Empty Is the Grave

by Candle Sutton

  Thank you again for reading. May God bless you and use you to impact others and build His kingdom.

  Excerpt from Nameless

  Book One in the Sinister Secrets Series

  One

  He should’ve taken one more day of vacation.

  FBI Special Agent Dakarai Lakes edged around the corner of the bait shop. Light glinted off metal a split second before another gunshot broke the morning quiet.

  He jerked back as the bullet slammed into the siding beside his head.

  Seriously! Why couldn’t he have extended his vacation by one more day?

  “Come on, man!” His voice echoed in the sudden quiet. “You’re only making things worse for yourself!”

  Frankly, he didn’t even know what the guy had done.

  Other than taking a federal agent hostage. And shooting at more federal agents.

  The answer was probably on his desk. Or in his email. But thanks to a snarl-up on I-5 and increased traffic in the downtown area, he hadn’t even made it to the office before the call for assistance came in.

  That it was someone from his own team being held hostage was bad enough. That it was his buddy Sid made things even worse.

  God, please protect Sid. Let him be okay.

  The prayer rocketed through his mind.

  He assessed the rest of his team. Felicia crouched behind a car parked in a reserved space. JD sheltered behind a dumpster.

  None of them were in position to get a good shot off.

  Besides, the risk of hitting Sid was very real.

  Maybe if JD and Felicia could distract the shooter, he could make it around the edge of the bait shot and get closer to the rusty old fishing boat where Sid was being held.

  He risked a glance around the corner.

  The fishing boat was moored at least fifty feet from his location, with no shelter between. Not even a garbage can.

  Charging the boat was suicide.

  Another gunshot, another bullet striking the building beside him.

  A hiss burst through his clenched teeth as he pulled back.

  If only he knew what kind of weapon the guy was using. It wasn’t an automatic weapon. Sounded more like a handgun. There’d been six shots so far. How large was the magazine? More importantly, how many magazines did the guy have?

  “Agent Lakes?” A soft feminine voice came from behind him.

  He whirled, his gun sighting on a slender blonde. The badge hanging around her neck clearly identified her as one of theirs.

  She held up her hands. “SAC Sorenson sent me. To negotiate.”

  This was the negotiator?

  Had to be if the Special Agent in Charge sent her. Sorenson wouldn’t send just anyone to assist.

  Quick guess put her no taller than 5’6”, with a weight no more than a buck thirty. Black suit, floral shirt, and low heels on her blood colored dress shoes. Blonde hair twisted up and secured behind her head in a clip, although the wind pushing off the Puget Sound had released some shorter strands.

  The SAC had sent a model to help him? What, the PR guy and secretaries weren’t available?

  Then again, was there anyone less assuming? If he had trouble buying her as a negotiator, surely the dude on the boat wouldn’t see her as such either.

  Clearly the SAC believed in her. And he sure as heck wasn’t getting anywhere.

  He nodded. “I don’t have any info–”

  “It’s okay. I was briefed on the way over.” She pulled out her phone and punched in a number, then put it on speaker. The line rang once, twice, and kept ringing before finally going to voicemail.

  She hung up and hit redial.

  Same result.

  Well, negotiations weren’t gonna go far if the guy on the boat wouldn’t answer.

  She punched redial again.

  It stopped ringing on the fifth ring. “Leave me alone!”

  “Mr. Edwards? My name is Emily. I’m here to help you.” Her voice was calm, friendly even. An accent, that might’ve been Australian, colored the words.

  “E-Emily?” The man fell silent.

  “Yes. I want to make sure your voice is heard.”

  “My wife’s name was Emma.”

  Emily nodded. “I heard what happened to her. I’m so sorry.”

  She was good. He’d give her that. She really sounded sorry. Not like someone trying to put on a show or get her way, but like she genuinely shared his grief.

  “Yeah, well you hear that my kid’s missin’? And they’re tryin’ to pin it on me!”

  “I heard something about that, but I’d really like to hear your side.” Sincerity oozed from her words. If she didn’t genuinely mean what she’d just said, she was one heck of a liar.

  Dak studied her. The phone rested loosely in her palm. Her narrow shoulders were relaxed. Thin eyebrows pinched over eyes that reflected the color of the evergreen trees on the mountains surrounding Seattle.

  Yeah, she looked like she meant it. All of it.

  Whether she really did or not, she’d gotten Edwards talking, which was more than he’d been able to do.

  “I ain’t been no great dad or nothin’, but I love my girl. She’s out there and ‘steada tryin’ to find her, you guys are buggin’ me!”

  Emily paused briefly, as if trying to gather her thoughts. “I want to find her, but we need our colleague in order to do that. Can you let him go?”

  “Not ‘til you find my little girl!” The words exploded across the line. “Soons I see her, I’ll let yer man go.”

  Another pause. “I think you can help us find her. May I come on board and ask you a few questions?”

  Come on board? What fantasy world did she live in?

  No way in heck was she getting on that boat! Not on his watch. One agent hostage was bad enough. He wouldn’t allow Edwards to have two.

  Now to get her attention and lay down the law. Without using words. He cleared his throat.

  No response.

  “Jus’ you?” Edwards sounded suspicious.

  “Just me. I’ll even leave my gun here, if that would make you feel better.”

  What? Was she crazy?

  He touched her arm.

  She turned toward him.

  Shaking his head violently, he mouthed NO.

  “‘Spose that’d be okay.” Edwards didn’t sound convinced.

  This was not happening!

  With a glance at her phone, he hit the mute icon. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting our agent back.”

  Our agent? Who did she think she was? “Not by getting on that boat, you’re not.”

  She unstrapped the gun at her hip. “I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

  Trust her? He didn’t even know her! “You don’t know that! You step out there and he could shoot you.”

  “He’s not going to shoot me.” Her voice sounded calm and assured. “I studied his profile. He’s a simple, hard-working man with old fashioned values who’s gotten in over his head. He has already associated me with his wife, meaning his inclination will be to protect me. I can get on that boat and talk him down. If that doesn’t work, I’ll disarm him before he even realizes I’m a threat.”

  Right. Because human behavior was always that predictable. “You can’t know–”

  “Emily? You still there?” Edwards’ voice interrupted.

  “Hear that? He wants this resolved peacefully.” Emily hit the unmute button. “I’m here. The agents out here are worried that you’re going to shoot me, but I trust you. Do I have your word that you won’t shoot me?”

  Silence.

  Maybe Edwards wouldn’t agree and she’d realize what a stupid plan this was. If she didn’t, he’d have to physically stop her from going.

  Which wasn’t how he wanted this to go down.

  “Yeah. Longs you leave yer gun there and come alone, I won’t shoot no one.”

  Emily looked at him, her expression clearly saying “And there you have it.”

  Except that he didn’t trus
t Edwards to keep his word.

  The man had taken one of his agents hostage, and perhaps kidnapped his own daughter. What was to keep him from killing Emily? Or, at the very least, adding her to the hostage list?

  “Okay. I’m coming out now.” Pulling the clip from her hair, she tousled the blonde waves cascading down her back.

  Now what was she doing? Or did he even want to know?

  She pulled her gun from the holster, held it up high, and slowly rose above the crate. “See, here’s my weapon. I’m leaving it here on the crate.”

  Movements slow and deliberate, she set it on the wooden crate in front of her.

  “Is it alright if I come on board now?”

  “Yeah. Don’t make no sudden moves, though.”

  “I won’t. I’m going to hang up now and then I’m coming out. I’ll see you in a minute.”

  Time to put a stop to this. Right now.

  As she punched the red button on her phone, he shook his head. “No way. I don’t know where you came from, but this is not how we do things.”

  She jerked her head toward the boat. “It doesn’t look like your way is working so well today, now does it?”

  “There are protocols and those things keep us alive.”

  “They also take too long. We don’t have that kind of time.” She took a step toward the edge of the crates.

  He grabbed her wrist. “This is my team. My op. I can’t let you do this.”

  “SAC Sorenson personally sent me.” She pulled from his grasp. “Besides, Edwards’ wife was a blonde.”

  Blonde? What did that have to do with anything?

  Emily darted around the crates, hands up and fingers spread.

  “Get back here!” Even as he hissed the words, he knew he’d wasted his breath.

  If she heard, she didn’t acknowledge. Not that he’d expected she would.

  He watched her move further from her abandoned weapon and closer to the boat.

  This was crazy. As soon as they got back to the office, he’d report her.

  Assuming she survived.

  Was she even a negotiator? He wished he’d gotten a better look at her badge.

  His heart pulsed inside his head. Tension lined his muscles, which felt tight enough to crack.

  No gunshots. And she was almost to the gangplank.

  She paused at the base of the gangplank. Her voice carried faintly on the wind, but she was too far away for him to make out the words.

  Whatever response she received must’ve reassured her, for she boarded without hesitation.

  Prayers filled his mind as she disappeared into the cabin and out of his sight.

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