A Grave Peril

by Wendy Roberts

  “I’ll be fine.” Her voice trembled, and tears flowed down her face. “I got your message, but I couldn’t get the damn thing lit. I shook the bottle in frustration and, when I did, I guess some splashed on my sweater, so I lit up like a candle. I didn’t even notice right away until Wookie jumped on me. He ripped the hoodie off me. He saved me.”

  I looked over at Wookie, who was lying nearby. He was licking his face and his muzzle was singed.

  “Aw-w-w, poor boy.” At the sound in my voice he came over and nuzzled close. “You’re a good boy. Yes, you are.”

  “You really are.” Tracey reached a tentative hand out to stroke Wookie’s fur. “What happened? Did you save him? Are they... Is Garrett okay?”

  “I saved him, but you saved us all.” I helped her to her feet, being careful of her arm.

  Over the roar of the flames licking the sports cars nearby, Garrett called my name.

  “Wait here,” I told Tracey. “I’ll make sure the EMTs get a look at you.”

  “I’m good.” Tracey reached a tentative hand again to pet Wookie. “I’ve got this big boy to keep me safe.”

  I squeezed through the fence into the lot and found Garrett running in the direction of the flames. I quickly explained to him that it was Tracey, and the explosion was part of our distraction plan.

  “Her arm is burned.” I pointed through the fence at Tracey.

  “The police and ambulance are here. Agent Powel is in the back of a police car. The EMTs will look her over to make sure she’s not going into labor. They’re also going to take Preston, Sid and La Araña to hospital. I’m going to go tell them about Tracey too.”

  “How is Sid?”

  “He regained consciousness as the paramedics were taking his vitals. Looks like he has a concussion and possibly a broken arm.” His face grew grim.

  I wanted to ask more about everything else that happened but there wasn’t time for that right now. Garrett hurried back to tell paramedics about Tracey, and a fire truck arrived to extinguish the cars still blazing in the corner of the lot.

  When Garrett squeezed back through the fence, Tracey was sitting on the concrete. Wookie’s head rested in her lap and she was gently patting him.

  “This is new,” Garrett said, taken aback by the sight of the two of them so chummy.

  “He’s my hero,” Tracey said.

  “Definitely new.” Garrett smiled.

  Wookie got up to greet his dad with some enthusiastic licks and Garrett’s smile faltered when I explained the details of our wonky plan and how Tracey’s Molotov cocktail toss went awry.

  He bent and looked at her arm. “You are so lucky that it isn’t worse.”

  “I could say the same about you.” She giggled and pointed at Garrett’s bruised and battered face.

  The EMTs came to check Tracey over and when it was time to go in the ambulance, she was obviously afraid.

  “I’ll take your car and meet you there,” I told her. “We’re going to have to give our statements first and there’s, um, one more thing I have to do.”

  “Okay.” She nodded, the fear slipping from her face and being replaced with a tentative grin. “Don’t be long.”

  We watched her go off in an ambulance, then I snapped a leash on Wookie’s collar and we all made our way back through the fence. The firefighters had quickly doused the flames. All that was left of the sports cars were charred metal carcasses. As we made our way toward the building Garrett reached for my hand and held it tight in his.

  In addition to uniformed cops and EMTs, the area was now flooded with guys in jackets that had various abbreviations. Present and accounted for were the FBI, DEA, CBP, and TOC.

  “The entire alphabet is here.” I shook my head as I led Garrett around the corner to where I’d placed my dowsing rods on the ground.

  Garrett frowned but didn’t stop me when I picked up the dowsing rods and handed him Wookie’s leash. I began to walk, allowing the rods to lead me down the row of shipping containers. I felt all the activity from law enforcement come to a stop as dozens of eyes followed my slow walk. The rods swung dramatically to indicate a particular sea can. This container happened to be close to the police car holding former Agent Powel. There was a large lock on the crate and as I put my rods away, Garrett waved a group of men over.

  Eventually they managed to cut the lock. I turned away, tucking my head up against Garrett’s shoulder, but then I forced myself to look back as the doors were swung open.

  “Jerry Mayer,” I said on a large exhale of breath.

  Immediately inside the door lay Jerry Mayer with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Sid’s coworker, the arrogant asshole who’d threatened me with a gun outside the bar, was as dead as he could be.

  “Yes, but how do you recognize him?” Garrett asked.

  “He stuck a gun in my stomach.”

  Garrett put a protective arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side. Wookie growled at the sight of the body and we stepped aside so the rest of the team could get a look. As we moved to allow a clear view inside the shipping container, a guttural scream cut the air. It was Karla Powel. She had her face pressed against the police car window and was shrieking uncontrollably as she looked at the body in the container.

  “Jerry Mayer is the father of her baby,” Garrett explained to me.

  And another piece of this puzzle slipped into place.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “How did a thug like Mayer hook up with an FBI agent like Karla Powel?” I asked Garrett, unable to keep the horror and surprise from my voice.

  “That’s kind of where it all began. I’ll explain later.”

  We walked past the police car where Powel was held, and she screamed a barrage of curse words at us and butted her forehead against the window for effect. Wookie barked at her, and Garrett and I laughed at the dog’s attempt to protect us from the crazy person.

  Ambulances had separately taken Sid, Preston, La Araña and Tracey to nearby hospitals. It had been determined that former Agent Powel wasn’t going to go into premature labor and would, instead, make it to her cesarean appointment. Although she wouldn’t be raising her child, that was certain.

  I was itching to go and be by Tracey’s side, but there were statements to be given to many different agencies.

  Even though Garrett kept insisting he was fine, I made sure he got looked at on the scene since he refused to go to the hospital. Although he didn’t appear to have a concussion or other serious injury, his nose was most likely broken, and he’d need to see his doctor soon. After an hour more of being part of the investigative process, I insisted that I be able to leave to check on Tracey.

  I drove my friend’s car and Garrett immediately nodded off. I left him and Wookie in the car together while I went into the hospital.

  When I found Tracey, I was happy to see she wasn’t alone. Craig was standing next to her bed, holding her small left hand in his meaty one.

  “Looks like you’re all fixed up.” I walked over and smiled down at her bandaged right arm.

  “It hurt like crazy when they cleaned it but now they gave me the good stuff.” Tracey grinned, and I could see the dopiness of the drugs in her eyes.

  “She’s going to need her bandages changed daily and more antibiotic ointment on the burn,” Craig said. “The nurse showed me how to do it so I’m going to stay with her until she’s all healed up.”

  “That’s good.” I raised my eyebrows at Tracey, asking the question if she was okay with that. “Right?”

  “Yes.” Tracey nodded. “It’ll be good to have his help. Did you know he was fifty miles away when I texted him and he just dropped everything to race here and be by my side?”

  “Well, of course I did!” Craig leaned over and kissed Tracey on the forehead. “You’re my boo.”

  Tracey blushed until her fac
e went pink to match her hair and I began to feel like my presence was unnecessary.

  “Have the police and FBI come to get your statement already?”

  “Yeah. Some female officer who looked younger than me came in and wrote down everything I said. She took my information and address and said she’ll come see me at my apartment once I’m less traumatized.” She pointed a finger to a curtained-off bed across from her. “She also went to see that guy. I guess that’s Garrett’s brother-in-law, Sid.”

  “Oh wow! Did the officer talk to him too?”

  “He was talking but I couldn’t really hear what he said.”

  “Okay. I’m going to pop my head in and see if he’s all right, so I can let Garrett know.” I gave her hand a squeeze and turned to Craig. “If you’re okay taking her home, I can drop her car off to her later.”

  “I’m sticking around until she’s sick of me,” Craig said.

  Tracey giggled at that and I was wondering if it was the pain meds or the blush of love on her cheeks.

  I parted the curtains across the hall to find Sid Klein sitting up holding a cup of water and trying to put a straw between his swollen lips.

  He froze at the sight of me.

  “I’m Garrett’s girlfriend, Julie.”

  “Thank God.” He put a hand to his chest and exhaled. “I thought you were another one of the crazy Flores gang.”

  “Garrett’s resting so I thought I’d check to see how you’re doing.”

  “I’ve got a killer headache, but the doc says that’s normal.” He offered me a lopsided grin. “One of the feds came in and said you’re the reason we made it out of there alive, so I owe you, man.”

  “I did it for Garrett,” I said coolly.

  “Look at you.” He wiggled his eyebrows comically. “You’re gorgeous and tough as nails.” He scraped his eyes over me then, his gaze pausing on my breasts before they returned to my face. “Wow, Garrett went young, huh? You gotta respect a guy who’s able to pull that off. What are you, twenty-five or something?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m just messing with you.” He winked. “Garrett’s always been cool to me. That’s why I reached out to him when I was in over my head with this gang stuff. Handy to have a bro in the FBI, am I right?”

  A sizzling burst of hatred exploded in my heart. I wanted to tell him to stay away from Garrett and never involve him in his life again. But that was not my place. This douchebag meant something to Garrett; even if it was just loyalty because of his dead wife.

  “Next time reach out to someone else,” I said. “No offense, but I have no desire to save your ass again, or have Garrett risk his.”

  “Hey, I’m done.” He put up both hands in surrender. “I’m walking the straight and narrow from now on.” He traced an X over his heart with the tip of his finger. “Cross my heart.”

  “Good.” I was still pissed he’d risked the life of the man I loved and nearly had me and Tracey killed. I reminded myself that this was Garrett’s brother-in-law and the man obviously meant something to him, so I added, “I’m glad you’ve learned your lesson. Fancy cars and a big house might be great but they’re not worth risking your life, right?”

  “Yeah, but the car and house were total babe magnets. You have no idea how often I got laid just because I climbed out of a Lambo!” At the stunned look on my face he rolled his eyes. “Oh c’mon, you girls are all the same, right? You see a guy in a fancy car, maybe a Rolex on his wrist and you want to drop your panties.” He erupted in a loud bellow of laughter that went on for far too long.

  “I think maybe you’re on too many painkillers.”

  “Not yet. The service in this place sucks.”

  “Soon you’ll be home in your big, beautiful house.”

  “Nope.” He frowned and shook his head. “Not ever going back to that place. No way in hell.”

  “It was tossed pretty good, but a little cleanup and it’ll be good as new.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Never going back there.” He visibly shuddered.

  Whatever.

  “This sucks. I’ve got a big appointment tomorrow. I can’t wait around all day,” he huffed. “Tell the nurses I’m hurting, and I need some good drugs.”

  “Garrett almost died for you,” I hissed, and my hands formed fists at my side as anger boiled in my gut. “And I risked my own life and that of my best friend to save you. None of this is funny.”

  “I am super grateful. Really.” Sid tilted his head as a confused look tripped across his face. “Is that...” He pointed at my chest. “Is that my dead sister’s wedding ring you’re wearing around your neck?”

  I grabbed the pendant and tucked it inside my T-shirt. Even though I had a perfectly legitimate reason for using the ring, the heat of embarrassment colored my face and neck. I wasn’t about to explain my talents to this idiot.

  “Feel better,” I told him. “If you need anything...”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He smiled. “I’ll give you a call.”

  “No. Don’t.”

  I left him and stormed back to the parking lot. In the car both Wookie and Garrett were still softly snoring, and they only stirred briefly when I climbed into the driver’s seat. The fury burning in my stomach dissipated when I looked at Garrett. I kissed the tip of my finger and gently placed that kiss on his bruised cheek. I started up Tracey’s car and drove home.

  I pulled into the driveway of our place, and Phil burst out of his house and ran over to us as if he’d been watching for our return.

  “Oh my God! I’m so glad to see you. I’m on my way to see Preston at the hospital.” He hugged me tight as I got out of the car. “I heard you saved everyone. Thank you.” He kissed my cheek with a loud smacking sound. “Thank you so-o-o much.”

  “Um...” I untangled myself from his tight grip. “You do know I was the one who shot Preston, right? I mean, I didn’t know he was working undercover—and I sure as hell didn’t know he was an agent—so it wasn’t intentional, but I was the one who shot him so sorry about that.”

  “That bitch Karla Powel would’ve slaughtered them all.” He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “You only fired enough to stop him in case he was working with the cartel. Nicked his ear and one through the shoulder. Powel was preparing to gun them all down.” He put his hands on my shoulder. “Thank you.”

  The fact that I hadn’t fatally wounded Preston was only because of my own nervousness but I didn’t tell him that. Phil walked over to Garrett and gave him a firm welcome home hug.

  “I left you some baking and did some grocery shopping for you,” Phil said. “If there’s anything you need, anything at all, give me a shout.”

  “Thanks for that,” Garrett said as he made his way toward the house. Then added, “Go be with Preston. We’re probably going to sleep for a week.”

  Waiting for Wookie to happily pee on his own bushes in a glad-to-be-home way, I grabbed Garrett’s hand and whispered in his ear. “My hands were shaking too much to shoot Preston dead. I could’ve frickin’ murdered a federal agent!”

  Garrett let out a long breath. “You had no way of knowing and you never should’ve even been there in the first place.”

  “Good thing I was. And speaking of feds, you could’ve told me that one of the reasons you were so pumped about having Preston and Phil move in next door was because Preston is a fellow agent.” I punched him playfully in the shoulder and I unlocked the front door.

  Garrett shrugged. “It wasn’t my place to mention it. I’m sure he would’ve told you himself. Eventually.”

  “Oh my God!” Garrett stopped short inside and I nearly slammed into the back of him. “I forgot all about the burst pipe. When I was brought back here for the files, I saw the floor was torn up, but Powel literally gave me only a minute to get in and out of the house. Just enough time to grab the file.”

&
nbsp; “And leave me a note and a gun,” I added.

  “That gun was for protection, you know. I didn’t expect you to go hunt me down.”

  I chuckled and pointed at the floor. “I sent you pictures. Even asked your choice on the wood but I didn’t know then that you didn’t have your phone.”

  “I was captured almost immediately after I left here that day. La Araña ran me off the road and took my phone. They found it in Agent Powel’s purse.”

  “So, she was the one sending me texts? Leading me with the one saying Sweet pea?” I frowned. “She was trying to get me to go to the nursery.”

  “Of course.” His face got dark. “They would’ve loved to capture you and torture you in front of me. La Araña shot at you that night you followed us from the nursery. Flores told me all about it. He also gave La Araña shit because he was supposed to go back and kidnap you, but by the time he drove back to the ditch, you were gone.” His face twisted in pain. “You’ll never know how much Flores got off on telling me, in great detail, the things he planned to do to you in front of me.”

  “It’s over now.” I tried to change the subject but the look on his face was agony. “The floor is called Nevada Maple. You like it?”

  He looked down and frowned. I could tell that he wasn’t even registering what I was saying. The look on his face said his mind was still on Flores.

  “Look at all this baking Phil did for us!” I waved my hands as I walked toward the kitchen. The counter was covered in plates of home-baked cookies, muffins and a huge basket of fruit. Phil had really outdone himself. “You’re probably starved. What can I get you?”

  “Nothing.” He stood like his feet were frozen to the same spot.

  I got out Wookie’s bowls and gave him his food and water. Then I grabbed us each a muffin and a glass of water and put them at the kitchen table.

  “Come. Have a bite.” I pulled out a chair for him.

  He walked toward me but ignored the chair and the food.

  “We need to get something straight.” His voice shook with emotion as he looked at me. “I left you a specific message telling you not to come looking for me. I also said not to trust anyone or try to contact me.”