Evasive Action (Holding the Line Book 1)
Page 14
Ten minutes later, they were rolling up to Meg’s house. Clay parked his truck behind Meg’s car in the driveway.
“Good, she’s home.”
“It is Saturday.” April jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “What are you going to do with that bloody towel you found in my trunk?”
“I’m not sure yet, but don’t tell anyone about it...including your brother.”
Grabbing the door handle, she cocked her head. “I’m sure he already knows about it.”
“Then there’s no need to tell him we have it.” Clay raised his eyebrows before jumping out of the car.
She didn’t blame him for being suspicious of Adam, but did he think he faked his own abduction?
Halfway up the walkway, the front door burst open and Denali bounded down the porch steps. He shot past Clay and danced and circled around her legs.
April laughed. “Good boy. You know who’s gonna give you the treats.”
“Some welcome home.” Clay crouched down, and Denali barreled into his chest, licking his face. “That’s more like it.”
“He heard your truck and started going crazy.” Meg stood on the threshold, framed by the door, propping the screen door open with her foot. “Everything go okay in New Mexico?”
“Just fine.” April waved her hand in the air. “Everything okay here? No more body parts showing up, I hope.”
“N-no, nothing quite like that.” Meg crossed her arms.
Clay’s head shot up. “Did the other woman’s body turn up?”
“No.” Meg turned toward the house. “It’s probably nothing. I’ll show you.”
April poked Clay in the back as she followed him up the porch steps. When he twisted his head over his shoulder, she rolled her eyes.
Once inside, Clay tripped to a stop and April plowed into his back.
“Hey, Kyle. You checking up on the security system?”
Kyle raised his beer. “Something like that.”
April nudged Clay’s upper arm and he rubbed it as if she’d punched him. “Why do you keep poking and prodding at me?”
She winked and then turned to Meg, hovering by the kitchen counter. “What did you have to show me?”
Meg slid an envelope off the counter with two fingers and held it up. “This was stuck under my windshield wiper today. It has your name on it.”
April caught her breath but forced a smile to her lips. “Mysterious. You didn’t see who left it?”
“No. I was at the grocery store. My car was in the parking lot and it was there when I came out.”
Under Meg’s watchful eye, April inserted her thumb beneath the flap and ripped it open. She withdrew a single sheet of paper, and her blood ran cold in her veins.
Chapter Thirteen
Clay nodded as he responded to Kyle’s question, but his heightened senses were focused on April, a white sheet of paper in one hand and an envelope crushed in the other.
He held up one finger to Kyle. “Excuse me a minute. What’s that all about, April?”
She held up the paper in front of her face and flipped her hair over one shoulder. “Just a note from a friend... Carly. She heard I was in town, but didn’t know how to reach me.”
Meg fanned herself. “Whew. I’m glad that’s all it was. Why didn’t Carly just come to the house and see me or leave the note in the mailbox?”
“Not sure.” April squinted at the letter, which Clay would give anything to see. “She doesn’t go into it here. Probably just saw your car in the parking lot and decided to leave a note.”
April folded the paper, creasing it with her thumb, and shoved it into the wrinkled envelope. Clay followed the path of the folded envelope from hand to front pocket as a muscle twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Maybe it was another communication from Adam. Maybe another scheme. He knew damned well it wasn’t a note from Carly. And now he knew April would never stop lying to him.
“We’ve gotta get going.” Clay scratched the top of Denali’s head. “I’ll bring your bags in, April.”
“Oh, April’s staying here?” Meg raised her brows, but Clay caught the quick glance she threw Kyle’s way.
“Of course I’m staying here.” April flung her arms out to her sides. “But don’t mind me. I’m exhausted from that quick turnaround trip to New Mexico. I’m going to grab a snack, a glass of wine and head to my bedroom to fall asleep in front of the TV.”
All smiles, Meg responded, “That sounds like a plan.”
Clay turned on his heel and April called after him, “I can come with you to get my bags.”
“I’ve got it. Find yourself that snack and let me have my dog back.” He whistled and Denali trotted after him, giving April one last longing look. Clay refused to emulate his dog.
The only reason he’d want to be alone with April was to tackle her and grab that note, but if she wanted to continue lying to him, who was he to stand in her way?
He yanked her bags from the back and eyed the bloody towel in the corner. Two could play these games and have secrets.
Clay dropped April’s bags just inside the door and held up a hand. “Have a good night, everyone, and thanks for watching Denali, Meg.”
He knew April wouldn’t try to stop him from leaving. She wanted him out of here as fast as he wanted to be out.
Despite Jimmy’s death, or maybe because of it, Clay heaved a sigh at the thought of Kyle spending the night with Meg. He couldn’t shake the feeling that April’s trials and tribulations weren’t behind her. Maybe they never would be as long as she kept her brother in her life, but she’d made that choice. She’d made a lot of choices he didn’t agree with.
He punched the accelerator and the truck leaped forward, leaving Denali scrabbling for purchase on the seat beside him.
“Sorry, boy.” He rubbed the dog under the chin. “Looks like April is getting ready to bolt again.”
Denali whined, rolling one ice-blue eye at him.
“Don’t look at me like that. I tried, but at least this time I’m not letting her get away without knowing the full truth.”
After he arrived home and unpacked, Clay scanned through his contacts for the phone number of Duncan Brady, a buddy of his in forensics for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
He placed his phone on the kitchen counter and put it on speaker, getting ready to leave Duncan a message on this Saturday night.
When Duncan answered on the third ring, Clay snatched up the phone. “I didn’t expect you to be home.”
Duncan snorted. “Did you forget Olivia and I had a baby a few months ago? I’m pretty sure we got your gift.”
“I guess your Saturday nights are booked up, huh?”
“Baby swings, diapers, trying to catch a few winks during those rare times the baby conks out, still rubbing Olivia’s feet—although I’m beginning to think that one’s a scam.” Duncan snorted again. “Must sound like hell to a single guy like you.”
Clay squeezed his eyes closed. “Yeah, sounds rough.”
“In fact, probably the only reason you’re not out raising hell on a Saturday night is because of that mess you have going on down there. Two heads and one body. Female mules. Makes me sick.” Duncan sucked in a breath. “Is that why you’re calling? Need some help with that?”
“Unofficial help if you’re offering.”
“I owe you a few. I can’t remember which one of us is due now, but I’ll hit you up later.” Duncan took a sip of something, probably a cocktail, before continuing. “What do you need?”
“Need you to run a couple of DNA tests on some blood.” Clay glanced at the two plastic bags on the counter—one with blood taken from April’s kitchen and the other with the towel taken from the trunk of her car. “Under the radar.”
“This is outside of Detective Espinoza’s investigation?”
“I can do it for you, Archer.” A baby wailed in the background. “Duty calls. When can you bring me these samples?”
“You’re still in Bisbee?”
“Same place. You wanna bring them by the house tomorrow?”
“If I’m not going to crash your baby party.”
“Hey, it’s a party every day around here. Best time for me is around noon. Can you make it?”
“I’ll be there.” Clay cleared his throat. “And congratulations, man.”
Clay ended the call and spun his phone around on the counter. Duncan had been a hard partyer back in the day when Clay had been with April. Now Duncan was the family man, and Clay had no one.
Denali barked and pawed at his leg.
“Yeah, okay, I have you. But let’s face it. Even you have more loyalty to April than you do to me.” Leaning forward, he cuffed Denali’s sharp ears with both hands and touched his nose to the dog’s wet snout.
When his phone buzzed, Clay grabbed it. His heart bumped against his rib cage when he saw the call was from Meg.
“Everything okay?” He couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice and Denali perked up his ears.
“I—I’m not sure, Clay.” Meg’s voice dropped to a whisper. “You know that note April got?”
“Yeah.” Clay forced the word past his dry throat.
“I opened it.”
“You stole it from April?” Great minds must’ve been thinking alike. “I hope you didn’t have to tackle her.”
“What? No. I opened it before I gave it to her, and then I resealed it. I’m sorry if that makes me nosy, but...it’s April and she found two heads on two different days.”
“So?” Clay licked his lips. “I’m guessing it wasn’t from Carly. What did it say?”
“The note was weird, like in one of those kidnapping movies with the letters cut out of magazines.”
The blood pulsed in his veins. “What did it say, Meg?”
“It said, ‘Nothing has changed. Stay away from him.’”
* * *
AS THE LIGHT of day edged into the room through the gaps in the blinds, April felt beneath her pillow for the hundredth time since she’d stashed the envelope there. Sleep had eluded her all night.
Her fingers curled around a corner of the envelope and she dragged it out. She stared at the white oblong in the semidarkness.
Who was watching her? Who was torturing her? Had this malevolent presence been waiting for her to show up in Paradiso again? And why?
She knew nothing. She had no information to give Clay about anything. She hadn’t even known Jimmy when she and Clay had been engaged. It couldn’t be him or his associates.
Her father. Was Adam right? Was their father some big-time drug dealer who didn’t want his daughter married to a Border Patrol agent?
She buried her face in the pillow. It didn’t make any sense. But she knew it was no hoax.
The first time she’d received the warning, the week before her wedding, her tormenter had tampered with the brakes on Clay’s truck to show her he could get to Clay when and where he wanted. Then he’d kidnapped Denali.
Clay had no idea these events were connected or had any greater meaning than a patch of bad luck—but she knew. The person threatening her made sure of that.
She could’ve told Clay. He would’ve assured her that he could protect himself and her, just like he always had. But what if he couldn’t? What if some day out on the lonely border, working on his own, Clay met with violence? It would look so natural—a Border Patrol agent running into a bad guy and winding up dead. It did happen.
But she would know. She’d know that she brought that danger to Clay, and she wouldn’t have been able to live with herself. So much better to hurt him once, hard and fast, and leave him to find someone else, someone less complicated, someone less...cursed.
She rubbed her stinging nose. She’d been so close to staying here with Clay and making a life with him. She’d been trying to create that with Jimmy when Adam had given her a Clay substitute in Jimmy, but she’d known all along on some level that it was all a big lie. Nobody could ever replace Clay in her heart.
But this time, she planned to fight for him, fight for the life they deserved together, and if the puzzle started with her father, then she needed to go to the source.
By the time she dragged herself into the kitchen, the two new lovebirds were chirping at each other over breakfast.
Meg looked up from her omelet. “Kyle made me breakfast. Do you want some?”
Kyle held up his fork and circled it in the air. “I can whip up another omelet for you, April.”
“Coffee’s fine for me.” She reached for a mug on the shelf and poured some coffee for herself. “How’d the security system work the past few days?”
“Perfect.” Meg fluttered her lashes at Kyle. “I felt so safe.”
“I don’t think you’ll be finding any more heads on your porch.” Kyle entwined his fingers with Meg’s.
“I certainly hope not.” April smiled into her coffee cup as she took a sip. “Did Denali behave himself?”
“He’s high energy. I took him to doggy daycare on Friday, so he could frolic while I was at work. I forgot to tell Clay, but I know he’s used that place before.” Meg traced a finger around the rim of her orange juice glass. “Have you heard from Clay this morning?”
“Why would I? After two days together, I’m sure he needs a break from me.”
“Sure he does.” Meg rolled her eyes. “What happened in New Mexico? Did you close up your apartment? See Adam?”
“Might be keeping my place there, and I did see Adam.”
“Is he still a troublemaker?”
“He still has issues. Why wouldn’t he?” April’s cheeks warmed in Adam’s defense.
“C’mon, April.” Meg’s gaze shifted to Kyle, busily scanning through his phone. “Adam was trouble before...it happened.”
“I know that, but finding Mom didn’t help matters.” April tossed her coffee into the sink.
“Of course not. That’s just unimaginable, but you survived it.”
Did she? Did you ever survive a trauma like theirs? “Everyone deals differently.”
Kyle held up his phone. “They found her.”
“Who?” Meg reached across the table and dabbed a string of cheese from Kyle’s chin.
April gripped the edge of the sink. “The second headless body?”
Kyle nodded. “In the pecan groves down from Clay’s house.”
April clenched her teeth. She’d been walking Denali out there the other day. Had the body been there then? Had Denali sensed it? Smelled it?
She eked out a breath between her teeth. “Hopefully, they can identify her and put both of these women to rest.”
“They were mules, working for a cartel.” Meg screwed up one side of her mouth. “I wouldn’t waste too much pity on them.”
Folding her arms and grabbing her upper arms, April said, “They were exploited, probably told their mission didn’t hold any risks beyond getting arrested by Border Patrol.”
“Some women are easily duped.” Meg collected the dishes on the table. “Kyle and I are going to Tucson today. Do you have any plans?”
“Just some errands. Have fun.” April left the newly minted couple goggling at each other over the table and returned to her bedroom to shower and get dressed.
She knew she wouldn’t be contacting Clay today. Whatever this was, this threat over their heads, she had no intention of bringing it down on Clay. He had enough threats in his life with Las Moscas littering the town with body par
ts. But this time, she planned to track down the threat. If that meant traveling to Mexico to find El Gringo Viejo, that’s what she’d do—and she’d need Adam to do it.
When she got out of the shower, she glanced at her phone. Clay hadn’t contacted her yet. He’d been suspicious about the note. Maybe his suspicions would steer him away from her for now.
She texted Adam to let him know she was ready to look for Dad—wherever that led them.
She hadn’t been lying to Meg about errands. She had to get that car in her name, get some money, make some inquiries...avoid Clay.
By the time she left, Meg and Kyle were gone. April locked up the house and walked out to the car that almost officially belonged to her. She couldn’t afford to run down to Mexico in a stolen car.
She took care of most of her business and decided to get some lunch before the next round. She ducked into the air-conditioned confines of a small café at the end of the main street and ordered a sandwich.
While she waited, she cradled her phone in her hand. Nothing yet from Adam and nothing from Clay. She must’ve sent Clay the keep-away message last night loud and clear.
She flattened her hand against her chest, over her aching heart. She’d come back to Clay one day—free and unencumbered by the dark cloud that hung over her head.
When she heard her order number, she picked up her sandwich, refilling her soda on the way back to her table. She stumbled and her drink sloshed over the side of her cup when she saw a man sitting at her table, his large frame spilling over the sides of the chair.
She hadn’t left her purse there, but she’d left some napkins and the lid to her cup.
She cleared her throat as she approached the table. “Excuse me, but I was sitting here.”
The man spread his fleshy lips in what looked like an attempt at a smile. “I know that, April. That’s why I’m sitting here.”
She swallowed, her grip tightening on the paper cup in her hand. “Who are you?”
“Have a seat, and I’ll tell you all about it.” He pushed out the chair across from him with his foot, and it scraped across the floor, setting her teeth on edge.