by Donna Grant
Brice snorted loudly. “Better than letting her think she’s gotten away with all of this.”
“Hold up. All of you are acting like we’re going to let her go. We’ve got men on the house. We’ll know if there’s any movement. Trust me, we’re not going to let her leave.”
Jace pushed away from the wall too fast and the room spun, but he didn’t care. His anger was too great. “Marlee kept telling us last night that Stella was the one. We should’ve brought her in right away.”
“For what?” Ryan demanded. “Only to let her go because we had nothing but the word of a private investigator that she’s the culprit? Come on, Jace. You know we can’t do that.”
Brice cocked his head to the side. “And now that Jace was nearly killed, Cooper shot and taken God-only-knows where, and Marlee missing? What now? Are both you and Danny going to continue to sit there and tell us you can’t arrest her?”
“We can’t arrest her,” Danny said. “Until we have evidence that she’s involved in the murder of the pregnant women, the kidnapping of newborns, the attempted murder of Jace, Cooper’s abduction, or anything else, we can’t do anything.”
Fury ripped through Jace. Before he could release his words, Cash calmly said, “That’s not entirely true, gentlemen.”
The room went quiet as all eyes turned to Cash.
Clayton leaned back in his chair behind his desk. “We’re all ears.”
Cash’s pale gray eyes looked from Ryan to Danny. “In order to press charges, you must have evidence. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bring someone in for questioning and lead them to believe you have evidence.”
“I’ve done that before, yes,” Danny said. “It’s a thin line we walk, but I only walk it when I know there’s evidence to be found.”
Jace rolled his eyes. “Marlee knows there’s evidence. We just have to find it.”
“And if we don’t?” Ryan asked.
Danny blew out a breath. “Then we have to let Stella go.”
“What other option do you have now?” Cash asked. “You have no idea where Cooper is, no idea where Marlee is, and Stella could leave at any time.”
Danny ran a hand down his face. “I can have one of the deputies currently watching the house bring her in.”
“Not in,” Cash said. “Here. Or somewhere else private.”
Jace smiled at Cash. “Now you’re talking.”
“Whoa. Wait just a minute,” Ryan said, his brow puckered in a frown.
Cash slid his gaze to Ryan. “I was called here because there’s a problem. I’m giving you a solution to that problem.”
“We can’t help with that. No matter how much we want to,” Danny said in a voice laced with regret.
Caleb glared at them. “This is Cooper. How many times has he helped each of us when we needed it the most? Danny, do you know what he did for you and Skylar?”
“I know perfectly well what he did,” Danny answered.
Brice moved to stand by his brother. “Then act like it.”
“They are,” Clayton said as he got to his feet. “Their positions give them little leeway on these things. All of you know that. Don’t take it out on them.”
“Cooper wouldn’t hesitate to help any of you,” Jace said.
Caleb crossed his arms over his chest. “No, he wouldn’t. He hasn’t.”
“Here’s where we’re at,” Clayton told the room. “Danny, Ryan, we need your help, of course. However, this situation calls for more … brute force than local law enforcement can give. I cannot, and will not, stand by and wait to find out what happens to Cooper or Marlee. As our friends, we hope that you will continue to help, but we understand if you can’t.”
Ryan nodded as he looked at the floor. This his gaze lifted to Clayton. “You want me and Danny to tell our people to look the other way—again—while all of you go in guns blazing?”
“We want you to support us as we find our friends,” Cash replied.
Jace fisted his hands, waiting for Ryan’s and Danny’s decision. He couldn’t believe they were even debating this. Then again, Jace didn’t work for the city or the county, nor did he have others he had to answer to regarding his actions in such an event. If he were caught—and he wasn’t going to get caught—he might be arrested.
He then stepped forward and looked at first Danny and then Ryan. “We understand you have jobs and people to answer to. Return to your people and do what y’all need to do. We’re going to do what we have to, and if that means either of you arresting one of us after the fact, then that’s just how it’ll have to be.”
“Exactly,” Caleb and Brice said in unison.
Ryan gave a nod. “Watch your backs. And don’t shoot any of my men.”
After he was gone, Danny pressed his lips together. “I’ve been a friend of this family for a long time. Each of you was there for me and Skylar during our incident. I owe all of you for that. There’s nothing I can do to repay that, but I’m going to try. I might not be able to stand with you tonight when you go after whoever this is, but I’ll support you. If that means I don’t get re-elected, I’m okay with that. Ryan’s position is different. But I also know him. He’s not going to turn his back on any of us, either.”
“No, he won’t,” Clayton said. “That much I know for certain.”
Caleb’s face scrunched up in disbelief. “Then why did he leave?”
“So he wouldn’t hear anything else said. Just like I’m leaving now.” Danny gave them a nod and started for the door. He paused next to Jace and put a hand on his shoulder briefly before walking out.
A full minute passed before Clayton looked at Cash. “I’m hoping you have something to help us.”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Cash said with a smile.
Chapter 42
The knock on the back door startled Stella so badly that she jumped and dropped her phone onto the floor. She reached down and grabbed it before she rose from the sofa and headed to the back. She peered through the peephole and saw Chuck.
She hurriedly unlocked and opened the door for him with a smile. “That took longer than I thought it would.”
“Lots of loose ends to tie up,” he said as he walked past her.
Something about his words made her frown. Softly, she closed the door. “That sounds ominous.”
“Let’s get moving.”
She didn’t like that he kept his back to her. Stella said his name and waited for him to face her before saying, “Tell me what you’re hiding.”
“We’ve found ourselves in a mess. A mess, I might add, that I warned you would eventually come.” He shrugged. “But you ignored me. However, I fixed everything.”
“You’ve never disobeyed me before,” she said, crossing her arms.
He gave her a hard look. “We’ve never been so close to being caught before.”
“As I told you, they don’t have evidence, or they would’ve come for me.”
Chuck moved closer to her until they stood less than six inches apart. “You might be careless with your life, but I’m not. Nor am I careless with yours. If you go down, we all do. I’m not going to let that happen. Besides, you wouldn’t last a day in jail.”
“I’m stronger than you think.”
“Not when it comes to prison. No one is prepared for that. Especially not someone like you,” he said with a sneer. “Let’s get moving. You’re going to need to change out of those heels into something more … practical.”
“Practical? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Chuck looked her up and down. “I’d also suggest jeans. Do you have a raincoat?”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
He moved past her to glance out the window. “We’ve got a few hours of daylight left, and we’re going to need every one of them to get through the woods to the car I have waiting for us.”
“What?” she asked, shocked.
He pointed out the window. “Have you noticed there’s an unmarked car down the roa
d, watching the house?”
“Yes.”
“And you thought we’d just drive past them, no problem?” Chuck asked, bewildered.
Stella shrugged. “They haven’t arrested me.”
“Why don’t you try to drive past them and see what happens? I’ll wait here.”
She glanced out the window. “Fine. You win. I need to get my luggage out of my car.”
“I’ll get it,” he said and walked away. Seconds later, he returned to place her suitcase in the bedroom.
Stella shut the door behind him and changed. She removed her dress pants and designer blouse and put on jeans and a sweater. The most manageable shoes she had were a pair of booties, but they were better than any of her heels.
When she emerged from the room, Chuck held out a coat for her. “You’re going to need this.”
No sooner had she put on the raincoat than he grabbed her arm and led her to the door.
“My purse,” she said and tried to turn back.
He kept her moving. “I’ve got your wallet and phone. Everything else can be replaced. We don’t have time, Stella. We need to move.”
She followed him out. It wasn’t long before her suede booties were soaked, and her feet were like ice, but she didn’t say a word. At least the hood of the coat kept most of the rain from her face.
“Run,” Chuck ordered and took off.
She struggled to keep up with him. Finally, he paused long enough to grab her hand and pull her after him.
* * *
Cooper was going to lose his mind. He banged on the warehouse walls, hoping someone, anyone, would hear him and come investigate. He pounded for so long that his hand was bloody and bruised, and his voice was hoarse.
Time dragged on slowly. His wound made him weak, and his body demanded that he rest. But he couldn’t. He needed to get free and find Marlee and see about Jace. Sitting there doing nothing was the worst kind of torture.
He looked at the wires again. He couldn’t see the bomb itself, only the trigger, so he couldn’t defuse it. Not that he had anything to cut the wires with anyway. He was utterly helpless, with no way to contact his friends and ask for help.
This was exactly what the man had wanted.
Cooper frowned. If the guy just wanted him out of the way, then why put explosives on the door? That could only mean that, somehow, his friends would be alerted to where he was and would come for him.
If he wasn’t able to warn them, then they’d all be killed.
* * *
Jace stared at the plan Cash had put together. It was a smart one with them using the same grid they had when Danny was taken. The problem was that they wouldn’t have the sheriff’s department or the police to help them.
“This is going to take days,” Caleb said.
Brice crossed his arms over his chest. “Time we don’t have.”
“If we could narrow down the search area, that would help,” Cash said. “As it is, no one knows where Cooper is.”
Clayton shook his head. “It isn’t your fault, Cash. We asked, hoping you could come up with a miracle.”
“Where is the last place any of us would look for Cooper?” Jace asked.
They turned to him with various looks of confusion.
Brice shrugged. “Here on the ranch.”
“Hell, everywhere,” Caleb answered.
Clayton made a sound in the back of his throat. “Danny was taken to another county that we never thought to look in.”
“Because he was sheriff,” Cash replied. He turned his head to Jace. “How long after you were attacked did Marlee leave?”
Clayton threw up his hands. “I don’t know how long she was gone. She kept walking out of the room. I assumed she was waiting for Cooper and Jace to return.”
“She probably got the call from the guy then,” Caleb said.
Cash nodded. “That’s my guess. He could’ve still had Cooper with him. Let’s put ourselves in his shoes. That entire ring of criminals has been in the area for a while.”
“Yeah,” Brice grumbled.
Jace grinned. “Which means he knows the area. I see where you’re going with this.”
“He would make the most of his time,” Clayton continued.
Caleb nodded, a look of excitement crossing his face. “Which means he wouldn’t have wasted a lot of time driving Cooper somewhere else.”
“He’s close, then,” Brice replied.
Jace wracked his brain, trying to think about what was near the motel. Then he realized what it was. “Downtown. Cooper is downtown.”
“The abandoned warehouses,” Clayton replied. “It’s a great hiding place.”
As they turned to go, Cash said, “Wait.”
His tone halted them in their tracks.
Jace looked at him. “What?”
“What about Stella?”
They looked at each other, none of them wanting to speak. Finally, Clayton said, “Danny and Ryan won’t let her out of their sight. Let’s get Cooper.”
* * *
The sound of car doors jerked Cooper awake. He peeled his eyes open, feeling worse than he had all day. Lack of food, continual blood loss, and the stress of the situation were taking a toll on his body.
He tried to call out, but his throat was sore from earlier, so his words came out as a croak. Someone was near. If he wanted out, he needed to let them know where he was. Cooper slowly got to his feet. He tried to beat on the wall again, but his hand just couldn’t take it. Instead, he used his foot to beat out Morse code for SOS.
“Cooper?”
His name came from a distance, but he heard it. “I’m here!”
He grabbed his throat as pain ripped through him. If only he’d saved his voice. He kicked quicker, hoping that alerted them.
“Cooper?”
That was Caleb. Cooper smiled and kicked rapidly until he heard them approaching the back door.
“Cooper?”
He stilled at the sound of Jace’s voice.
“It’s me,” Jace said, a smile in his voice. “We’ll get you out in just a sec.”
Cooper tried to talk again but gave up and just started banging on the wall.
“Okay, okay!” Brice shouted. “We get it. We need to look.”
It wasn’t long before Cooper heard someone curse. He frowned because that sounded suspiciously like Cash.
“Hey, Cooper,” Cash said. “We see the bomb. Thanks for the heads-up. Are there other doors?”
“Yes,” Cooper said, pressing his face to the door and hoping his voice reached them.
Clayton said, “Stay here, Cooper. We’re going to check the other entrances.”
The seconds before his friends returned seemed like years. Jace said, “One door is bricked over. The other has too much debris in front of it for us to get to you. We have no choice but to defuse this bomb if we’re going to get you out.”
“Marlee?” he asked, wondering why he didn’t hear her voice.
Brice answered. “We’ll fill you in on everything once you’re free.”
Cooper knew what that meant. Marlee wasn’t with them.
“Stand back from the door!” Cash shouted.
Cooper pressed himself against the same wall as the door but scooted down a ways. The entire time they worked, Cooper kept thinking about Marlee and all the different ways she could be hurt. The not knowing was the worst. Was she hurt? Or worse, dead?
Suddenly, the door opened, and his friends poured in. Cooper was soon surrounded. He looked at Jace and saw his pale face and the remnants of blood on him.
“He’s got a hard head. Like we’ve always known,” Caleb said.
Clayton urged them out. “We can do this in the truck. I’ll call Karl and Marina to the ranch so they can patch you up.”
“Tell me about Marlee,” Cooper demanded, “or I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 43
Cooper’s gut was twisted in a knot so vicious, he wasn’t sure it would ever unravel. Knowing th
at Marlee had left after the man’s call had Cooper seeing red. He would never forget that man’s face. And if it was the last thing he did, he’d hunt the bastard down himself.
“Drink,” his mom said as she handed him a mug before giving him a kiss on the temple and walking out.
People were talking all around him at the ranch as Marina and Karl cleaned his wound and bandaged him. He was lucky the bullet had gone clean through. Otherwise, he’d be in the hospital. He’d have to go eventually—Jace, too—but right now, there were more pressing matters to deal with. Like finding Marlee.
It had been nearly an hour since Jace had been brought to the ranch. He had a new bandage in place, aspirin to help with the pain, and copious amounts of water to help hydrate him. With a borrowed shirt from Clayton, Cooper found it difficult to sit any longer. He’d been sitting all day.
“I’ve got to get out there,” he said.
Cash met his gaze and nodded. “We’re doing the best we can. It’s a large area to cover, and we’re not sure which direction Marlee was headed in.”
“Actually,” Ryan said as he walked into the office, “we do. OnStar came through. We found the Suburban thirty miles west of here in a ditch.”
Cooper’s stomach fell to his feet. “Is … Marlee?”
“She wasn’t in the vehicle,” Ryan said.
Clayton smiled at Ryan. “Thank you.”
“Don’t suppose you want to come with us?” Jace asked.
Ryan suddenly grinned. “I was hoping you’d ask. I’ve got a dozen officers waiting to help, and Danny is meeting us there with some deputies. We’ll fan out and begin searching. We need something of Marlee’s for the dogs. Cooper. Good to see they found you.”
“Yeah.” Cooper looked outside. “It’s getting dark fast.”
“Let’s go, then!” Caleb shouted, getting everyone moving.
The drive to the Suburban was the longest of Cooper’s life. At least the rain had stopped. He held Marlee’s shirt in his hands, wishing it were her instead. He knew Marlee wasn’t with the SUV, but it still didn’t stop his mind from racing to figure out what she might have been thinking. When they pulled up, the area was roped off, and the road had been shut to any traffic by police cars with their lights flashing.