Target on the Mountain

by Elizabeth Goddard

  At least the ceiling hadn’t caved in and crushed them.

  Shouts resounded and broke through the continuous buzzing in his ears. He needed to get up and get Tori out of here, but his mind and body couldn’t agree on how to do that.

  Hands gripped Ryan, tearing him from Tori. His first instinct was to fight the assailant, and he reached for his weapon, prepared to battle and save her.

  Deputy Jackson. The breath rushed from Ryan. “I... I could have shot you.”

  “No, you couldn’t. You’re moving too slow, Bradley. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Sure.” Ryan glanced down at Tori.

  Unmoving, she remained on the floor.

  Oh, no!

  Ryan knelt down next to her and pressed his hand against her carotid artery. She was still alive. Relief whooshed through him.

  “Tori.” No response. Fear corded his throat. “Tori, are you okay?”

  “We called emergency services,” Deputy Jackson said. “Looks like it was a pipe bomb someone tossed through the window.”

  “Is anyone in pursuit?”

  “No. I rushed inside to help.”

  “Did you see who did this?”

  Jackson shook his head. “I only heard and saw the explosion.”

  Ryan wanted to ask Jackson how someone had been able to approach the house and throw a bomb inside with a sheriff department vehicle parked out front. Had Jackson been snoozing or otherwise engaged? Why hadn’t he prevented this? But he would save those questions for a better time.

  He was worried about Tori.

  Tori groaned and rolled over. Her lids fluttered and then opened, and her green eyes focused on him.

  He pressed his hand gently against her cheek. “You scared me to death.” Had he thrown her to the ground too hard? Maybe she’d hit her head.

  “Are you okay?” Her voice sounded weak.

  “I’m fine, but you were out for a few seconds.”

  “No, I wasn’t.”

  “What? Don’t you know that you blacked out?”

  “Ryan, I was fully aware. I just took my time responding, okay? I feel pommeled by someone’s determination to kill me.”

  Hmm. He wasn’t sure he bought that, but then again, Jackson had said Ryan had been moving slowly.

  “Okay. Well, good. I’m glad you don’t have a concussion. Regardless, an ambulance is on the way.” Ryan glanced at the ceiling. “I don’t want to move you, but I’m not sure of the house’s structural integrity.”

  She sat up, then pressed her hand against her forehead as if her head hurt. Ryan and Deputy Jackson reached down to assist her to her feet, but she refused their help.

  Ryan took that as a good sign.

  Sirens rang out in the distance. But Ryan knew emergency services could sometimes take much too long to arrive. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.

  He, Tori and Deputy Jackson quickly exited Sarah’s bungalow. He gripped Tori’s arm as he ushered her toward his vehicle.

  “I’m okay, you can let me go now.” She twisted out of his grip.

  “You don’t look okay.”

  At the look of sorrow on her face, Ryan wanted to pull her to him.

  She pressed her fingers over her eyes. “Sarah’s home is destroyed now.”

  “Maybe only her bedroom—it’s too early to say. But it can be repaired, Tori. The house is just a thing. It’s not a life.”

  “Her bedroom is the most important room. There were photo albums. Things I still needed to go through. And what about my things?”

  He frowned. “We don’t know about the damage yet. We’ll have to wait and see. At least you left your laptop on the coffee table.” But he knew her suffering had less to do with the material things than with the emotional weight of losing another piece of her sister.

  “Come here.” He wrapped his arms around her. He should be more concerned about her and less about protecting his own heart and keeping his distance.

  He held her a few moments, then urged her to sit in his vehicle until the ambulance arrived. Ryan turned to his deputy, who stood waiting with him. “Have our techs check the house for cameras and bugs of any kind.”

  When he focused back on Tori, her eyes were wide and clear.

  Good. Maybe she really hadn’t blacked out. “Next time, we might not be this fortunate.”

  “Someone knew I was in my room and threw the bomb through the window. They knew I was there.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking. It could have been a coincidence that you were in the room when the bomb came through, but you know I don’t believe in those.”

  “That means either they were watching me through the window—” she glanced across the street “—or the initial break-in could have included someone installing a camera or listening devices. The creeps.” She shuddered.

  “They could be searching for the information Sarah had, and hoped you would find it. That would be a reason to watch you.”

  She scrunched up her face. “That makes no sense. If they want me to find something for them, why try to kill me?”

  “It could be both. They want you dead, but they also want to know if and when you learn something. In this case, they might have heard our discussion of moving you and decided to try to take you out before it was too late.”

  A chill crawled over Ryan and he hovered near her to protect her. “You should wear a vest at all times now.”

  “What makes you think I don’t?” She lifted her sleeve enough for him to see a light body armor.

  Any other time and he would have chuckled. He’d hugged her, so he knew that she had one on now. The body armor served as a reminder that if he had gotten her out of the house and somewhere safe sooner, Sarah’s house would likely still be intact, and Tori wouldn’t have almost lost her life again.

  If he hadn’t lingered in the hallway, he wouldn’t have been there to yank her out. Would she have reacted differently and died in the explosion?

  A fire truck finally arrived, as well as an ambulance for Tori. Ryan allowed a paramedic to check him out but refused the full exam at the hospital. He insisted that Tori go, and then from there, they would head to the safe house. His biggest fear at the moment was her safety on the way to the hospital and while she remained there. Whoever was behind these attacks was determined, and they had stayed ten steps ahead of his investigation.

  A familiar vehicle steered up to the curb. Oh, no. Tori’s parents. They couldn’t have come at a worse time. Had they heard the sirens or maybe been on their way home and followed emergency vehicles here? Or maybe they just wanted to check on their only living daughter.

  David Peterson jogged around his vehicle as Sheryl got out, and together they crossed the street. Both their faces were pale and somber. David kept a protective arm around Sheryl.

  The ambulance drove away with Tori.

  “Ryan?” David asked. “What’s happened here? Where’s Tori?”

  “She’s in the ambulance, but she’s fine.”

  Tori’s mother started sobbing. “She’s not fine if she’s in an ambulance. What’s going on?”

  “I assure you, she’s okay. She got knocked to the ground, so a doctor should take a look at her, but mostly I wanted her out of here. I’m going to meet the ambulance at the hospital.” He wanted to reassure them, but he wouldn’t lie or pretend that Tori wasn’t in significant danger.

  “You didn’t answer my question. What happened?” David asked.

  “An explosion of some kind. Listen, you two, we have everything under control, but you should know I’m moving Tori to a safe house.”

  David’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “You wanted me to keep her safe, remember?”

  “And now that you’ve failed again, you’re finally doing something?” Anger had replaced Sheryl’s whimpers.


  He wanted to reply that their daughter was nothing if not stubborn, and very capable—he couldn’t protect her if she insisted on running directly into danger. But arguing with her parents over whether or not he was at fault wouldn’t do any of them any good. “I’ll call you later.”

  He climbed into his vehicle.

  “We’re coming to the hospital, too,” David said.

  Ryan groaned inside. His biggest concern at the moment was Tori’s safety, and if her parents were there then he only saw them getting in the way. Their interference wouldn’t help. But their daughter had come by her stubbornness naturally—he could tell they wouldn’t back down, so he didn’t bother trying to convince them.

  He radioed for law enforcement to meet the ambulance and a deputy to remain with Tori at all times until he got there. His job as an investigative detective had suddenly morphed into him doubling as a bodyguard.

  TEN

  Tori was getting tired of seeing the inside of a hospital, especially since her parents and Ryan were having a confab in the hallway without her. Unfortunately, the doctor had insisted he keep her for overnight observation. She hadn’t convinced Ryan that she hadn’t been knocked unconscious. She couldn’t be 100 percent sure herself. And her shoulder was giving her fits.

  But morning was here. She’d stayed overnight and she was ready to go. She found new clothes her mother had bought for her and put them on. Jeans and a T-shirt and a zippered hoodie. Perfect.

  Ryan was much too focused on Tori’s safety, for which she knew she was partially to blame. She hadn’t done such a great job convincing him she could protect herself. But it was like he’d told her—under normal circumstances she could protect herself, but being targeted was far from normal.

  Sarah had thought someone was following her—and in that way, she’d even done a better job of staying alert to danger than Tori had. Had she experienced any other kind of threat to her life that they hadn’t uncovered?

  Tori squeezed her eyes shut. God, please help us to find who did this to Sarah. Please... Help me. Show me the way.

  The door opened, startling Tori from her prayer. The nurse handed over the paperwork for Tori to sign, which she quickly did and met her family in the hallway.

  She took in their expressions. Uh-oh.

  Ryan’s face had grown even more somber. Mom’s face was paler than she’d ever seen, and Dad’s was red and twisted with anger.

  How she wished they could have been spared.

  Tears formed in Mom’s eyes and she hugged Tori to her and sobbed. At this moment, Tori wished she was two thousand miles away. She’d only brought them more heartache by being here.

  “I’m so sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to put you through this on the heels of...” She couldn’t say Sarah’s name when referencing her death. Not to her parents. It hurt too much. “I only meant to help.”

  Mom released her, then Dad stared down at her, his expression stern, as if she were still a child. “I insist you go home to South Carolina now. Go back to your job and leave the investigation to the authorities.”

  Tori frowned and fought the need to defend her decisions. She wasn’t a child, even if her father insisted on treating her like one. “I can’t have this discussion with you. Not here. Not now.” Maybe not ever.

  Turning her back on them, she walked away, hating herself for the seemingly heartless action. It was anything but heartless—too many emotions were getting in the way of her talking to them, causing an abyss to expand between them.

  She stopped at the elevator, hoping for an escape. She had considered remaining in Rainey even after the investigation concluded because she believed her parents needed her. They all needed each other after Sarah’s death. But now she wasn’t sure she could tolerate her father’s attitude. Would he always be this overprotective, this controlling if she stayed? She couldn’t be sure—and she knew it wasn’t fair to judge him based on his behavior right now, when emotions were running far too high. They all needed a little bit of grace and mercy for each other right now.

  Footsteps approached from behind. She knew that cadence.

  Ryan.

  Unbidden, her heart danced around inside. She shoved those nonsensical feelings away, or rather, tried to.

  He sidled up next to her. “So you’re just going to leave them like that?”

  Tori pressed the elevator button, then angled her head toward him. “It’s an argument that can go nowhere and might escalate into something truly hurtful. I’ll call them later. They’ll get over it. You should know how it works in families. You have a bigger one than I do.”

  He hung his head and shrugged, then lifted his chin, his eyes pinning her. “He loves you, that’s all. He’s worried about you.”

  And so are you.

  “I know. You feel the same way he does. You want me gone.”

  Ryan said nothing in response as the elevator door finally dinged and then opened.

  Together they stepped into an empty elevator, but not before Tori noticed her parents chatting with the doctor, Rick Hensley, whom her dad knew. Good, they were distracted. A pang shot through her heart.

  The elevator doors closed them in. “I’m at the end of my rope, Ryan. That’s all. Now please take me somewhere safe so I can get busy again. If my laptop and purse can be recovered, I’m going to need those, too.”

  “We’re going to find him, Tori, I promise.”

  “Don’t you think you’re a bit overconfident? You can’t make that promise.” The words came out sounding harsh, which she hadn’t intended.

  She caught a bit of her contorted reflection in the small mirror in the corner. She was a wreck. Tori combed her fingers through her hair so she could look more presentable.

  Ryan said nothing at all, but in the reflection she saw his lips had flatlined.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” she said. “Your retort should have been, ‘And you’re the one who’s going to bring him down?’”

  He chuckled.

  Good. She liked the sound of it. That was exactly what they needed more of around here. She allowed herself to laugh, too.

  “I can’t say I wasn’t thinking it,” Ryan said, “but it’s been a rough day and tensions are high. I don’t need to add anything inflammatory.”

  She shifted to face him. These elevators could take an eternity. “I’m glad we’ve at least come to the place where we can laugh about our ridiculous...competition, I suppose—though that doesn’t seem like the right word.”

  “We’re not competing,” he said. “We’re working together. I’m working closely with you, the person who knew Sarah the best, to find the answers, so my team and I can build a case and get this guy behind bars. But in less than a couple of days, you’ll have to return to work because your bereavement leave will be over. And I know you, Tori. You’ll go back.”

  The way he grinned with his words, he was simply letting her know what he knew to be true, even if she didn’t feel she knew it herself yet.

  She lightly punched his arm. Tori hadn’t officially left the feds, though it had been in her heart and mind. But she didn’t want to make such a drastic decision when she was grieving.

  Finally the elevator doors opened.

  “Tori.” He held her back. “Let me go first. We’ll meet a plainclothed deputy in the lobby and get into that vehicle. We’ll change to another vehicle a few miles down the road, just to be sure.”

  His words took her aback. “Wow,” she said. “I’m impressed.”

  “Believe it or not, impressing you wasn’t my goal.”

  Oh, he was being funny again. She walked with him to join a deputy she hadn’t met yet and the three of them climbed into an unmarked SUV. Someone could follow them from the hospital, so the deputy drove around town for fifteen minutes until they were certain no one had followed, then they turned into a parking garage at the local bank build
ing, where Tori changed into a wig and cap. Ryan simply wore a hat and different sunglasses for his disguise.

  “You’ve thought of everything.” She climbed into the new vehicle.

  From the driver’s seat, he glanced at her, dimples carving into his cheeks. “Were you expecting anything less?”

  She couldn’t help smiling at him—gone was the animosity between them. He’d resented her for the longest time, believing she thought she was better than him because she was a federal agent. But while she’d wanted something different from the Maynor County Sheriff’s Department, she admired Ryan and his abilities. “No, Ryan. I wasn’t.”

  That brought a satisfied grin to his face.

  The easy camaraderie between them made it that much harder for her to keep to herself what she’d learned moments before the pipe bomb had been tossed through the bedroom window.

  * * *

  Ryan finally steered the vehicle up the winding drive to the home loaned to him by Jasper Simmons, who was away on vacation. Ryan had saved Jasper’s son from drowning when the boy had fallen into the Wind River and then been whisked away by the swift current during a fishing trip. Ryan, who had been on the river in a boat at the time, had been able to reach the ten-year-old boy before he went over the falls. Afterward, Jasper had told Ryan to call him if he ever needed anything, anytime. Day or night. Ryan had made that call and now Tori had a house in which she could be safe for the time being.

  Tori sat up taller as the long drive continued to wind around and Mount Shasta came into view. White patches could still be seen on the peak in the summer—glaciers remained at the highest points and never melted. Up close and personal, the mountain was breathtaking.

  “Would you look at this view.” She moved the visor so she could see better out the window. “Okay, now I really do think you’re trying to impress me.”

  He parked the vehicle in front of the sprawling log cabin. “Now why would I want to do that?”