Deadly Connection

by Lenora Worth

  Emmett dived down, frustration heating his gut, dizziness overcoming him. Then he called to the officer. “Go after him.”

  Dragging himself inside the diner, he held his badge up. “No one leave. The NYPD will need to question you.” Then he stood and grabbed the table where he’d been sitting with Randall. “Bring me a plastic bag.”

  The waitress gave him an evil eye but did his bidding, her scowl now full of fright.

  Emmett took a clean napkin and quickly poured what was left of Randall’s coffee into the other cup, then bagged the empty cup and the napkin Randall had used.

  “Hey, where you taking that mug and napkin?” the waitress asked, her hands on her hip, her tone bullish.

  “To the police,” Emmett said, deciding that should be explanation enough since he’d flashed his badge and he was bleeding from his temple. He dropped a twenty on the table to take the edge off.

  The woman shrugged and grabbed the money, her attitude already rearranging itself.

  Emmett pushed away the help the manager offered, took the bagged items and hurried to search the weed-infested empty lot next to the diner. Then he scanned the streets and sidewalks. When he saw one of the officers heading back, shaking his head, dread froze him on the spot. His cousin had disappeared right out from under him. Should he have injured Randall so he could bring him in?

  The Brooklyn K-9 Unit might believe he’d let his cousin go. But he had made contact, and from the way Randall had acted, Emmett’s gut told him his cousin was the killer of the McGregors.

  Gage DNA matched what they’d found on that old watchband and Randall’s actions today sealed the deal.

  “Sorry, Marshal Gage,” the officer said. “He slipped over a fence and then we lost him.”

  Emmett gave a report to the young man, refused to see a doctor for his busted head and then hurried to his truck. His dad had tried to help Randall and so had he. But he had to remind himself that sometimes a person went beyond wanting to be helped.

  And that made his job too tough to handle at times. This would be one of the worst of those times.

  SIXTEEN

  Emmett sat inside Gavin’s office, exhausted and weary, his mood as grim as the rain clouds outside.

  Gavin came back in and sank down in his squeaky office chair. “All the witnesses panned out—said the man you were with pulled out a handgun and held it on a woman and two children, then waved it around, threatening everyone in the diner. The waitress said you saved them all by letting him take you out the door with him. The patrol officers saw it all through the window and watched him hit you on the head and run. They tried to capture him—one going one direction and the other following him. He gave them the slip, too, so don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  Emmett shook his head and touched a hand to the bandage he’d found in his first aid kit. “Well, at least I won over the waitress.” Then he stared out the window. “I could have shot him.”

  “You could have,” Gavin replied, his tone blank. “But you might have shot him in the back and killed him.”

  “You know my aim would have been spot on.”

  “I assume that,” Gavin said. “You could have injured him enough to bring him down. But you had others to consider.”

  Emmett studied Gavin’s wall of photos, taking in his wife, Brianne, and their K-9 partners, Tommy and Stella. Other photos of the team showed honors and awards and more wedding moments.

  “I hesitated,” Emmett admitted. “I wanted to gather evidence and bring him in, not shoot my own kin.”

  Gavin rubbed his face and studied the papers on his desk before leveling Emmett with a hard glare. “You assured us you’d do your best. I think I should send someone from my unit next time we get a tip on Randall. You’re too close to this case. Maybe you need to back off.”

  A knock at the door brought Belle inside, Justice with her. “Sir, I heard the report.”

  She spotted Emmett sitting there, his hands cupped, his bandaged head down. “Emmett, are you all right?”

  Emmett held up a hand. “I’m fine. Just a scratch.”

  Gavin came around and shut the door. “We were just discussing what happened.”

  “I heard you kept Randall from shooting up a whole diner,” Belle replied, her tone full of fire as she glanced at Emmett.

  “That’s true,” Gavin said. “He took control of a bad situation, but Gage still got away.”

  “I can speak for myself,” Emmett said, sitting up in his chair. “I bagged his cup and napkin. Your lab is analyzing them and we should know soon if the sample on the watchband found at the McGregor murder site is a true match for his DNA.”

  Belle sat down in the chair beside Emmett. “I should have been with you. Together and with Justice, we could have caught him.”

  “I almost had him,” Emmett said, “but I had to protect those people in the diner.” He held his hands together. “I had a clear shot when he fired at me and the other officers, but this injury made me question my judgment.”

  Belle glanced over at Gavin. “So what now, sir?”

  “Well, we’ve put out a BOLO on Randall Gage and we’ll keep turning over rocks and searching the streets. But I’m suggesting Marshal Gage steps back to let us handle this.”

  Emmett stood. “I agree. I messed up. I had one chance and I blew it. Maybe I am too close to this.”

  His eyes held Belle’s. He’d become too close to her, too. He needed to take some time and space and get his head together.

  Belle’s gaze moved from him to Gavin. “Sir?”

  “It’s for the best, Belle,” Gavin replied. “Whatever you two do on your own time is your business.”

  Emmett got up. “I’ll talk to you later, Belle.”

  Then he turned and stalked out of the Brooklyn K-9 headquarters, his mind in turmoil, but with a new determination to go back to the work he knew best—tracking wanted criminals.

  And he’d start by trying to find his cousin, in his own way.

  * * *

  Belle sat out in the backyard at the family compound, watching Justice sniffing around the yard. She’d sent her parents, sisters and Joaquin, newly released from the hospital, to stay with Uncle Rico until the threat to all of them was over.

  “Why aren’t you coming with us?” Joaquin had asked when she called to check on him right before his release, his attitude now demure and subdued.

  “I won’t put any of you in danger again,” Belle told him. “I’m trained to handle these types of situations and Justice will alert me if anyone breaches our property.”

  Joaquin had nodded. “Uncle Rico said he has people watching out for you, too.”

  “Oh, yeah, is that right?” Belle’s Uncle Rico carried a lot of weight in this neighborhood but in a good way. People respected him and, yes, everyone watched out for each other, per his encouragement. “Tell Uncle Rico I love him,” she’d said before ending the call.

  Now she sat there thinking that this plan just might work. She’d gotten her family out of the way. Emmett was off trying to find Randall, she knew without him telling her so. She’d seen it in his eyes when he’d left Gavin’s office.

  She was alone just as she’d been in the park that late afternoon. But this time, she was ready.

  “Come and get me,” she said into the night. “Because I’m waiting.”

  These two wanted to slither around like snakes and she was ready to catch one or both of them.

  The night cooled down very little but at least a soft breeze kissed at her warm skin. Belle lifted her hair off her neck and took a sip of lemonade. Justice came back and hunkered down beside her. Normally, this was their favorite time of day.

  They’d come out for Justice to take a break and then he’d roam for a while before they headed back inside. Now, her little yard took on a sinister feel—shadows sparing with each other,
trees shifting as branches scratched and moaned. Voices out on the street around front.

  Her phone buzzed, jarring Belle out of her watchful visual.

  “Belle Montero.”

  “Hey.”

  Emmett. “Hey, yourself. How are you?”

  “I’ve been better,” he said. “I told myself to stay away, but I kind of miss you.”

  “I miss you, too,” she admitted. “And I told myself the same thing, but I hope you know you don’t have to drop out of my life just because Gavin told you to stay off the case. I know there are boundaries but...we can be friends.”

  “I’m not dropping out of your life, and I’m certainly not letting this case go. I want to bring in Randall as much as anyone does so I’m casing the areas where he’s been seen.” He hesitated and then said, “And I’d like to come by and see you. I can still watch out for Johnson and Carolo, too. I have their stats and photos on hand, so I’ll know them when I see them.”

  “Emmett, remember how you warned me to be careful?”

  “Yes.”

  “You do the same.”

  “I will. What are you doing?”

  “I’m sitting on my tiny porch with Justice, enjoying the quiet.”

  “How is Joaquin?”

  “He’s fine. He’s with my family at my uncle’s house about three blocks over. I sent them there for the weekend and I’ve got a patrol car monitoring them.”

  “Belle, are you alone?”

  “Yes. Is that a hint that you should come over?”

  “Do you want me to come over?”

  Belle thought about that. She really liked this man. Should she say yes when she’d put herself out here, hoping to lure her attacker?

  Could it hurt to have someone watching her back? Or should she give herself and Emmett some time to think this through?

  Her stomach tingled with awareness, and then her instincts kicked in. “I’ll be okay, Emmett. You don’t need to come.”

  “No, you shouldn’t do this alone. I told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  “You also told me you can’t commit to me,” she reminded him.

  “That’s not exactly what I said, and you know it.”

  “I heard it, though. You’re warning me to stay at a distance and now you’re off the case. I have to go.”

  She ended the call and looked over at Justice. Then she sighed. “I shouldn’t have pushed him away, because I think he needs us, boy. We just have to show him that, right?”

  She put down her phone, thinking she’d told him the same thing—that she wasn’t ready for a new relationship. Even with Emmett, she couldn’t break that rule. He might think he could, but she’d believed in Percy’s promises and he’d almost destroyed her.

  Even with a good man like Emmett, she wasn’t ready to risk it again.

  So she sat in the dark and wished things could have worked out for them and she also accepted that they might not be able to stay friendly, after all.

  A few minutes later Justice stood, startling her. Then her partner growled low and lifted his head toward the alley. Belle shot up out of her chair and scanned the yard. The streetlight behind the fenced wall shimmered an eerie yellow glow. She stilled and listened. When she heard a rustling and what sounded like the gate shifting, she knew someone was behind that fence.

  “Seek,” she whispered to Justice.

  Justice took off toward the fence, barking and snarling.

  “That didn’t take long,” Belle said.

  She had her gun ready as she slinked along the fence line and listened, her breath held, her lungs tightening. The fence butted up to the building on each side but there was a gate on the side of the building by her porch. A locked gate.

  Justice lifted and scratched at the other gate across the small yard. A gunshot roared through the night and then the gate popped open.

  Justice leaped toward whoever had entered. Belle called out, “Attack! Bite!”

  Justice followed her command but in the muted light, Belle saw the man. He was dressed in a protective suit.

  The kind the team wore in training sessions.

  Justice held on, but there was no way he’d get a firm grip on the intruder.

  Then she heard another noise.

  Someone was trying to scale the fence nearest to the porch.

  They were both coming after her.

  * * *

  Emmett had finally secured a parking spot on the street when he heard a shot ring out. Taking out his weapon, he jumped out of his truck and bounded up the porch stoop. “Belle?”

  Justice’s snarls echoed out over the night. Emmett hurried around the house.

  No gate on the right side.

  He ran to the left and saw a dark figure running away.

  “US Marshal. Stop!”

  The man darted over a small chain-link fence into the next yard over and kept running.

  Emmett heard Belle’s voice. “Justice, halt. Release.”

  Emmett looked around, trying to figure out how to scale the high wooden fence and then he saw the gate and tried to open it. Still locked. He was halfway up, grunting and trying to find a toehold to jump the fence when he heard Belle again.

  “NYPD. Stop,” Belle shouted.

  Then a gunshot and Justice barking again, angry, snarling barks. The gate at the back of the property slammed shut with a whack.

  “Belle?” Emmett called out, his heart dropping, his mind swirling with the worst-case scenario. “Belle?”

  The front door swung open with a clatter. “Emmett?”

  He dropped away from the fence and rushed around the corner of the yard. Belle stood on the porch, the door open behind her.

  Emmett leaped onto the stoop and gathered her close. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. He ran away when he heard you.”

  “Did Justice injure him?”

  “Tried,” she said, her breath coming in gulps. “He was wearing protective gear. The other one was trying to come over the front fence.”

  “I heard a shot.”

  “I got one in to bring him down. Think I hit his leg but with that gear on, who knows if it went through.”

  Emmett held her tight while lights came on and people came out of their houses. The whole street went quiet and the night seemed to stand still.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked against his shoulder.

  “I ignored you telling me to stay away,” he said. “Did you honestly think I’d let you do this alone?”

  “You got here so quick.”

  “I’d been circling the block for an hour. I called you from my truck.”

  “Stubborn.”

  “Let’s get inside,” he said, only now catching his breath.

  “I have to get Justice in. He’s guarding the backyard and people are on the way.”

  “Okay.” He followed her into her apartment but then turned to check the hallway doors. She’d locked all of them, including the one she’d just come back through.

  Soon, she had Justice inside and drinking water. Then she turned to Emmett. “I almost had him. I called off Justice and rushed at the man, but he shot and then I shot back. He turned and whirled out the gate, shooting one more time.”

  She shook her head. “But he screamed at me and told me I’d cost him the woman he loved when I put him in jail. Said he’d get me one way or another. I’m guessing Lance’s girlfriend finally left him and now he’s blaming me. I think he started watching my routine the minute he got out of jail.”

  Emmett checked her over and pulled his hand across his moist forehead. “I almost had a heart attack trying to get over that fence. I heard Justice barking and snarling.”

  “The fence is built to protect and to last,” she said, taking him into her arms again. “We rarely unlock either
the front or back gates.”

  Emmett looked down at her and pushed her hair out of her eyes so he could check to see if she was hurt. Then he leaned down and kissed her, savoring the warmth of her lips and the soft sigh that pushed through her body.

  Belle held on to him and then pulled back. “This isn’t how I usually do things.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve never gotten close to a man during two active cases before. I’ve never actually had two active cases at one time and I’ve never been threatened in such an aggressive way.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” he whispered against her ear. “I guess you’ve never kissed a man who’s also involved in such cases before, right?”

  “Right. And such a determined man at that.”

  “Let’s try it again, then.”

  He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her completely and thoroughly. “I think my heart is racing more now than it was before.”

  Belle nodded in agreement. “How do we handle this, Emmett?”

  “Do you want to be with me? To know me?” he asked.

  “I don’t know... There’s so much going on. I didn’t think I’d get involved with anyone. Not after my ex did a number on me.” Looking up at him, she said, “And I’m not so sure about you. You’re too good to be true. I’m waiting for when the bad stuff comes.”

  Emmett wasn’t buying her logic. “First of all, your ex is a horrible example of what love really is. He was pretending at wanting to be a policeman, and even now, he’s one of those shadow people who hang around bragging but never actually accomplish anything.”

  “Except trying to get even with me.”

  “He hasn’t succeeded yet,” Emmett reminded her. “He’s tried all the ploys and yet, you’re still here. Thankfully.” Holding her back so he could look into her eyes, he went on, “And second, I’m not perfect. I have doubts and now you know that. I’m a loner and set in my ways. I travel a lot and I never wanted to settle down with anyone.”

  “I think that’s the part I’m having trouble with. How can I trust that you won’t resent me and my work one day?”