Rowe was further from their grasp, getting closer to Ashley with each passing second. Nothing would stop him. Though he had measures in place to protect her, Chris knew Rowe was an intelligent man capable of striking hard and fast.
Chris had every asset under his command working frantically to make sure that didn’t happen. He had units at the motel, on foot, patrolling in cars and working the phones. It still felt hopeless. There was only one man Chris could think of turning to, the man who’d broken this whole thing open.
“Hello?” James Miles’ voice was heavy with sleep, which was strange given the hour. “Who am I speaking with?”
“James?” Chris sighed with relief. “It’s Agent Horan. I need your help. I’m close to capturing Duncan Rowe – my killer – but he’s escaped my net.”
“I gave you everything I had on him, Agent Horan.” Miles sounded more alert now. “You said we were square. I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”
“I don’t have time for that. Your information led us here. I just need to know what our killer is likely to do now that he knows we’re onto him.” Chris paused, and there was silence on the other end. “This is urgent, James. If you don’t help me, our deal is off and I’ll expose you. Lives are at stake.”
“He’ll seek to flip the situation, Agent Horan.” Miles sounded certain. “I think you’ve missed your chance.”
Chris sighed. He felt like he wanted to cry for the first time since Tamara was murdered. “At least he won’t get to Ashley Wheeler.”
“What was that?” Miles’ voice was sharp. He was clearly angry about Chris’ threat.
Chris frowned. “I said Ashley Wheeler is safe.”
“No she isn’t.” Miles spoke slowly, with measured words, his tone serious. “I said he’d seek to flip the situation, not run. If he’s as obsessed with her as we think, he’ll burn the world down around him if it means getting to her. He’ll recalculate, but he’s not done. You might’ve just sped up his clock.”
Chris felt a chill run down his spine. “I—”
“Wherever she is and whatever she’s doing, you need to get her somewhere else and protect her. You need to put as many guns as you can between Ashley Wheeler and Duncan Rowe, because he’s coming for her. It might be five minutes from now, or five weeks, but he’s coming. Now that he knows you’re onto him, he just got much more dangerous.”
“Thanks, James.” Chris hung up the phone. He had only a moment to decide. He hated giving up the initiative, but there was no choice. Chris spoke to the other officers. “We need to move Ashley Wheeler. Pull back all units except this vehicle and those defending Lucy to cover the move.”
The others nodded and started to make the calls. Within moments, all the resources searching for Rowe would be sacrificed. In their place would be a far more rigorous shield around Ashley. Chris sighed and watched them work. He now had no confidence at all that he’d achieve what had eluded him for so many years. But if he could protect Ashley, he could try again another day. That was the only thing Chris could think to do. He closed his eyes, despite the work that had to be done.
“Hey, Chris?” Devereaux gave Chris’s shoulder a shove. “We just got a call from Janice, who’s running the financial traces. She’s got a hit. Five blocks away.”
“Let’s get over there.” Chris’s eyes shot open as the vehicle’s engine roared. “This might be the last lead we get.”
55
Ashley
Ashley looked at her watch and frowned. The cop had told her they’d tracked down Duncan Rowe almost an hour ago, which meant he should’ve been killed, captured, or at her doorstep by now. The fact that she’d heard nothing worried her. It meant things hadn’t gone to plan. Chris Horan had been convinced his plan would work, but Ashley had heard nothing since the female police officer had left the room.
She gripped the pistol tight and rocked back and forth on the bed. All her earlier conviction, her trust in Horan’s promises, had evaporated, replaced by fear and uncertainty. She never should have agreed to this. She’d reached out to Horan and asked for his help, and in doing so let herself be duped. Now she was sitting here, like bait, waiting for one of the most dangerous men in America to swallow her.
She reached for her purse to get her cell phone. There were no messages or missed calls from Chris. She found his number in her recent call list, then dialed. It rang for a few seconds then he finally picked up. In the second it took for Chris to speak she heard traffic noises and frantic voices in the background. She wondered what was happening.
“Hello?” He sounded stressed and in a hurry. “What do you need, Ashley? We’re a little busy right now.”
“Something’s wrong.” Her words formed into a statement, not a question. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“It’s fine, Ashley.” Horan’s words were clipped and terse. “You need to let me work.”
“I just need to know—”
The line went dead. Ashley lowered her phone and stared at it. She was furious he’d cut her off so swiftly, after all his platitudes about her being part of the team and a key part of the plan. She was nervous and scared, and he hadn’t even taken the time to listen to her concerns. She’d thought he was on her side, but he was just like the rest of them.
After one long breath, she made her decision. She stood, grabbed the photo album and her purse, held the pistol by her side and strode toward the front door. She opened the door and walked with long strides to the car, her head held high. She unlocked it, surprised she’d gotten that far, then paused. “Don’t try to stop me.”
“Ashley, you need to go back inside.” The female police officer’s voice was calm, but firm. “You’re risking the entire operation.”
“There is no operation!” Ashley turned to face the other woman. “I’m done.”
“It’s not that simple.” The officer held a hand out, trying to grab Ashley’s arm. “I—”
“No!” Ashley stepped back and raised the pistol. She pointed it at the officer, who’d been so kind. “Please! Back off! My boss is dead! My ex-husband is dead! My house is gone! I was promised you’d catch the man responsible, but now I’m being lied to!”
The cop wouldn’t let up, though she did stop her advance. “I need you to calm down and think about what you’re doing. You’re putting yourself in danger.”
“I am calm!” Ashley’s voice was louder than she had intended and, despite her conviction, she felt her arm wavering. She kept the pistol trained on the officer as she reached for the car door, her eyes flicking between the car and the officer. “Please, just leave me the hell alone!”
“I can’t do that Ashley.” The officer’s voice was calm, despite the pistol being pointed at her. “You need to think. There’s no way you win if you leave here on your own.”
“Drop the weapon, Ms Wheeler!” another officer shouted. “I need you to put it down very, very slowly.”
Ashley glanced around. Two police officers had weapons trained on her, standing a long way apart. She was surrounded. When she turned back, the female officer was still looking straight at Ashley as more cops ran in their direction. There was shouting and pleading and so much noise. Ashley froze for a moment, not wanting to lower the pistol but wanting all of them to go away.
“Please!” She was shouting now, but she looked only at the female officer. “I just want to leave!”
“That’s not going to happen, Ashley.” The female cop spoke over the others. “I need you to lower the pistol or this is going to end badly.”
Ashley squeezed the pistol so tight her knuckles went white. There was no way out. She loosened her grip on the pistol and started to lower it. “Okay.”
The cops swarmed. One of them went straight for the pistol, scooping it up and moving it away from her. Two others grabbed her arms. The female cop simply stepped in front of Ashley, a look of concern painted all over her face. She stood there, still and silent, for several moments. Only when Ashley calmed down did she nod
at the other cops to let her go.
“Ashley, I understand you’re under a lot of stress.” The officer smiled, kindly, but with more caution this time. “But you can’t point a weapon at a cop.”
“I know that, I—” Ashley sobbed.
“I get it. You’re scared and it’s taking too long. But Agent Horan has it all under control.” The officer placed a hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “You need to trust the process. We’re going to catch this bastard. In the meantime, you need to go back to the motel room and trust that we’ll get this guy. You’re fine. Your daughter is fine.”
56
Duncan
Duncan pulled up short, his eyes narrowing as he slowed to a complete stop. “Motherfucker.”
Those same eyes widened again as he realized what was in front of him, the car that had been following him and the cop who’d been at the wheel. The officer was in plain clothes, leaning against his car and speaking into his radio. Duncan stood frozen in place as he watched the officer run a hand through his hair. After a few moments, Duncan decided what he had to do.
The man had interrupted his plans, and had confirmed to Duncan that Ashley’s promise was nothing but air. She was the bait in the middle of a complicated trap that he’d nearly walked right into. His pain at being denied his night alone with her was acute. Now, through a stroke of luck, he could begin to turn the tables once again.
Duncan never took his eyes off the cop as he shrugged off his backpack, unzipped it and rummaged around inside. Though he had the revolver stuffed into his jeans, it was far too noisy to use in public. Once his hand was wrapped around the handle of the knife, Duncan slowly approached the cop, who was completely oblivious to the threat from behind. Duncan waited, a few steps away, until the cop put down his radio.
Then, as quickly as a rattlesnake, Duncan leapt forward. He grabbed the cop in a headlock and brought the knife up to the man’s throat. “Be calm.”
The cop tensed and froze, but to his credit he didn’t shout, or do anything stupid. “Hey buddy, let’s talk.”
“My name is Duncan Rowe.” Duncan didn’t see any harm in admitting it. The cop would die soon. “I want to know why you were following me.”
The cop scoffed. “Because I was told to, pal. I was doing my job. I’m assisting a federal investigation, I hope you know? Kill me and they kill you.”
“Who’s in charge?” Duncan pressed the knife deeper and felt a small trickle of blood run down his hand. The cop clearly felt it too, because he tensed. “Next I take out an artery,” Duncan warned him.
“Chris Horan. He’s an FBI agent.” The cop made the smart decision, his voice revealing fear for the first time. “Please, buddy. I’ve got kids.”
Duncan was silent as he processed the information. The involvement of the FBI wasn’t a good sign, but the cop’s mention of his kids gave Duncan an idea. The last time he’d seen Ashley Wheeler, her daughter had been close. She couldn’t have gone far with her father in the morgue. “I wonder if you know where the girl is? The little girl?”
The cop paused. Duncan knew the man was weighing up his own life – his own kids – versus Lucy Wheeler. “She’s in a police station not far from here.”
“Where?”
The cop gave Duncan the address. It really was close by, even in a city as small as Wallingford. “Will you let me go now?”
Duncan smiled and pulled the knife across the cop’s throat. The man gargled and Duncan kept him in the headlock until he stopped writhing and became a dead weight. Duncan let go as the other man slumped to the ground. As a precaution, Duncan checked for a pulse. There was none.
A quick search of the cop’s body produced another pistol, a badge, and a wallet with some cash. Most useful of all were the keys to the car the officer had been leaning against. Duncan unlocked it and was pleased to find a spare uniform in the trunk. He pulled out the clothing, threw it in the back seat along with his backpack, and then hefted the officer’s body into the trunk and closed it.
In the time it took to change hastily into the uniform, drive to the police station, and walk inside with the takeaway coffee that he’d found inside the car, Duncan could think of nothing but revenge. He’d intended to go after Lucy Wheeler all along – at least until Ashley had made her offer. That prospect had distracted him. The irony was that, in deceiving him, Ashley had put her daughter in greater danger.
Once inside the station, Duncan avoided clusters of other people and moved away from anyone looking at him too closely. Though he was dressed like a cop, with the badge and the gun to prove it, he assumed that wouldn’t hold up to any real scrutiny. He wasn’t even sure his plan was a smart one, but it offered a tantalizing way to steal back the initiative. He’d show Ashley Wheeler there were consequences for her dishonesty.
He made his way to the reception counter and smiled at the desk sergeant, who was on the phone and looked frantic. “Chris Horan sent me to take over the watch on Lucy Wheeler.”
“Fucking Bureau.” The sergeant held his hand over the phone, shook his head and looked down at his notes. “He told us Dean and Sandra were to stay on her.”
Duncan laughed and took in the scene around him. Cops were running back and forth and the whole scene was chaos. “Is any of this shit planned? Looks like everything has gone to hell with this big shot’s operation. I’m just doing what I’m told. Nobody bothers to tell me why.”
“Isn’t that the truth? I’ll tell them.” The sergeant sighed and finished his call, then dialed another number. Duncan watched in silence, enjoying the obvious confusion his appearance had caused.
Based on what he was hearing, Duncan was sure the officer on the other end of the line – one of those guarding Lucy Wheeler – was resisting. Finally, with a sigh, the sergeant placed a hand over his mike.
“Something wrong?” Duncan smiled and took a sip of the coffee. It was cold, but it fit the part.
Another sigh. “Dean Remmers insists his orders were that nobody else is to be allowed near the daughter.”
“Fair enough. I’ll give Chris Horan a call.” Duncan pulled the dead officer’s phone out of his pocket and pretended to search through the address book, then put the phone to his ear.
“No. That’ll just make us look like shit.” The sergeant sighed, then removed his hand from the phone and spoke to the other officer again. “It checks out. I'll escort him back.”
Duncan smiled as the sergeant stood, removed his headset and started down the hall. Duncan followed in silence, then made some small talk with the cop he was relieving, and before he knew it was alone with a tired-looking girl with red hair and dimples. She looked at him with glazed over eyes, clearly regarding him as one more cop among the many she’d seen in the last few days.
Duncan smiled at her. “You need to come with me, Lucy.”
The girl frowned. “Why?”
He held out a hand. “We’re going to see your mother.”
Duncan waited as her eyes scanned his for a moment, then relished the look of relief that washed over Lucy's face. She nodded. With Lucy’s consent, he was home free. It had been a close call, but he’d turned the tables on their trap, and now he was going to take Ashley’s daughter away from her.
Lucy gripped his hand tightly, and Duncan clamped his own hand around hers.
“Let’s go for a ride!”
57
Chris
Chris gripped the overhead handle as the SUV’s engine roared and he was pushed back into his seat. The inside of the vehicle was silent, a contrast to the external sounds of blaring sirens and the strain of an engine reaching its limit. They were nearing the McDonald’s where Rowe’s credit card had been used. There was no need for words. They’d all checked their weapons and devised a plan. All that remained was for them to find Rowe.
“We’re a minute out.” Mike Devereaux broke the silence from the front seat, where he rested his shotgun in between his legs, the barrel pointed at the floor.
“Remember, if he won
’t surrender then we take him down.” Chris didn’t mention that he had every intention of taking Rowe down, even if he did surrender. He looked around. There were nods from everyone else in the vehicle. They understood how serious the situation was. “Under no circumstances do we let Rowe get away. We may never get another chance.”
Chris was glad the others were on board. Though they all thought they were chasing after the mob, it didn’t matter. He had them convinced that Duncan Rowe was a threat that needed to be dealt with. Though they’d prefer to arrest him, Chris wanted him dead and in the ground. There was no other way to end this, and he’d never felt so desperate to do so.
Chris swallowed hard. The phone call from Ashley had him spooked. He just hoped she wasn’t wavering. He didn’t doubt she wanted to see Duncan Rowe dead, but Ashley was also committed to keeping her daughter safe. It seemed that, in her mind, the best way to do that oscillated between fighting and running – only one of which worked for Chris.
More worrying was the report that Ashley had run from the motel and tried to escape. In the process she’d pulled a gun on a cop and almost got herself blown away, which would have destroyed Chris’s operation. He was thankful that the officers had detained her, but it increased the sense of urgency he felt. At any moment, his bait could slip the hook. Chris had to reel in his catch.
“Thirty seconds.” Devereaux broke Chris’s reverie just as a voice came over the radio.
“Stalker Seven, be advised, we’ve had three additional hits on the financial trace on Duncan Rowe in the last two minutes.” The voice rattled off some addresses, which Chris wrote down.
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