Risk Everything (Mills & Boon Heroes) (The Risk Series: A Bree and Tanner Thriller, Book 4)

by Janie Crouch

  “Well, it damn nearly harmed Bree.”

  Randall gave an apologetic shrug. “That’s true, but on any other given night she wouldn’t have been here.”

  “So, we are looking at some sort of explosives expert?”

  What the hell would one be doing at a women’s shelter? Especially if they weren’t trying to blow the building up? This didn’t make a lot of sense.

  “Not necessarily. Yes, an explosives expert would know how to do all of this and it’s definitely beyond what your normal amateur pyromaniac is involved with. But there are certain jobs—military, construction, even some welding jobs—that would also provide that sort of knowledge. Or it could be hired out.”

  “I liked this much better when I thought it might be a run-of-the-mill arsonist just trying to burn the place down. Now we’re talking about someone with a specific skill set who also has studied New Journeys enough to know the basics about their security and what would or wouldn’t happen in a fire.”

  “I don’t blame you there. A pyro may be a pain in the ass, but they’re also predictable. Their endgame is to watch the world burn.”

  Tanner looked around, trying to put himself in the arsonist’s mind. “What was this guy’s endgame? No one was hurt. Nothing was stolen, as far as we know.”

  Randall walked over and slapped him on the shoulder. “That, my friend, is your job and thankfully not mine.”

  Randall showed Tanner a few more things, including where the fire would’ve burned out on its own if the fire department hadn’t stopped it before that. And he was right—it definitely wouldn’t have hurt anyone, unless, like Bree, they just happened to be wandering in that section of the building.

  As Tanner walked back to his office, he kept trying to figure out what the motive was.

  What was the purpose? That was the ultimate question. All this had really served to do was shake everyone up.

  He let out a low curse. Maybe that was the purpose—getting everyone shaken up. Thanks to the fire, everyone was back in the old building where there was much less security and no set routine.

  Ronnie Kitchens, the other deputy in their office, met Tanner as soon as he walked in the door. “That face doesn’t look good. Problems?”

  Tanner explained about the detonator and everything else Randall had told him.

  Ronnie let out a low whistle. “That’s not good.”

  “The only people I can think that might have something to gain from pulling a stunt like this would be the men involved in these women’s lives.”

  “Definitely. Although I would think they’d want to do as much damage as possible, not set a blaze that would burn out on its own. The residents will be able to move back in in just a couple more days.”

  They walked toward Tanner’s office. “Maybe the plan is to make the women not feel safe at New Journeys so they’ll be more likely to return to their previous situations.”

  That was a common enough problem under the best of circumstances for some of these women; it wouldn’t take much to encourage them to leave.

  “Pull the files we started on all the men connected to the current residents at New Journeys. We need to cross-reference them with their backgrounds and professions. We’re looking for anyone with a military background or who has worked in construction, demolition or anything that would provide training in explosives.”

  Ronnie began the cross-referencing while Tanner put a call in to Cassandra. He didn’t want to cause any undue panic, but he wanted his sister and Bree to be aware of the situation. He promised to call them back if he had any solid suspects.

  Three frustrating hours later, despite working through lunch, they hadn’t found any promising suspects. The two men who seemed most qualified to have set the fire both lived out of state. Phone calls to their current places of employment had provided solid alibis. There was no way they could’ve been at work all week across the country and then made it to Risk Peak and back.

  The couple of others who might have the knowledge were in prison, including Jared Ellis, Marilyn’s husband, who worked in construction.

  Ronnie sat back in the chair across from Tanner’s desk, two files balancing on his leg crossed at the knee. “If our perp isn’t someone associated with New Journeys, could it be someone coming after Bree? She was the only one who had to be taken to the hospital. Granted, most of the Organization is behind bars, but after what happened in Atlanta—”

  Ronnie was about to say something else when the phone on Tanner’s desk rang.

  “Hold that thought.” Although there damn well better not be anyone coming after Bree again. He picked up the phone. “Tanner Dempsey speaking.”

  “Captain Dempsey, this is Conrad Parnam with the Denver County Warrants and Bonding Office.” The man’s voice was sort of distant and breathy, like the phone wasn’t directly next to his mouth. Or like he was bored with the conversation before it even started.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Parnam?”

  “I’m trying to reach a Mrs. Marilyn Ellis at a facility called New Journeys but I’m having difficulty. Do you have a way to get in touch with her?”

  “I do.” He had a sinking suspicion he knew where this was going and wasn’t going to like it.

  “Because of the restraining order against Mrs. Ellis’s husband, Jared Ellis, we wanted to let her know that he was released on bail.”

  Yep, he didn’t like it. This already bad day just got worse. “Earlier today?”

  He could hear Parnam shuffling through papers. “Actually, no. Mr. Ellis was released three days ago.”

  Chapter Five

  Tanner fought not to roar into the phone. Jared Ellis was released from a Denver county jail three days ago and no one had told Marilyn?

  He forced himself to speak reasonably, even though he had a white-knuckled grip on the phone. “Three days ago? Why wasn’t Mrs. Ellis notified immediately? Jared Ellis is considered to be a threat to both her and her children.”

  “You know how it is. Things sometimes fall through the cracks.” There was no apology in Parnam’s tone.

  Tanner wrote the word Noah on the notepad and spun it around so Ronnie could see it. Ronnie nodded and Tanner tapped the phone in his hand to indicate Ronnie needed to tell Noah about Jared Ellis’s release. Ronnie already had his phone in hand as he walked out of the office.

  This was definitely a police matter, but when it came to protecting Marilyn and those kids, it was a personal matter also. Noah would want to know.

  “I’m going to need the details about Ellis’s release,” he said into the phone.

  “Is there some sort of problem?” Finally something else took the place of boredom in Parnam’s tone: irritation. But Tanner didn’t give a damn if Parnam was perturbed that he would have to actually do his job.

  “Yes, there’s a problem. We have a woman in our care here who was damn near beaten to death by her husband. So finding out he’s been out on bail for three days and nobody saw fit to notify either her or my office is very much a problem.”

  “Look, I just run the paperwork for whoever the judge tells me to and make the calls that come across my desk. Nothing more or less than that. But hang on a minute and let me see what I can find out.” Irritation still painted the other man’s tone, but at least Tanner could hear the clicking of his fingers on the keyboard. “Judge doesn’t usually let violent offenders out on bail.” More clicking. “Well, that explains it. Oscar Stobbart. He’s a very high-end defense attorney—has a great record of getting people out on bail, and honestly, getting them reduced sentencing. Ellis must have a ton of money to hire someone like him.”

  Tanner was now frustrated with himself that he didn’t know more about Jared Ellis. But he honestly hadn’t thought there would be much he needed to know since the man was behind bars. Did he have money? Tanner didn’t know.

  But h
e was out. And more important, had been out of jail within the window for setting the detonator for the fire. “Do you at least have his last known address?” They would definitely be paying a visit to Jared as soon as possible.

  “Actually, I can do a little better than an address. As part of Mr. Ellis’s bail, he was placed on a GPS tracking monitor. That was probably why it wasn’t a priority for me to call Mrs. Ellis or your office. Jared Ellis is required to stay within a two-mile radius of his listed home address, which is in downtown Denver.”

  An ankle monitor was good news. “So you can tell where he’s been at any particular hour? What happens if he leaves the two-mile radius?”

  “Yep, there’s a log that keeps record of exactly where he is at any given time. And if Ellis leaves the radius for which the monitor is set, it automatically sets up an alarm with the Denver marshals. They’ll be at his house in minutes. Plus, it’s completely unhackable.”

  “So if I wanted to know where he was two nights ago, you could get that for me.” If there was some sort of glitch in this “unhackable” system, Tanner wanted to know about it.

  Parnam gave a long-suffering sigh. “How about if I just send you the entire log of Ellis’s whereabouts since the moment he was released. That will save us a number of different calls and emails, don’t you think?”

  And would require a lot less work from Parnam.

  “Fine. I’ll expect it in an email within the next hour.”

  Tanner hung up without waiting for a response. The fact that Ellis had been released without notifying Marilyn would be addressed within the system.

  But right now, until they could confirm exactly where Jared Ellis was, he needed to get security on Marilyn and her kids.

  He had Ronnie start the paperwork for protective surveillance, even though Tanner knew the approval was a long shot unless a direct threat to Marilyn and the kids could be proved—which hopefully it would be as soon as they checked Ellis’s whereabouts on the night of the fire.

  He was also going to request the live data from Parnam’s office. Knowing where Jared had been afterward wasn’t good enough. They needed to know his current whereabouts. Not that Tanner didn’t trust the Denver marshal’s office to do their job. But all it would take was Jared tricking the system one time and he could attack Marilyn. And as long as that was a possibility—until Jared’s trial when he went away long-term—Tanner wanted to be multiple steps ahead of the other man.

  Right now that included making sure Marilyn knew her ex was out of jail.

  His cell phone buzzed on his belt with a call from Noah before Tanner even made it out of the office.

  “Ronnie said Jared Ellis was released on bail?” His brother didn’t even waste time with a greeting.

  Neither did Tanner. “Affirmative.”

  Noah’s curse was foul. “Does the sheriff’s office have money to put surveillance on Marilyn and the kids?”

  “I’ve already got the process started, but I’ll be honest, unless we get proof that Ellis is a threat to her or was anywhere in the area of the fire, then I don’t have much of a legal leg to stand on.”

  “I’m on my way into town. If we can’t get a uniform on her, then I’ll take up watch duty myself. It’s very suspicious that there was a fire at New Journeys at the same time Ellis got out on bail.”

  Tanner began walking down the block toward the old New Journeys building. It would be quicker than driving. “Especially since it looks like someone started it deliberately.” He explained what the fire inspector had found.

  Noah cursed again.

  “I’ve spent all day trying to figure out why someone would’ve started a fire that wasn’t trying to hurt anyone or burn down the building,” Tanner said.

  “It might have made a perfect opportunity for Jared to snatch Marilyn and the kids. Probably wouldn’t have taken into account how much the people of Risk Peak would be surrounding them.”

  “Definitely true,” Tanner said. “Although the fire may have nothing to do with Ellis.”

  “I’m not willing to take that chance,” Noah said quietly. “Or take the chance that he’s just going to leave Marilyn alone. She’s been through enough.”

  They both felt that way. It was the very reason he’d had Ronnie call his brother to begin with. “I’ll meet you at the old New Journeys building.”

  Even though there hadn’t been much damage to the living quarters of the new building by the fire, they’d still moved everyone back into the old building while the initial cleaning was going on. Tanner wasn’t thrilled about the change. It definitely didn’t have the security upgrades the new building had.

  When he arrived at New Journeys’ current home, he immediately asked to talk to Marilyn. He hated to see the shadows cross the quiet woman’s face when she saw him. She knew this was going to be bad news.

  Bree was there and gave him a tight smile. “I’ll just hang out in the office so you two can talk. Give you guys some privacy.”

  Tanner nodded, but Marilyn shook her head, holding her hand out to Bree. “No, stay. This is going to affect all of us. The kids are doing schoolwork, so this is a good time. Let’s go into the kitchen.”

  Bree reached over and grabbed Tanner’s hand as Marilyn put on a pot of coffee with jerky movements.

  “Do you want to bring Cassandra in too?” Tanner asked.

  Bree shook her head. “She’s not here. She’s having a throwdown with the insurance company, trying to get us back in the other building by next week. But evidently she’s having some difficulties because of what’s in the fire report.”

  Tanner nodded. “The fire inspector thinks the blaze was deliberate.” He turned back to Marilyn, who was trying to pour the coffee she’d made with shaky hands. Damn it, he didn’t want to have this conversation. He tried to start but couldn’t force the words out.

  “Just tell me,” Marilyn said softly, when she handed him his mug. “It’s Jared, right? He made bail?”

  Bree muttered a curse that would’ve made Cassandra proud.

  Tanner nodded.

  “Yes. Three days ago.”

  Nope, this new string of curses from Bree would’ve made Cassandra proud.

  Marilyn blanched. “Three days ago? I thought they were going to tell me immediately if he made bail.”

  It was so hard to watch Marilyn’s sense of safety and security be torn away with his words. The skin across her cheekbones was drawn and pale. Her shoulders hunched in as if to protect herself from a blow.

  “I know. They should have told you right away. It was some sort of communication breakdown, but it was wrong and I’m very sorry.”

  Marilyn was clutching her coffee like a drowning victim would a lifeline.

  “But there is a little bit of good news,” Tanner continued. “Jared is on an ankle tracker. I’ve got the Denver County bonding office sending me the log for everywhere Jared has been since the moment he got out. I’ve also got one of my men looking into seeing if we can get direct access to the live data, so we know where he is at all times.”

  “I thought you said Jared wouldn’t get out on bail given what he did,” Bree said softly.

  He grimaced. “Yeah, I’ll be honest, I was shocked to hear it. Evidently he got himself one of the most expensive and well-connected lawyers in the state.”

  “Jared has a lot of powerful friends. His fraternity brothers,” Marilyn whispered.

  “Is Oscar Stobbart one of those?” Tanner asked.

  If possible, Marilyn’s face got even whiter. “Yes.”

  There was a wealth of agony in that single word. Tanner didn’t press, but he could imagine that there was probably a lot more to Marilyn’s abuse than she had let anyone know about.

  A soft tap at the kitchen door had them all turning in that direction. It was Noah.

  “I asked Noah to come by just for
added security until we have a true grip on what’s going on. Is that okay?” Tanner said. The last thing either he or Noah wanted was to make Marilyn more uncomfortable.

  Marilyn was staring at Noah through the glass panes of the kitchen door. She nodded. “No, I’ll feel better if he’s here.”

  Noah never took his eyes from Marilyn as he walked in the door. He didn’t move near her, but his focus and awareness of her were almost tangible.

  “You can do this,” he said softly.

  Marilyn didn’t look like she believed him, but she just shrugged and said, “Doesn’t look like I have any choice.” She rubbed a hand across her eyes. “I should probably leave. Take the kids and get farther away.”

  “No,” Noah said. “He’s not going to get to you.”

  His brother’s volume might be soft and his tone even, but there was no way to mistake the certainty behind the words. For the first time since Tanner arrived, Marilyn relaxed just the slightest bit. She probably didn’t even know about Noah’s background in Special Forces. But when Noah gave his word that he was going to protect her, he had the skills to back up that promise.

  Noah Dempsey may be a rancher by trade, but that didn’t change the fact that he was also a warrior in every possible way.

  “If Jared got out on bail three days ago, could he have been the one who set the fire?” Marilyn asked.

  Tanner glanced over at Noah, then at Marilyn. “We don’t know for sure, but if Jared was involved, it would answer a lot of questions.”

  “Like what?” Bree asked.

  Noah leaned back against the counter. The women didn’t recognize the stance for what it was, but Tanner did. Noah was placing himself between Marilyn and any danger that might come through that door.

  Tanner took a sip of his coffee. “It looks like the fire was set deliberately, but whoever did it wasn’t trying to burn the building down completely or even hurt anyone.”