Deadly Cargo
Page 20
And couldn’t she see that was saving her life now?
Just because somebody was paranoid didn’t mean that nobody was out to get them.
Forgive me, Lord. Maybe if I’d taken Walter more seriously and pushed a little harder in my investigation we wouldn’t be in this situation now.
“What’s her name?” she asked. “This secret best friend of my father?”
“He never told me,” Jay said. “But he did tell me that she was dead and what she knew about Vamana put you and your sisters’ lives in danger. Your father thought your family had enemies.”
“My father thought a lot of things,” Leia said. “That didn’t mean they were true.” She stopped, and he realized they’d reached the hidden door leading outside that he’d used to sneak inside the house. “I get the fact that the criminals in there mentioning Vamana Enterprises is weird, but if this friend existed I’ve never heard of her. We can talk all that out once we get out of here and call the police. But for now, we’ve got to make sure Sally and the baby don’t drive up early.”
He turned off his phone’s flashlight. Leia eased the door open a crack and they looked out. Darkness lay on the other side, thick with the smell of summer rain.
The cop in him did a quick calculation. It was essential that he got Leia to safety, warned her sister not to return to the farm and found a way to call in the cavalry to arrest the home invaders before they got away. But could he really risk the criminals getting ahold of the information about Franklin Vamana’s crimes that Walter thought were hidden somewhere in the farmhouse?
Especially if he was a cold-case serial killer?
“You go,” he said. “Drive as far away from the place as you can, call the police and warn your sister.”
“I told you,” Leia said, “they took my keys and I don’t have Sally’s mechanical knack for hot-wiring cars.”
He reached for his keys and heard them jangle in the darkness. “Take my truck. It’s in the garage and I’ve already detached it from my camper.”
He tried to press them into her hand, but she pulled her fingers away.
“And just leave you here in danger?” Leia’s voice rose. “Are you insane? Look, I don’t care how big and strong you are, Jay, there are three of them and one of you. You might not be my favorite person in the world, but I’m not just driving away and leaving you here to die.”
The sound of banging and crashing inside the house grew louder. His jaw clenched. There was no time to argue about this now.
“Listen to me,” he said. “I’ll be fine. You need to go, now.”
“Again, I’m not leaving you here to die.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t believe you.” She pushed the door open and stepped out into the rain. “And don’t tell me Dad would want you to defend the house, because I don’t care if they burn it down to the studs.”
Even if it meant destroying any chance of proving a rich and powerful man was the Phantom Killer?
“Leia, listen!” he said. “I’m an undercover cop!”
She turned back and her face paled. “You’re what?”
Jay heard the faint click of someone taking the safety off a handgun.
“Leia! Get down!” he shouted as gunfire shattered the night.
Copyright © 2021 by Mags Storey
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ISBN-13: 9780369716040
Deadly Cargo
Copyright © 2021 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Jodie Bailey for her contribution to the Alaska K-9 Unit miniseries.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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