Beyond Risk

by Connie Mann

  Hunter shrugged. “She means the world to me.” It surprised him how easily the words slipped out, along with the knowledge that he meant every one.

  Josh slapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck with that, man. At best, I foresee a severe beating followed by major groveling in your future.”

  “I don’t think it’ll be that easy, but let’s get Natalie home safe first.”

  “Absolutely.” Josh hurried back to his vehicle, and they headed out.

  Hunter knew the cabin was empty before he reached the front door. Every instinct screamed that this wasn’t the place.

  Still, they circled the house and burst in, guns drawn, just to make sure. No Jennings. No Natalie, either. They searched the perimeter of the property, but thankfully found no blood or other evidence of more recent violence.

  Hunter walked away from the others, pulled out his phone to call Charlee. Again. But again, he stopped before he finished dialing. If she was still out cold—please, God—he didn’t want to wake her. Because the foolishness of what he’d done had just fully occurred to him. The minute Charlee’s eyes popped open, she’d find a way to go after Natalie herself. And that was even scarier than having her with them.

  “Where to now, Lieutenant?” Sanchez asked as they all gathered outside the cabin.

  Hunter yanked his focus back to Natalie and the map. “The next logical choice is Big Shoals, where JJ died.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Pete sounded like he was working hard to keep the panic at bay. “Maybe he took her back to the Ocklawaha, where he tried to kill Brittany.”

  Hunter nodded, understanding Pete’s panic. He wouldn’t add his worry about Charlee. “It makes as much sense as anything. We know everything he does revolves around water.” He nodded to Josh. “Your boat blowing up, forcing Charlee and me off the bridge, your mom in the bathtub.”

  “What if he went back to the Outpost? Hiding in plain sight?” Fish asked.

  “Also possible,” Josh said.

  “I agree,” Hunter said. “So let’s cover all our bases. You and Pete head back to the Ocklawaha. Fish, you and Sanchez head for the Outpost, check that whole area, river and land.”

  “Where are you going?” Pete asked.

  “Back to Big Shoals. But first I need to check on Charlee.” He grimaced. He hadn’t meant to say that last out loud.

  Josh just shook his head and snorted.

  “What’s going on?” Pete wanted to know.

  “He knocked her out so she couldn’t come with us.”

  Pete’s eyes widened, and he whistled. “She’ll be eight miles past spitting mad when she gets hold of you.”

  Hunter met his gaze. “I know. But I couldn’t risk it.” And now he was more worried she’d rush off on her own, without anyone to watch her back.

  Josh glanced over at Pete. “He loves her.”

  Hunter nodded, then climbed back in his truck, ignoring Pete’s shocked expression. He picked up his phone, set it down again. He muttered a prayer that Charlee would stay asleep for a while longer and then hit the gas, determined to stop this scumbag before he hurt Natalie.

  Chapter 28

  Charlee’s side ached, and sweat poured down her skin by the time she reached her parents’ house, found the hidden key under the frog, ran inside, and grabbed the keys to her mother’s car. It took another few minutes to get the car out of the garage and pointed toward the highway.

  After the first half hour, she hadn’t gone twenty miles, and anxiety clawed at her skin with every single red light and slow-moving vehicle. That was the trouble with two-lane roads. You were at the mercy of every pokey Joe and farm vehicle. She pounded the steering wheel in frustration when she hit the speed trap section of Waldo. She kept one eye on the speedometer as she inched past the flea market, then she opened it up when the speed limit went back to sixty.

  Her fury and frustration with Hunter and his high-handed ways grew with every mile. Ranting and raving didn’t allay her fears but gave her something else to think about as the minutes ticked by. He’d had no right to knock her out in some misguided attempt to keep her safe, the macho, testosterone-driven idiot. She wasn’t a child. She was trained law enforcement.

  She’d hate him if she didn’t love him so much.

  And part of her understood his bone-deep need to protect her. She might have resorted to the same thing in his place. Still.

  She glanced at the dashboard clock. Less than thirty minutes to go.

  She swallowed hard and inched the accelerator up. Don’t let me be too late.

  When she stopped at the next light, she picked up her phone to call him, let him know what was happening. Then set it down again. How was Jennings tracking her? Since she’d taken her mom’s car, chances were good he hadn’t put a tracker on it. Or installed any kind of camera or recording device to see if she made any calls.

  So that left tracking her phone. She glanced in the rearview mirror. No sign of anyone following her since she’d left the Outpost, either. Since she didn’t know how tech-savvy Jennings was, whether he had some way to know if she’d talked to Hunter against his orders, she’d just send a text.

  Traffic started moving again before she could figure out how to word the message, how to let Hunter know what was happening, without Jennings knowing. Hands gripping the steering wheel, Charlee drove as fast as she dared, while her mind spun with possible clues to give Hunter. She didn’t have time for a speeding ticket.

  She couldn’t be late, either.

  She kept driving north.

  * * *

  Hunter hadn’t gone more than ten miles when his radio crackled. “719-Ocala, I’ve got a woman on the line, says you need to come to her house right away. Name is Sally Jennings, says it’s about her daughter. I’m inputting her address into CAD.”

  “10-4. I’m on my way.”

  Hunter wanted to ignore Sally’s flair for the dramatic, but he couldn’t ignore her—and Nora’s—connection to Jennings. He made a quick U-turn and headed the ten miles back to Lake City and Sally’s ranch house. As he pulled into the driveway, the front door flew open, and Sally ran toward his truck.

  “She’s gone. You have to find her. Please.”

  Hunter stepped out of the vehicle and scanned the area as he guided her back toward the house. “Take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on, Ms. Jennings.”

  “You asked me about Nora, so I tried to call and text her, but I got no response. I thought she was just mad, typical teen. But then a friend of hers showed up, saying she was here to pick up Nora. They were supposed to go shopping today.”

  “Would Nora have blown her off? Are they good friends?”

  “They’ve been best friends for years, and they’ve been planning this for weeks. Ashley tried to contact her, too, and checked all her social media in case she missed a message, but there’s nothing. She’s just gone.”

  Sally stopped pacing and gripped Hunter’s arm, face pale. “Does this have something to do with Tommy’s death?”

  Hunter kept his voice and expression calm. “We’re not sure yet. How well do you know Tommy’s brother, James?”

  She snorted. “He’s a controlling bully, and I tried to keep Tommy as far away from him as possible. But Tommy said James was the only family he still had. They got together every year, but I didn’t go with them. They usually took the kids, though.”

  “Took the kids where?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “To the carnival. James is a carney, mechanic or something. I have no idea. I didn’t want to know. He and Tommy met up every year when the carnival came to town.”

  Hunter’s mind raced, shuffling and sorting facts in his head. “We found a ride wristband at Tommy’s cabin.”

  Sally ran her hands through her hair, eyes darting around the room. “Yes, Tommy called and asked Nora to go with him,
but she said no.”

  “Mrs. Jennings, if Nora decided to get away from everything for a day, where would she go? Who would she call?”

  “She would call Ashley. And they would go to the old quarry outside of town. The kids think we don’t know about it, but they sneak in under the fence and go swimming.”

  Again, water. “Can you tell me exactly where at the quarry they hang out?” It had once been a huge operation. He didn’t have time to check all the possible locations.

  “I can draw you a map.” She grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out directions and landmarks, then handed it to Hunter. “You’ll find my baby?” Her chin quivered. “She’s all I have left.”

  Hunter nodded and headed for the door. “Call me the minute you hear from her. I’ll do the same.”

  He radioed dispatch and told them where he was headed, though his instincts said he wouldn’t find Nora—or Natalie—there. Still, he had to check. He couldn’t skip the obvious.

  * * *

  Charlee arrived at the gas station Jennings had directed her to with less than three minutes to spare. She pulled right up to a pump, since she needed gas anyway, and sat for a moment, head on the steering wheel, trying to catch her breath.

  Someone knocked on the window, and she yelped. She looked up to see an elderly gentleman peering in at her. She lowered her window a fraction.

  “Are you all right, Miss? I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Charlee took a deep breath. “I’m fine, thank you for asking.” She dredged up a smile and stepped out of the car when it appeared the man wasn’t leaving until she’d convinced him.

  She stuck her credit card into the slot and started pumping gas, just as her cell phone rang.

  She forced her emotions back. Think. Be smart. “Hello?”

  “Oh, good. You made it on time. Cutting it pretty close, aren’t you?”

  The hair on the back of Charlee’s neck lifted, and she looked around the small gas station in the middle of nowhere. Was he watching? Or was he tracking her phone’s location?

  “What now?” she demanded. On the way here, she had decided that confident beat sniveling, no matter what. She’d keep him just a little unsure of her compliance. She had the sense he enjoyed the back-and-forth, so she’d give him that, if it bought her time.

  “Has loverboy been calling to check on you?”

  She snorted. “Why would he? He’s all worked up about some case, and I guess since I’m not FWC anymore, he doesn’t feel the need to tell me anything.”

  There was a pause, and Charlee wondered if she’d laid it on too thick.

  “Poor Charlotte, never quite good enough to keep up with the big boys. By the way, did you find the charm?”

  She ignored the jab and focused on keeping him talking. She knew the minute Hunter figured out she was gone, he’d have her cell phone traced. “What charm?”

  “Come now, Charlotte. You’re a terrible liar. You know, the pretty gold one I left on your dresser. Did you ask the lieutenant about that?”

  Charlee swallowed the bile in her throat. He’d not only been watching, but he’d been in her cottage, again. “Why would I ask him about it?”

  “It’s such a lovely piece. Nora wears one just like it.”

  Oh, dear God. They were right.

  He waited.

  “Where did Nora get it?” Would he tell her?

  He giggled then, and the sound scared her more than anything he’d said so far. “Her father gave it to her. One charm for her. And one to remember JJ.” He paused, and his voice turned low, angry. “You remember JJ. The boy you let die out there, alone. It should have been Nora. But I’ll set that right soon enough.”

  Fear hit Charlee square in the gut. She gripped the pump handle until her knuckles turned white and waited.

  “Are you still there, Charlotte?”

  She straightened her shoulders, kept her voice firm. “Of course. Let me talk to Natalie.”

  “Hmm. I think not. You haven’t earned it yet. I want you to keep driving north. Another forty miles. This time, though, you’ll only have forty-five minutes. There will be another gas station. Left side of the road this time. Don’t be late.”

  Charlee took a deep breath. She had to let Hunter know what was happening.

  She sent him a quick text, closed the gas cap, and made a quick stop inside the gas station. Then she climbed back into the car and sped out onto the highway. She shoved the fear away. She couldn’t let it in, or she wouldn’t be able to focus. She had to stay calm and clearheaded.

  Jennings had killed his own brother. And had meant to kill Nora.

  Jennings had Natalie. And probably had Nora, too.

  Charlee gripped the wheel tighter. This story would not end like the others, not as long as she drew breath. She had to save Natalie and Nora and herself, too.

  She might be angry enough with Hunter to clock him upside the head, but she’d make sure he never had to watch someone else he cared about die.

  Somehow, she’d fallen in love with the macho warrior with the sense of honor and hot body and piercing green eyes. She wouldn’t let him find her dead body.

  She refused to let her sister and Nora die, either.

  All she had to do was figure out how to save them all.

  * * *

  Hunter hopped out of his truck in the makeshift parking area by the abandoned quarry. The other two cars were empty. He stepped over the chain and ran toward the sound of laughter.

  He broke through the trees to see seven or eight teenagers playing on a rope swing. Several cheered from shore as a young man leaped, swung out over the water, and let go of the rope.

  One of them spotted his uniform and hissed, “Cop.”

  “Everybody stay put.” He waited while the last guy swam to shore. “I need to ask a couple questions.”

  One young man stepped forward, clearly the leader. “We weren’t doing anything wrong, man. Just cooling off.”

  “Nothing except trespassing.” When they started to protest, Hunter held up a hand. “I don’t care about that right now.” He pulled out his phone, showed them Nora’s picture. “Do any of you know her?”

  One girl said, “Sure. That’s Nora Jennings.”

  Several others nodded.

  “Has she been here today? Have you seen her?”

  They looked at one another. The same girl said, “Not today, no.”

  “But she’s come out here other times?”

  Shrugs and averted glances all around.

  “How long have you been here today?”

  The leader checked a waterproof watch. “About three hours.”

  “Is she in trouble?” one of the other girls asked.

  “We can’t find her, so we just want to be sure she’s okay.” He pulled out his card. “Will you call me if you see or hear from her? It’s important.”

  “It bites that her dad just died. You think she tried to…?”

  Hunter zeroed in on the girl. “Was she suicidal?”

  They all shook their heads. “She was pretty torn up about her dad, you know? But I don’t think she’d try to hurt herself or anything.”

  “Thanks for your help. Let me know if you see or talk to her.”

  He jogged the path that wound around this side of the quarry to check for any sign of her. The path was obviously well used, but he saw no sign of a struggle, no discarded items except cigarette butts and beer bottles, a condom.

  When he got back to the teens, they eyed him with dread. “There’s no sign of her. Keep me posted.” As he hurried away, he turned. “And stay off private property.”

  As he headed back to the main road, his cell phone rang. “Boudreau.”

  “Hunter? This is Liz. Charlee’s friend?”

  “What’s up, Liz?”

  “I�
��m here at Charlee’s cottage. Her car is here, but she’s not. I had told Charlee I was dragging her antique shopping today. Are you guys out investigating? She’s not answering her cell phone.”

  The dread in Hunter’s gut dug deeper, but he kept his voice calm. “She’s not with me right now, but I’ll call you if I hear from her.”

  “That sounds good. Thanks. Oh, hey, Sammy,” she said before the line went dead.

  Sammy made him think of the carnival and James Jennings. Was James the Tool Man? The pieces of the puzzle were dropping into place.

  His cell phone buzzed with an incoming text from Charlee: Not sitting around while you do your stupid FWC stuff. Going kayaking. Might even see a friend I haven’t seen in a year.

  Hunter froze as he reread the text. If he understood, she was trying to tell him she was headed for Big Shoals, where JJ Jennings died last year. And the “friend” had to be Nora Jennings. He called Brad. “Hey, Byte. Run a check on the GPS in Charlee Tanner’s phone, would you?”

  “On it.”

  He hadn’t gone more than two miles down the road when Byte called him back.

  “She’s heading north, right?” Either on her own or with Jennings.

  “Got it in one, boss. How’d you know?”

  “I think Jennings is headed back to the rapids at Big Shoals, where JJ Jennings died.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “As sure as I can be. Get me exact coordinates on last year’s scene and send them to my laptop. Where is Charlee now, exactly?”

  “She just left what looks like a gas station. Want me to send backup?”

  “Not just yet.”

  “But this is—”

  “Call Pete and Josh and give them Charlee’s location,” he interrupted. “Tell them to head this way and call me en route. We’ll get a plan together.”

  “Don’t bust in alone, boss.” Byte sounded worried.

  “Just call them.” Hunter hung up and threw the phone onto the seat beside him.

  Then he flipped on his light bar and hit the gas. He passed several state troopers, and when questioned via radio, said he was on the trail of a suspect, thanked them for the offer of help, and kept going. After what seemed like forever, he pulled into the gas station. Playing a hunch, he went inside and flashed his badge at the young Indian man behind the counter.