Beyond Risk

by Connie Mann

  Pete bussed her cheek, too, before he took off, Sanchez and Fish not far behind.

  Hunter climbed into his truck, relieved they were finally working together again.

  * * *

  On the short drive to the Outpost, Charlee watched Hunter slide into warrior mode. Intense, focused, lethal, it was far fiercer than simply cop mode, which was as natural to him as breathing.

  She understood priorities, but she was still irritated that he’d taken her compliance for granted. “Never thought to ask if I was okay with this plan?”

  His head snapped in her direction. “Weren’t you planning to work at the Outpost today?”

  “Yes.”

  He looked at her, eyebrow raised as if to say So what’s the problem, then?

  Charlee carefully pulled on her Outpost ball cap, cautious around the stitches in her scalp. She pulled her ponytail through the hole in the back and sighed. She wouldn’t be petty. “Never mind.” She wasn’t FWC anymore. Her job was here at the Outpost.

  Hunter slid out and came around the vehicle, dark sunglasses hiding his expression. “I’ll wait for Josh on the dock. You’ll be okay here for a couple hours?”

  Charlee raised her backpack, in which he knew she kept her gun, and saluted. “Scout’s honor.”

  He huffed out a laugh and shook his head as he walked around the side of the building.

  The bell overhead chimed when Charlee walked into the office. “Hey, Dad. How’re things?”

  Some of the fatigue left his face when he saw her. He wrapped her in a careful hug, then leaned back to study her face. “How’s the noggin? How many of me are there today?”

  Charlee grinned and kissed his cheek. “Only one, but that’s always been more than enough.”

  Her father threw his head back and laughed, and Charlee realized how much she had missed that sound. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed like that.

  “Natalie went back to school, right?”

  Her father grinned. “You could see the cloud of dust for miles. I’m still wondering if the stork dropped the wrong baby off all those years ago. She couldn’t wait to put on those crazy high-heeled sandals and her fancy little outfit and blow on out of here.”

  “Glad she’s able to get back to ‘the real world.’ I hated keeping her exiled here a minute longer than necessary.”

  Her father eyed her carefully again. “You sure you’re okay, Charlee? We’re not real busy today. You could take another day. I’m fine here.”

  Charlee looked up and saw Travis watching her through the window. “Travis is working today?”

  “I asked him to come in, just in case you weren’t up to it yet.”

  She wanted to fire him on the spot. But maybe it was better to keep him around for now. It gave her father extra help in the office and let them keep an eye on him.

  The bell above the door chimed, and Charlee smiled when she saw who it was. “Hi, Sammy. What brings you out here?”

  He grinned from ear to ear and pulled a handful of rather bedraggled bright-pink wildflowers from behind his back. “I was riding my bike, and I saw these pretty flowers.” He held them out to her. “I know you like flowers, so I brought them for you.”

  Charlee buried her face in the blooms and then leaned up to give Sammy a kiss on the cheek, watching him duck his head and blush. “Thank you, Sammy. These are beautiful. It was so nice of you to bring them for me.”

  The bell above the door chimed again, and Charlee sighed when Rick Abrams strode through the door and headed right toward her. “We need to talk, Charlee.” He brushed past Sammy, who narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of him.

  “I was talking to Charlee. She’s my friend.”

  Abrams dismissed him. “Right, but now it’s my turn. Scram.”

  Charlee turned her back on Abrams and gently touched Sammy’s arm. “Ignore him. I’m glad we’re friends, and thank you again for the flowers.”

  Sammy flashed an angry look at Rick and then turned and left.

  Charlee turned back to Rick, hands on her hips. “Why did you follow us over here, Rick?”

  He chewed the inside of his lip in a gesture she’d always disliked. “Just hear me out, Charlee. What happened at work—”

  Charlee’s temper spiked. At him, but mostly at herself. When they’d first started dating, he’d been great. He’d treated her like a princess, so she’d ignored the warning bells about the things he said, the little ways he undermined her. It had taken months before she’d realized how subtly he’d gotten her to doubt herself and lose her confidence. She was still trying to get over that—and forgive herself for allowing it.

  Now he’d taken a bribe? What did that say about her ability to read people, a critical skill in law enforcement? She’d told him they were through months ago, and he was still pretending he hadn’t heard. Now he’d been rude to Sammy, the sweetest guy in the world.

  Decision made, she brushed past Rick, kissed her father’s cheek, and headed for the door, backpack over her shoulder. “As long as Travis is here, I’ll just go with Josh and Hunter. They have a report to check on.”

  “Are you sure you—”

  “Love you, Dad. I’ll be fine.”

  “Hey. We’re not done, Charlee. We need to talk.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “We’ve been done for months. I have nothing to say, and you have nothing I want to hear.” She almost added sorry but stopped herself in time. Not sorry.

  She almost ran over Travis, who smiled when he saw her. “Hey, Charlee. I wasn’t sure if you’d be in today.”

  She poked the black T-shirt that covered his skinny chest. “You’d better do your job today, Travis, and do it right, or I’ll fire your sorry butt.”

  She hurried down the dock, afraid she’d literally missed the boat.

  Josh’s SeaArk idled at the dock while he and Hunter studied a cell phone. Josh stepped to the helm, and Hunter started untying the lines.

  “Wait.” Charlee broke into a jog. Both men looked at her in surprise when she hopped aboard.

  Josh pulled away from the dock.

  “Hold up, Josh. What are you doing, Charlee? I thought you were working in the office with your dad.”

  Charlee studied his face but couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark shades. Some silly corner of her mind had hoped he’d be glad to see her. She kept her voice light. “Travis showed up to work, and I figured he and Dad could handle it without me.”

  He folded his arms and studied her. “And you didn’t want to watch him drool all day.”

  She grinned. “That, too. And Rick showed up.”

  Hunter stiffened. “What now?”

  “Said he wanted to talk. I said I didn’t.” She shrugged. “Just let dispatch know I’m riding along. I can’t think of a safer place for me to be, can you?”

  Behind them, Josh snorted. “She’s got you there, Lieutenant.”

  Hunter whipped his head around, and Josh quickly added “sir.” But he was grinning as he said it.

  Hunter let out a sigh and turned back to Charlee. “You are making me crazy.” His expression hardened as he glared in her direction. “Just don’t do anything stupid.”

  Charlee saluted smartly and saw him smother a grin before he shook his head and turned away.

  She turned to Josh, kept her tone light. “Hey, Bro, how’s your basketball team doing?” Elaine had been a tutor at the forest community center and had convinced Josh to start a boys’ basketball team. Since her death, those boys seemed to be the one thing that gave him purpose.

  He smiled, a real smile this time, and a seed of hope took root in Charlee’s heart. He was starting to heal. “We’re going to have a tournament soon. Will you bring cupcakes?”

  She nudged him with her shoulder. “Of course. You don’t even have to ask.”

&n
bsp; * * *

  The woman would drive him completely nuts before this thing ended. Hunter found himself watching the way she moved, checking to see if her head hurt, for when it did, she’d get this little frown line between her brows. He understood, better than ever, her brothers’ need to wrap her up and keep her safe. Charlee was unlike any woman he’d ever known. From the time they’d become friends over beers with the whole FWC squad, he’d been drawn to her wit and quick comebacks, never mind her ready smile. Then, after what happened at the Shoals, she’d needed a friend, someone to be there while she worked through her guilt. And when she’d finally ditched that douchebag Abrams, he’d seen the uncertainty in her eyes and been determined to help her regain her confidence. Seeing the self-assured woman he’d first met reemerge was incredible to watch.

  Like now, seeing her standing next to Josh as he sped along the river, she looked like she’d been born on a boat. He caught the glimpses of anxiety as she eyed the water, but she didn’t back down from her fear. Charlee didn’t shy away from dirt or hard things. The fact that she would move heaven and earth for her family got to him. That unwavering devotion was achingly familiar. He understood, and he never wanted her facing the kind of guilt that would haunt him until the day he died.

  As though she sensed him thinking about her, she stepped up beside him with a playful smile.

  “Those are some very deep thoughts, Lieutenant. Care to share?”

  He pushed memories of Johnny aside as one corner of his mouth kicked up. She’d blush to the roots of her hair if she knew how badly he wanted to pull her flush against him, run his hands over every inch of her skin, and kiss her until the flames consumed them both.

  “Just trying to figure out which crazy person is after you.”

  He watched the playfulness fade from her expression and wanted to call the words back. But it was better this way. Distance was good. Safe. For both of them.

  * * *

  They smelled the dead alligators before they saw them. Josh came around a bend in the river, and the stench slapped them like running into a wall of awful. Charlee covered her mouth and nose as Josh slowed down, and they all looked around, trying to identify where the gators were.

  It didn’t take long.

  They were lying along the banks, vultures circling overhead. Charlee had spent her life on this waterway, so she’d seen dead alligators before. As an FWC officer, she’d found several that poachers had gotten hold of, missing their heads and tails. But she had never seen one hacked up like this. Never mind three.

  She looked over her shoulder and saw that Hunter and Josh wore the same shocked expressions.

  Hunter motioned to Josh, who eased the boat closer. Hunter grabbed a camera and took pictures of the scene from every angle he could get from the water. They didn’t want to mess up any potential evidence or footprints when they stepped ashore.

  Hunter put the camera down and studied the dense swamp. Charlee shaded her eyes from the afternoon sun, trying to see into the shadows. “The swamp goes way back at this spot,” he said. “There’s no way someone came in by truck or even ATV. They had to have come by water.”

  Hunter glanced at Josh. “I agree. You couldn’t get a vehicle back in there.”

  Josh nosed the boat up between two cypress trees, and both men pulled on rubber boots. Charlee glanced down at her shiny white tennis shoes. “I’ll just wait here.”

  Hunter let his sunglasses dangle around his neck and slid over the side and into the mud. He looked back over his shoulder and winked. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  Charlee rolled her eyes and watched as they slogged around the area, looking for something, anything, that might help them identify who had done such a horrible, senseless thing.

  * * *

  Hunter had seen a lot of things in his life, but this kind of animal cruelty made him sick. This wasn’t someone looking to earn a buck by selling a hide or a tail to a restaurant. This was a seriously sick individual.

  He and Josh climbed back into the boat, and he met Charlee’s questioning look. “Whoever did this was one angry son of a gun and took his fury out on those poor creatures,” Hunter said.

  “But how would he hack them up? If he’s going after one, the other two aren’t going to calmly sit around and wait their turn,” she said.

  Her razor-sharp brain never stopped. “They’d been trapped first. All three jaws had been taped shut.”

  Charlee’s eyes widened. “So somebody caught them and then killed them. Didn’t take the tail to eat, at least?”

  “No. This was unnecessary violence.” Josh fired up the motor, jaw clenched. “And we are going to track down and find the scumbag.”

  Hunter slipped his sunglasses back on. “Let’s head back and see if anyone we know has a wildlife camera near here. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and someone will have captured this model citizen coming or going.”

  Josh turned the boat around, and they started back toward the Outpost slowly, all three of them scanning the riverbank. They passed several canoes and kayaks, but none of the people they questioned could offer anything helpful.

  Charlee sat down in the bow of the boat, eyes on the river, watching for obstructions below the surface and pointing them out to Josh.

  Suddenly, she stood, cocked her head to listen. “What’s that noise?”

  She waved Hunter over. He stepped to her side, taking in her curious look. “Something just started ticking.”

  “Ticking?”

  “Listen.”

  He motioned Josh to idle the motor. Then they all heard it. Like an old-fashioned alarm clock.

  Hunter and Charlee both reached for the front cubby at the same time. Hunter opened the latch and lifted the cover.

  He froze. The ticking came from a timer.

  Which was strapped to explosives.

  The red flashing countdown timer was at fifteen seconds, fourteen…thirteen…

  He turned to Josh. “We’ve got a bomb!”

  He glanced back at the timer, grabbed Charlee’s hand, and yelled, “Jump!”

  He and Charlee leaped off the port side, and he saw Josh hurl himself off the starboard side.

  Chapter 12

  Hunter gripped Charlee’s hand and wouldn’t let go. Not as they flew through the water, not when they splashed down far too close to the boat for comfort. No way was she dying today.

  He looked over his shoulder at the empty boat, estimated the remaining time, and knew it was almost up. He tightened his grip on Charlee’s hand and yelled, “Dive! Now!”

  He waited until he saw her draw breath before he dove as far and as deep as he could. Thankfully, they were in a deeper section of the river. She kept a tight grip on his hand and matched him stroke for stroke as they swam for the river bottom. Hunter didn’t stop until he touched bottom and felt a tree down there. He gripped Charlee with one hand and the tree with the other and braced himself. He didn’t have long to wait. The explosion sent shock waves through the water, buffeting them with far more force than he had expected. He almost lost his grip on her, but he held tight. She’d have bruises tomorrow, but he could live with that.

  He waited until his lungs burned and screamed for air before he urged Charlee back toward the surface, but at an angle away from the boat. They burst through the water, both gasping for air. He’d never heard a more welcome sound. Everywhere he looked, burning debris floated all around them.

  “Josh! Josh!” Charlee shouted her brother’s name, and Hunter joined her, spinning in a circle as they tried to find him.

  “Josh!”

  He tugged Charlee closer, and her frantic eyes met his. She held his arm with both hands. “Where is he? We need to find him.”

  “Josh!” he shouted again. They waited.

  “Here.”

  They both spun toward the opposite shore. “Over here.”
r />   Hunter kept her behind him as they picked their way across the river, fighting the current and avoiding the debris.

  It seemed to take forever before they reached Josh, who had collapsed on the muddy bank, holding on to a cypress knee. Blood covered his face, but he didn’t seem aware of it.

  “Josh. You’re bleeding!” Charlee hauled herself out of the water and half climbed, half crawled over to her brother. “Hold still and let me see where the hole is.”

  Josh angled his head to look at her, his grin macabre with the blood streaming down his face. “Don’t make me laugh, Sis. Hurts.”

  Hunter joined them, and he heard Charlee’s sigh of relief. “He’s probably got a concussion, but it doesn’t look like he’ll need stitches.” She stuck her tongue out at her brother. “Cheater.”

  Hunter marveled at her calm, the way she used the hem of her shirt to stanch the bleeding, her sense of humor under fire. She’d have done well in the Marine Corps. He knew she’d been a great FWC officer. Her kind of grace under pressure wasn’t the norm for most people.

  Hunter checked his phone holster. Empty. “Anyone still have a phone?”

  Both Charlee and Josh checked and shook their heads.

  “Then I guess we wait. Dispatch will send reinforcements when we don’t respond at the next check-in.”

  Hunter crouched down beside Charlee as she checked Josh’s eyes again. Oh yeah. Definitely a concussion, one pupil more dilated than the other. But Josh was able to answer most of the neurological questions Charlee tossed at him, so that was a plus. Just as they had with Charlee, he figured they’d do a CT scan at the hospital to check for brain bleeding, but Hunter’s gut said he’d be fine.

  As the adrenaline started to wear off, he saw Charlee’s hands tremble, but she didn’t stop taking care of her brother.

  Hunter scanned the river, suddenly aware that they were exposed out here. He hadn’t had enough time to take a look at the bomb, so he wasn’t sure how it was triggered. Was whoever did this watching them, even now? Did he have a gun, ready to take them out since the bomb hadn’t?

  “We need to get out of sight,” he said quietly.