Desolation Point

by Lisa Phillips

  Was that why he’d been determined to think the town would never understand him? Maybe it was safer to assume they’d never take the time to get to know who he really was.

  He blew out a breath and straightened. That was when she left her father’s room.

  “I’m sorry.” The question was there on her face. “What did I say?”

  Drew didn’t want her to feel bad. She had enough going on without him adding to it, but he wasn’t going to lie to her either. “My father.” He pushed out a breath. “I don’t think he was murdered. But it just hit me, how you said it. Made me realize how much I wanted it to be true.” He tried to smile. Brush it off.

  Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry.”

  He pulled her to him. “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad your father is okay.”

  She pulled back, making a face. “Maybe. He told me they approached him years ago about ‘investing in the community.’ He saw it for what it was and told them to go shove it. Figured it wouldn’t be long before he was in their pocket.”

  She shook her head and continued, “But if he wasn’t fighting them, maybe he was helping them in a way. Keeping his head down. Pretending nothing was wrong. On any other day he’s being complicit in what they’re doing.”

  “What about him working with Sheriff Burgess to get some evidence?” That was what Will had told them. That both the current sheriff and the previous sheriff were actively looking for evidence on this case. They wanted the people forcing others from their homes to be stopped.

  “He doesn’t even know who the players are.” She stepped back and folded her arms. “It could be anyone in town for all we know.”

  “Except the man who spoke to me in the hospital room.”

  “So we get the security footage?”

  Drew had been thinking the same thing. “Get a face, figure out who the mastermind is.”

  “And if he’s from out of town like Simon Mills? Someone with an untraceable ID that we can’t find, can’t pin anything on.”

  He blew out a breath. “Simon Mills is wanted. So I know it looks impossible. They’ve been hiding their activities and their identities for years. But they’ve messed up this week. They came after you. They even hired men to do it. Then there’s the guy who strangled you.” He had to swallow that down. “That means they’re stressed. And stressed people mess up. They get sloppy. So we go talk to the bank manager. The mayor. People in the land office, just like Laney suggested. See what shakes loose.”

  She nodded. “If I go in there, they’ll know I’m asking in an official capacity.”

  No one in town was under any misconception that Ellie was 100 percent about the job. That level of focus was impressive. He did the same thing when he was undercover, going all in until the task was complete.

  This time it was far more personal.

  In more ways than one.

  “So I go in,” he said. “You listen from outside. I’ll wear a wire, and we can get it all on tape.” Not his usual mode of operating, but he highly doubted the locals here would be worried about checking him for a listening device. He wouldn’t wear one for a meet. That was too dangerous. Just for poking around, asking a few questions.

  “Okay.” She nodded.

  Just like that. One suggestion, and she didn’t even raise any objections. He was honestly surprised Ellie would be okay sending him in when she was usually so take-charge. But she was right. She had her skill set, and he had his.

  “Stay with your dad for right now. I need to go get some things.”

  Her eyes widened. “You think someone might approach him like they did with you. You think they might even try to kill him again?” She let out a frustrated noise. “I’ve been trying to convince myself that I don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Sorry,” he said. “Maybe you should call Burgess, ask him to come sit with your father. Or Laney. Or someone else you trust.”

  “Laney won’t be much in the way of protection. She’s a shop owner, and I’m not sure she’s ever had to defend herself in her entire life.” Ellie shot him a wry smile. “Though, that’s not a bad thing.”

  “She might not be trained, but someone looking to come here and cause trouble will think twice if they see another person in the room.”

  “Good thinking.”

  Drew looked at his watch. “It’s pretty late. The city offices and the bank aren’t going to be open. We can meet up in the morning and get set up for some surveillance. Are you going to stay here tonight?”

  She nodded. “But I’ll call Laney. See if she can come here in the morning and sit with him. They don’t always get along perfectly, but I’m sure they’ll put that aside for the sake of all that is happening.”

  A loud alarm sounded through speakers, high in the walls. A recorded voice—the same one that announced a color code causing nurses and doctors to spring from their chairs. Drew watched as they ran toward patient rooms. And not just one. “What is it?”

  Ellie had already pulled her pistol from its holster. “Threat. Someone alerted security that there’s an active shooter in the hospital.”

  A nurse raced around the corner, headed right toward them. She saw Ellie’s weapon and then Drew’s, threw her hands up and screamed.

  “Sheriff’s department,” Ellie called out to her. “What’s going on?”

  The woman kept screaming. She raced past them into a room off the hall.

  Drew moved to the desk and spoke to the nurse. “What’s happening?”

  She had her phone out and her attention on the screen as she tapped and swiped. Then she put the phone to her ear. “Hello?” Her wide, fearful eyes lifted to his and she shoved the chair back as she said into the phone, “There’s a gunman in the hospital. I’m so scared.”

  Drew said, “Stay here.” Even though she was talking to someone else. “Get under the desk.”

  “Let’s find the stairs.”

  He followed Ellie to the stairwell door. “Why don’t you stay with your dad? I can see what’s going on.” He patted the pocket where his phone was. “I’ll call.”

  She was torn. He could see it on her face. He said, “It’s okay to stay up here. We don’t even know what’s happening. Could be nothing.”

  “Really?” Another facial expression he could read well. She didn’t believe it any more than he did.

  “There’s a chance.”

  Just like there was a chance that someone was here to kill her father. Or him. Or her. Or all of them.

  Footsteps pounded up the stairs. Drew hit the bar and the door cracked open. The sound got way louder. He listened for any talking, wanting to know if this was friend or foe.

  If someone was here to kill her father, they might not even know that Drew and Ellie were on the same floor.

  A security guard came into view, huffing from his sprint up the stairs. His eyes widened at the sight of both of them, guns out.

  Ellie pulled a leather wallet from her back pocket.

  The man sighed. “Guess that makes you the one in charge, Deputy.”

  He lifted his gun and fired at Ellie. A boom that echoed in the concrete stairwell.

  Before either of them could react, she fell back.

  Chapter 13

  Ellie’s world went dark for a second. She heard the deafening rap of another gunshot, only a split second after the first one. Fighting the black of unconsciousness, she blinked her eyes open.

  The security guard hit the floor, leaving only Drew standing. Gun pointed at the spot where the man had been.

  “Ellie!” He crouched, their eyes meeting.

  She blinked.

  “You gotta breathe, Ellie.”

  Why was he…

  She sucked in a lungful of air.

  “There you go.”

  He tugged her shirt from her waistband. “You’re wearing a vest.” In one move, buttons went flying and her body was jerked. “It saved your life.”

  “Hurts though.” That was all she could say.
Her chest felt like she’d been punched by a freight train. She touched the spot and found the crumpled remnants of what had been a round. A bullet that would have killed her had she not been wearing a vest.

  She’d only taken it off to sleep the past few days. And often wore it on her days off, considering how many times her dad had been shot in the twenty years he was a sheriff. There was just no way to account for the exact moment of a surprise attack.

  Only the ability to minimize the damage when it did come.

  Because trouble would come. She was certain of it, and she’d been right. Satisfaction didn’t make it hurt less, though. She hissed out a breath.

  “Let’s get you help.” He moved to lift her in his arms, then shifted. Tugged her arm over his shoulder. “You’re gonna have to help me or I’ll wind up lying here with you after my knee gives out.”

  She got her feet under her.

  “Good.”

  They stumbled to the desk, and he got on the phone. She laid her head forward, down on the bar-height counter to listen to him tell whoever was on the other end that he had a gunman up here, dead.

  A security guard.

  Or a man dressed as one?

  She wanted to go back and see if he’d forgotten to leave his wallet at home. Maybe he’d even called in the shooter threat to distract everyone while he came upstairs to kill them.

  She lifted her head and straightened, unable to bite back the moan. Drew caught her elbow, and she went with him to the door of her father’s room.

  Her dad was sitting up. “Someone came here?”

  Drew said, “He shot Ellie. I killed him.”

  Her dad’s head whipped to her, shirt still open and the bullet lodged in her vest on full display. “Too soon to say I told you so?”

  “Yes. But you don’t need to, because I took your advice. If I hadn’t, I would be dead.”

  Her dad nodded. “Exactly.”

  Ellie wanted to fight more with him. The kind of fighting they did was cathartic, letting out their emotions in a controlled way, knowing neither cared what was said. They still loved each other. No, it wasn’t a normal father/daughter relationship. But it was theirs, and they made it work.

  “Who was he?”

  “Dressed as a security guard.” Drew handed his phone to her dad. “Recognize him?”

  He’d taken a picture? She studied her dad’s grizzled features for a reaction. His gaze slid over her before he met Drew’s. “No idea.”

  What that meant, she didn’t know. “We need information, Dad. Who hurt you? Who are these people? Now isn’t the time to hold back what you know. I could be lying back there. Dead.” She waved toward the hall and the stairwell. Too much movement. Pain swelled in her. She fought the tide of it, not wanting to succumb.

  She’d done that before. Given in when life got too overwhelming. This time it was all physical, whereas before it had been a combination of physical and emotional. Grief. Pain. Loss. This was a fight for survival just like that, a battle to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

  Was that why she was so drawn to Drew? He too had suffered so much. He knew what loss was. To have to let go of the person who was closest to you. His relationship with his father wasn’t something she knew much about, but he had loved and lost. In whatever way that came.

  She had, as well. Though only for a short time. The weeks in-between taking that test in the bathroom of her college dorm and telling her boyfriend. Their hasty marriage at the courthouse.

  And what had happened only weeks later.

  All of it years ago now, but she could still remember every second in high definition detail.

  “Ellie.” His voice came from far away.

  She realized she was lying on a bed in a room that was empty except the two of them. She must have passed out. “I’m okay.”

  His thumb swiped across her cheek. “You’re crying.”

  She was. Ellie didn’t know what to say. Part of her wanted to apologize, but she realized that wasn’t what she needed to say. He knew. He’d felt grief. Not the same way. But he knew. “What happened?”

  “You passed out. I had the doctor take a look at you.” His face was soft. She tried to sit up, and he helped her. She felt better. But fuzzy. “Pain meds?”

  “He did an X-ray. You didn’t break anything.”

  She nodded. Drew must have seen something in her eyes. He backed up. “The sheriff is here.”

  Ellie forced her pained body from the room while he held her hand in his warm, strong one. The vest had been removed, and she hadn’t been changed into a gown. What a nightmare that would’ve been. The fact they’d wheeled her around and poked her with a needle, taken an X-ray, all while she’d been unconscious was bad enough.

  At the doorway, she squeezed his hand. A signal to let go.

  He did, a smile curving the corners of his lips. She liked that he was so readily able to smile. “Go.”

  She moved first, heading straight for the sheriff.

  When she neared, Drew said, “Gotta go,” into his phone and then hung up. “You okay?”

  She said, “Mostly.” Because she made a point never to lie to him. “Though I could use a chair.”

  He led the way to a waiting area and sat beside her, the sheriff opposite. He leaned his elbows on his knees. “Your dad is okay as well?”

  She nodded.

  Drew said, “No one was hurt, right?”

  “Right.” The sheriff shifted one knee. Nervous?

  “We know you’re looking for a way to bring them down.” She didn’t want to give him much in the way of concessions. She’d been on this case for maybe a couple of weeks before she’d approached Drew—no thanks to the sheriff telling her to leave it alone. Now she knew why, and she had the marks and bruises to show for it. And a knife wound. A bruise from a bullet.

  “Every time I think I get near something, there’s nothing there.” His earnest eyes met hers.

  “I wanna close in. I just need a direction to aim. Someone I can roust out of bed right now to get some answers.” She laid a hand over the bruise. “Enough is enough, Burgess. This needs to be finished.”

  “You get to the bottom of it, and I’ll make sure the full weight of the law comes down on them.” He sat back and nodded. “It’s time we got this town back.”

  Ellie was all for that. But a tiny voice at the back of her mind wanted an answer to one question.

  How much more would victory cost them?

  . . .

  To her credit, Ellie hid most of her surprise. The sheriff still spotted her reaction though. He stared at her for a while. Absorbed the weight of her opinion of him, and taking it on board.

  “I’m not the man you seem to think I am. I want justice done.” He ran a hand along his jaw. “Every time I think I’m close to finding something that would get me a warrant, or at least something that could lead to more…” He blew out a breath. “I get fifty times the pushback. To the point that even thinking about putting my career and my life on the line makes me feel like I’ve been hit by a cattle prod.”

  Ellie said nothing. Processing his words through the fog. She wasn’t doing well at all, and her brain was likely hazy from the pain meds he’d had them dose her with before she woke up. It wasn’t like she would have taken any pills. In the end, he’d had her father sign off on it.

  The doctor hadn’t been under any illusion that they were taking her choice away. But it was for the best. She couldn’t fight this through sheer strength of will. And she wouldn’t do herself any favors if she tried.

  He said, “It’s good to know where you stand. That you do want this taken care of.”

  “We all do.” Ellie’s voice was soft with the effects of the medicine, but he could hear the streak of tension there. “That’s not in question. If it were, we’d be having a different conversation right now. One where I’d be asking you to honestly rethink your hold on that badge.” She motioned to it, pinned to the man’s shirt.

  “I’
m thinking about that anyway,” he said. “Considering what future I have if I let this go on. I’m wondering if bringing this to a close might not be the last thing I do before I move on to retirement.”

  Drew glanced at Ellie. Would she be after the sheriff’s job? It was an elected position but from the sense he got around town, people would likely vote her in. Maybe only for the fact she was a “known” versus an “unknown.” They’d know what they were getting with her in the boss’s chair.

  She definitely had his vote.

  Ellie would make an excellent sheriff. She would do a great job at a bunch of other things as well. The protective streak in her would make her the best kind of mother. And as a wife, he’d never have to worry. She could take care of herself.

  The fact he was even thinking about that meant he needed to check himself. Drew could hardly drag a woman and a relationship into the life he led. His career took him all over and at any moment that could mean the difference between life and death. No one—not just Ellie—would want to be saddled with that.

  After all, he was hardly in town but maybe a few days every month. The rest of the time he wasn’t exactly in a place where he could have regular long phone conversations, or often even get away to reply to a text. That would get old pretty fast.

  He didn’t want to treat the woman he fell in love with that way.

  The sheriff stood, slapped his hat against his thigh and set it on his head. “If you wanna rouse someone out of bed, I suggest you take a look at Barb.”

  Ellie gaped. “Your dispatcher?”

  His stubble-covered jaw shifted. “Only thing that makes sense to me is that she’s their eyes and ears in the office. No other way they could know what they know.”

  She blew out a breath. “Wow.”

  Drew didn’t disagree. “You really think they put a plant in your department?”

  “And that it isn’t Coughlan.” Ellie folded her arms.

  The sheriff said, “That’s who would be your guess?”

  “Honestly, my guess was you.”

  “I know.” His eyes flashed hurt, despite his words. Drew figured the sheriff knew he’d earned that from her. Distrust and suspicion were going to be hard to shake. “But I’m telling you, look at Barb.”