Their Special Agent

by Mel Gough

  Okay, that was harsh. She’d been upset. She wanted to help—after their night together there was no doubt in his mind that her motives were genuine. She’d come back, and she’d have to pay the price for that with her boss. But cops just didn’t get it. And despite everything, that was what she was. A gorgeous cop with a fancy title, but still a cop. He’d seen it before. Someone was suffering, and they were sitting around on their damn phones!

  Danny had died because the fucking LAPD detectives didn’t know there was a killer on the loose. Didn’t even entertain the possibility after Danny had hit the pavement outside the Chateau, all bones in his body broken. He’d not let the same happen to Lou.

  Jay’s insides shriveled at the thought what agony Lou had to be in right now. When they’d first met eighteen-year-old Louis Zee, Jay had sworn always to protect him. And he’d failed.

  At least he was moving. Any action was better than just sitting in that stifling police station, watching the seconds tick away. Jay tapped the details of the vacation rental into his phone. They appeared on the screen, a small cluster of orange dots, down the road from one bigger building. He’d head straight for the huts. If the cops wanted to dick around with the owner they could knock themselves out.

  The drive was long, too long for Jay’s impatience. His gut roiled with dread. He tried to push the horror images to one side, but all that did was fill his mind with memories of Carrie, and the night they’d just spent together. Her skin had been so soft, her body so pliant, so available as they touched and kissed and drove each other crazy. He could still hear the sounds she’d made as they got close, feel her legs grip him hard and pull him deeper into her as she came.

  She was incredible. Outside, in the real world, she was so tough. In his arms, that shell had fallen away. It had been just her and him, two people who had joy in each other.

  Making love to a woman after years of near-exclusivity with Lou had been mind-boggling. Jay had enjoyed his past female lovers. He’d stopped sleeping around because he’d slowed down, appreciating the easy familiarity with Lou, and Corey being the occasional guest star.

  Again his gut twisted with dread. Why hadn’t Carrie jumped out of her seat the moment they had a lock on Greene? They could be at the cabins by now. She’d shown that she cared for Lou, for them all, by risking her career. How could she go from that to one by one ticking all the boxes on the FBI best practice guideline?

  God, this drive was endless. He wished his overactive brain would shut up and he could nap. The sleep he’d gotten with Carrie nestled close had been good, but it had been too short.

  How long did they have? When would Tom—Sam, dammit—tire of his sick game? He would kill Lou unless they stopped him, there was no doubt in Jay’s mind. That awful view of the future made him bite down on his lip so hard he tasted blood.

  At last they turned off the highway. Habitation was sparse, and the fields had a scruffy, under-tended look. This wasn’t one of the richer counties in easy distance to the big cities. The cab driver, who kept throwing him looks but didn’t speak, had his eyes glued to the GPS. Jay had given him four hundred dollars.

  He’d been surprised to find that much cash in his wallet. Since coming to Austin he didn’t remember paying for anything himself, but after a few moments the memory came back. Phil had given him the money en route from the airport when they’d arrived. Barry had been alive then, and making sure the band had what they needed at all times had still been Phil’s job.

  Fucking Barry. What had he done to piss off a psychopath like Greene? It was an unkind thought, but Jay couldn’t entirely suppress anger at the realization that the dead manager’s actions were putting Lou’s life in danger, too.

  The lake came into view first. It was on the small side. An island lay in the middle, close enough to shore to swim. He considered briefly whether Greene would barricade them into the single hut sitting on its edge, but dismissed the idea. They’d be cut off if, by some miracle, the police got off their asses and found them, and surrounded the lake.

  The other cabins sat clustered on the opposite side of the water. The rutted track they’d been driving on for the last ten minutes disappeared into a thicket of trees ahead. Jay followed the curving shape of the trees. The track had to come out again near the cabins.

  “This it?” The driver had stopped, and spoke for the first time since they’d set off.

  “Guess so.” Jay peered ahead into the glumness under the trees. It would be best if he approached on foot. The cab was still half hidden behind some shrubs. It would be a long way to negotiate back with an injured Lou, but if the cab stayed here there was a chance that Greene wouldn’t be alerted to his presence. And as preoccupied as Jay was, the thought of putting the driver into the line of fire made him feel sick. He pulled out his wallet. “Can you wait here?”

  Before the driver could refuse, Jay pulled out another hundred dollars. He had fifty left. Not much if they had to find alternative transport.

  “All right.” The driver pocketed the money and turned off the engine, but he looked doubtful.

  Jay got out. He contemplated the next step. The silence was unnerving. It wasn’t exactly quiet, with the wind rustling the leaves, and the soft glugging of the lake, but there were no voices, no cars, not even the chatter of birds.

  Should he head down to the lake and make his way around close to the water? He’d be visible from the cabins the entire time, and there was no cover if things turned to shit.

  Jay didn’t know much about guns. They hadn’t featured in his suburban upbringing, and the people he socialized with now were children of hippie parents. But he guessed that, depending on the weapon, Greene could pick him off easily as he trudged along the shore.

  He set off down the track that soon disappeared under the trees. After about thirty yards he stopped, wincing. He looked down at his feet. He hadn’t even considered how the stylish and expensive cowboy boots with their leather sole would fare. He’d been wearing them since the day Corey had walked into rehearsals with several pairs, passing them out. “Sponsored,” he exclaimed. “Some local shoe manufacturers are letting us have as many as we want as long as we wear them on stage.” Jay tried them with ill grace, but they were surprisingly comfortable. Their finely woven pattern was a real eye catcher, and they were so soft, it was like wearing gloves.

  It seemed unlikely that the actual cowboys of the Wild West had suffered shoes as ridiculous as these, but here he was. Out of nowhere came the question whether Greene had any kind of footwear for Lou. The thought twisted like a knife in his gut. Jay squared his jaw and carried on along the stony path. What did it matter if his feet hurt? He’d walk around the entire globe on stumps to save Lou.

  He trudged along. It was still dark under the trees. Keeping to one side of the path where the ground was softer on the grassy curb, he scanned ahead. Now and then, the mossy roofs of the cabins were visible through the leaves. He didn’t think he could be seen from the inside of the buildings, but his heart hammered nonetheless. When the curving path began to straighten out into a wider lane, he slowed his approach.

  Being out in the wilderness in the early-morning coolness, in his flashy, unsuitable city shoes was unfamiliar and unsettling. Creeping toward an armed psychopath with one eye on the stony ground and one on the cabins was both ridiculous and sinister.

  Everything remained quiet as he approached the cluster of huts. They were smaller than they looked from afar, spaced out along this side of the lake. The wood was bent and in need of repair. Some of the roofs looked like tiles were missing under the moss and leaves from last fall. But they’d been here since the Greene twins had been kids, so their state wasn’t a surprise.

  The lane was empty. No cars, no equipment, or anything of interest. It seemed that beyond the cabins, the gravelly path petered out into the underbrush. The buildings were uninspired on this side, though from across the water Jay had spotted large windows and a deck facing the lake. On the inland side, the crac
ked wood only featured a narrow door.

  What now? The place was deserted. What if they’d been wrong and Greene hadn’t brought Lou here at all? Cold sweat broke out on Jay’s neck. If Carrie had drawn the wrong conclusions and Lou wasn’t here, they’d signed his death warrant.

  Jay took a deep breath, letting his body sink forward for a moment and resting his hands on his knees. He couldn’t afford these fears. He was here, and he just had to trust that Carrie was as smart as she appeared.

  That still didn’t solve the issue of how he would actually rescue Lou. The entire time he’d spent getting here he’d pushed this reality to the back of his mind.

  The facts now hit him like a hammer. He was no better than Carrie and the cops. What had he expected to achieve against an armed criminal who had already killed at least once and who thought nothing of shooting innocent people to achieve his goals?

  Maybe he should hide behind a tree and wait for the cops. Carrie wouldn’t abandon him. As soon as she worked out what a foolish thing he’d done, she’d come to his rescue. Everything in him wanted to get to Lou as quickly as possible, but he was also scared.

  There came a thump from inside the nearest cabin. Jay froze. Another sound, louder this time, followed by angry words muffled through the rotting wood. Without thinking, Jay headed for the dirt path running down the side of the cabin to the lake.

  Maybe Greene had spotted the cab barreling down the lane. Or did the commotion have nothing to do with him? He made his way along the side wall of the hut, ducking under a window and wincing as stones and roots repeatedly stabbed his feet.

  There was silence from the cabin again. Jay peered around the corner. The small decks were empty, no lawn chairs or barbeque grills on any of them. The entire front consisted of a pair of sliding glass doors, firmly shut against the spring chill.

  Something moved in the corner of Jay’s eye. He glanced across the lake. Two cars came bumping along the path his cab had taken earlier. One was a black civilian vehicle, the other a cop car. The latter stopped by the bushes where the cab was concealed. The black car continued down the lane and disappeared into the trees. Jay swore under his breath.

  More noise from inside the cabin. Heavy footsteps, an angry, clipped voice. Something being dragged toward the front door.

  Without thinking, Jay retraced his steps. When he got back to the lane, two people were halfway across it, heading for the thick underbrush beneath the trees. One of them was holding up the other. They turned when Jay’s footsteps crunched on gravel.

  Jay’s heart sank, and it wasn’t just because of the gun pointing at his head. Lou was upright only because his captor had him in an iron grip. His hair was matted and unkempt, and his head lolled so his face wasn’t visible. He still wore the hospital nightgown, as well as gray sweatpants that looked several sizes too large, and dirty sneakers on his feet. The gown was bloody from the incisions on his shoulder.

  Greene brandished his pistol, baring his teeth. “Not a step farther.” He aimed the gun at Lou’s head. “You move, and I blow his brains out.”

  Jay raised his hands, standing stock still. All his instincts screamed to hurry to Lou’s side. To do something. But he didn’t move.

  The roaring of an engine, and next moment the dark car came into view. George was behind the wheel, Carrie in the passenger seat. Sam Greene wheeled Lou around, and a moment later they were crashing through the undergrowth into the rustling green and black.

  Carrie jumped out of the moving car. Her weapon raised, she called, “FBI! Freeze!”

  She made for the place where Greene and Lou had disappeared, and soon she was out of sight.

  After a moment of indecision, Jay started for the same spot.

  “Jay!” George’s voice rang out harshly. Jay ignored him and rushed across the lane, vanishing into the gloomy greenery.

  21

  It took a few moments for Carrie to register that someone was following her. At first she was puzzled. They’d agreed that George would wait for the uniforms, speak with Jay and calm him down, then supervise the collection of evidence from the cabin. It might appear callous, that one of them would focus on evidence when a life was still in danger, but the more diligent the evidence collection, the better their chances to put this guy behind bars for a long time.

  The person behind her stumbled over a root, and she threw a glance over her shoulder. Her heart skipped a beat, and she almost stopped. “Jay! What are you doing? Go back to George!”

  She hadn’t really expected that to have an effect, and he didn’t grace her with a reply.

  They burst through the last of the underbrush, stumbling to a halt on a narrow path. It was hardly even that; the weeds and vines overgrowing the space made it look like a deer track. There was no sign of Greene and Lou.

  “Where are they?” Jay, breathing hard, looked around. On the other side of the track the trees had left a clearing which was covered in tall grass, the reeds high enough to conceal an average-sized male. Jay stood on tiptoe and gazed across the expanse.

  Carrie looked, too. It was hard to make out anything in the wavy mat of green. A slight breeze gave the illusion of movement in several places. “There!” She pointed at a patch in the middle. Jay narrowed his eyes.

  He shook his head. “The wind.” His voice was croaky with desperation. Carrie moved into his line of sight to focus his attention.

  “Jay, please. Go back. You’re slowing me down.”

  It was the wrong thing to say. He glared at her, real anger in his eyes. “Slowing you down?” He scoffed and turned away. “You sit on your ass in a cozy meeting room and make calls, but I’m slowing you down.”

  So it had been their adherence to protocol that had propelled him to come out here in a gunslinger vigilante attempt to rescue Lou himself. Carrie bit her lip. She should be reading him the riot act for his stupidity, but they didn’t have time for an argument.

  When she didn’t speak, he added, “I’m taller than you.” He motioned at the field. “I can see farther. And isn’t it better to do this in pairs? It’ll be harder for Greene to take out two people.”

  He was half right. Had they both been trained for this sort of thing, pursuit of a suspect in pairs was safer. As it was, the chances that a civilian would get hurt had doubled.

  But it was clear that he wouldn’t back down, and they were losing time.

  “All right.” She turned her attention at the ground. “Since we can’t see them, we have to find out where they went.” That her tracking skills had never been stellar she kept to herself. Crawling around the countryside had been a part of her training she’d detested almost as much as roleplay.

  But she got lucky. After a moment, she pointed. “There. Those branches were broken recently.” The fresh green inside the tiny stalks was barely noticeable, and Carrie wasn’t half as confident as she sounded. But they had to choose left or right on the path.

  About fifty yards on, her gut instinct was vindicated. It was apparent that something big had cut through a corner of the grassy expanse. As they hurried on, Jay gave a hiss.

  Carrie stopped. “You okay?” She did her best not to sound exasperated.

  He didn’t look at her. “I’m fine.” When they continued, he was limping. Carrie looked down. His feet seemed normal, the stylish cowboy boots dusty but intact. Then she understood.

  “City shoes, huh?”

  A blush crept from under his shirt collar. Carrie said nothing. It wasn’t his fault. In his life, the expensive cowboy boots were the logical kind of footwear. They gave the right signals to his fans—the people who ensured that he could pay his bills. But she couldn’t ignore a nagging sense of doom.

  This is a huge mistake.

  They crossed the field and trudged through the underbrush in silence for several minutes. Carrie had the sense that other people were close, just out of sight. It was an eerie feeling.

  How was Greene keeping Lou quiet? He had to be at least conscious enough to follow co
mmands. Maybe he’d administered more Versed. What kind of side effects did the drug have? With each minute she had time to consider the situation, she became more worried. Jay had to feel even worse.

  Even though the guys were in good physical shape, Jay was soon breathless. Carrie’s muscles began to burn as well. Keeping active in the city, running on tarmac and going to the gym now and then was different from this. Beads of sweat ran down her spine.

  Greene had to be in good condition, and he had to have scouted ahead, preparing for the eventuality of making a run for it. She once again wondered about his motives. If Barry had been his target, why was he so well prepared for this second crime?

  They came to a narrow brook. It wasn’t more than a few inches deep and could easily be stepped across. Carrie considered the implications. Moving along the stream’s bed would be easier than heading straight back into the undergrowth.

  Since she could see no tracks, Carrie listened to her gut. “Downstream.” If she hadn’t been turned around, that way would lead further away from the cabins.

  They hurried on. Their feet were soon drenched. Carrie’s boots were a lot sturdier than Jay’s, so if her feet were squelching around inside them then his had to be a lot worse. But he said nothing, just kept pushing on with his jaws clenched and his eyes scanning the surrounding shrubbery.

  After another hundred yards, something rustled to their right. Carrie raised a hand and Jay skidded to a halt, breathing hard. “Stay low.”

  The rustling again and then, very faintly, some slurred words. Jay moved toward the bank of the creek. Carrie threw out an arm. “Wait.” She gave him her most level stare. “We do this my way. I want both of you alive. Stay behind me.”

  She unholstered her gun and led the way up the slippery bank. Everything was silent again ahead.