourself in a mess.”

  She glared at the officer. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Be original, Isabel. Everyone says that.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Leave me alone. I’m having a crappy day, and I’m not your prisoner.”

  “Actually, you are. I just received a call from Fairbanks. You missed your court appearance this morning. Your bail has not only been revoked, they want me to bring you to Fairbanks.”

  “I had a court appearance?” Shit. She hadn’t listened to the messages from the lawyer Alec hired. Had she really missed something that important? “But Alec dropped the charges.”

  “No. He paid your bail. He was supposed to withdraw his complaint during your appearance this morning. But neither of you showed. So your bail has been revoked, and they want you in the Fairbanks jail until your next court date.”

  “When is that?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is they want me to play chauffeur and take you to Fairbanks. As if I have time.” He held up a pair of handcuffs. “I need to cuff you for the drive.”

  “Seriously? Lieutenant, you made me hike five miles handcuffed. Don’t make me wear them for a two-hour drive.”

  “I can’t make exceptions.” He opened the barred door, and for the second time today, she was handcuffed.

  This was hardly the kinky fantasy Alec had offered her this morning. She wanted to say “Tiger” like it was a magic word that would get her out of this situation. “Let me call my lawyer.”

  “No time. The round trip is going to take me four hours. We need to get going.”

  “This is ridiculous, Lieutenant. I get a phone call.”

  “You were offered a call when Upton locked you up. You refused.”

  “That’s because Alec was here. I didn’t have anyone else to call.” Alec had said he’d call her attorney. Isabel had yet to talk to the woman he’d hired. “I need to call Alec. Agent Upton is going to be pissed you took me to Fairbanks.”

  “That’s Upton’s problem. The warrant for the missed court appearance supersedes his case. Stop arguing. We need to go.”

  He prodded her down the short hallway.

  “Where is Joyce?” she asked as she passed the woman’s empty desk.

  “Lunch break.” Westover grabbed Isabel’s backpack from the counter. “She didn’t have a chance to log in your stuff before she left. We’ll take it and let Fairbanks do the heavy lifting.”

  They entered the post garage, and Westover locked her in the backseat of the patrol car before depositing her pack in the trunk, then opening the bay door. She looked backward, through the rear window to the main road. It was empty. No sign of Alec or Upton.

  Something about this was wrong. It was all too rushed.

  Westover circled the car and slid behind the wheel. In minutes, they were on the road, heading west, toward the north highway that would take them to Fairbanks. The Raptor compound was to the east. No way Alec would catch a glimpse and know she wasn’t in the Tamarack jail.

  “Where were you and Ravissant this morning?”

  “None of your business,” she said, feeling uneasy.

  “Police business is my business.”

  “It’s an FBI investigation.”

  He grinned into the rearview mirror. “You were looking into Ravissant’s abduction, then.”

  She shrugged.

  “I heard someone shot out security cameras in the compound in the middle of the night.” He leered at her in the mirror in a way that made her skin crawl. “I wonder what the cameras would have seen.”

  Given that the cameras had been off before they were shot out, it was strange that Westover knew anything about it. She didn’t enjoy being locked in the back of the patrol car as Westover smirked at her.

  “Wonder what the voters in Maryland will think about that?”

  She bit back her reply. Aside from the fact that they were two consenting, single adults, they were Alec’s cameras, meaning there was no crime. No scandal. It was also none of the officer’s damn business.

  Without warning, he took a sharp left onto a logging road.

  Fear shot through her. “What are you doing?”

  “Change in plans.”

  Her mind raced. She knew this road. It was part of a network that branched from Tamarack. The logging roads had been the first roads in the area, then the town grew. Many of the roads connected and intersected, a haven of secret routes for poachers and antigovernment types who liked the anonymity of the Alaskan bush.

  She too had used these roads, to sneak onto the Raptor compound. Five minutes later, she was certain. Westover was taking her to the compound.

  He must’ve lied about the court date. Lied about taking her to Fairbanks. He’d sent Joyce to lunch so he could sneak her out of the post with no one the wiser.

  She was handcuffed and helpless and too late in remembering Westover had worked for Raptor under Robert Beck, and prior to that, he’d worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency—and rumors had circulated that he’d been involved with developing some “enhanced interrogation” techniques.

  He had to be the other man in the cave. The one who’d questioned Alec.

  Westover was Nicole’s partner. Agent Upton had, at Alec’s suggestion, delivered her into her brother’s murderer’s hands.

  30

  As soon as Isabel was settled in the jail, Alec made a beeline for the Roadhouse.

  “I hardly think this is the time for a beer, Ravissant,” Upton said.

  Alec cut the agent a hard stare. “One of my employees quit this morning, and I need to question him. He might be involved.” He paused. “I remembered more of what happened last Thursday. I was interrogated in the cave.”

  “Interrogated? What did they want to know? Details of Ranger ops?”

  He frowned. “I don’t know. I can’t remember the questions.” He shook his head. “I’m a candidate, not a senator—it’s not like I have real power or access to information.”

  He shoved open the door to the Roadhouse and immediately spotted Brad Fraser at the bar, nursing a beer. Alec dropped into the seat next to him. “Why aren’t you at the compound?”

  Fraser tossed him a glare. “I don’t work for you anymore. I don’t have to answer to you.”

  Upton settled into the barstool on the other side of Fraser. “Then you can tell me,” he said.

  “I don’t answer to you either.”

  “You led the team that found Ravissant with Dawson. I have questions.”

  “I’ve answered your questions.” Fraser stood and dropped a twenty on the bar. “Jenna,” he said to the bartender, “I’m heading to your apartment.”

  “Stop being an ass, Brad, and answer their questions,” Jenna said.

  He frowned at her. “Babe, I quit for you.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t ask you to do that and I think quitting was a huge mistake. So you’d’ve had to cool your heels in Fairbanks for a few weeks. I’d have been fine here.”

  “Why did you quit?” Alec asked.

  “I couldn’t leave Jenna here unprotected. Tamarack is dangerous. Last night a twenty-three-year-old in prime health had a heart attack. Eleven months ago, Vincent Dawson, our best survival-training guide, died of exposure. I’ve always known Isabel’s argument had merit, but no one listened to me.”

  “You never said—”

  “I did. It’s all in the statement I made during the initial investigation. If you didn’t read it, then you didn’t care enough to look. I’m done risking my neck for a CEO who doesn’t give a shit about the truth.”

  His words brought Alec up short. Was that how it had appeared? In letting lawyers and investigators look into Vincent’s death, did Alec come across as a coldhearted CEO
?

  “I do care—”

  “You didn’t give a damn until something happened to you—or until you took one look at Isabel and decided you wanted to screw her. Either way, your reasons for finally paying attention were self-serving.”

  Alec bristled. Sure as hell, Brad wouldn’t be talking to him like this if he were still employed by Raptor. While Alec didn’t like what Brad was saying, he had to admit he preferred the honest operative to the obsequious soldier.

  “And the way your campaign screwed her in the paper is sickening,” Brad added.

  “That wasn’t me. I’ve already fired my campaign manager.”

  “Too late,” Brad said. “Listen, there’s something rotten going on in the compound. I can’t trust the very people I need to have my back. I’ve been sitting on an offer from Apex for months. Now I’m taking it. I’m just here to convince Jenna to move with me to Oregon.”

  Jenna let out a heavy sigh. “You know I can’t move, Brad. My dad needs me here.”

  “Your dad can come with us.” He took a long drink of his beer, then faced Alec. “If you give a damn about Isabel at all, if you aren’t just using her for information or a convenient screw, or a scapegoat for your campaign, you’ll get her the hell out of Tamarack. Now. Today. She’s hell-bent on justice, screw self-preservation. Someone needs to look out for her. The way I see it, justice isn’t going to happen. Not when whoever is doing this has infrasound. Not when they can cause heart attacks in healthy operatives with the flip of a switch.”

  “Ms. Dawson is leaving Tamarack today,” the FBI agent said. “With me. Forensics found evidence that ties her to Ravissant’s abduction.”

  “That’s bullshit!” Brad said.

  “If you have information regarding the investigation, Mr. Fraser, I recommend you stop wasting my time with your gripes and start talking. I’d rather have the right person in custody, than a person in custody.”

  Brad’s gaze darted from Alec’s to Agent Upton’s, then back to Jenna’s. Jenna nodded in sync with Alec. “Tell him what you suspect, Brad. Tell them both everything.”

  The operative took a deep breath. “After Chase Johnston collapsed last night, I called Simon Barstow to accept the job with Apex. I asked about Ted Godfrey—I wanted to know if we’d be working on the same team. He had no clue what I was talking about. Godfrey’s not down in Oregon.”