by Lisa Harris
It didn’t make sense when her life had always been rather dull.
Will and Conroy had wandered over to the man’s body. She saw the gunshot wound in the middle of the red stain on the front of the man’s shirt. It wasn’t long before Conroy came back to Hollis, still standing beside Mia. “Are you up for a question or two before your ride gets here?”
“That’s fine.” She shrugged one shoulder.
“You mentioned Frankie right before you left the police station. Why?”
You call the police… “I was just…worried. The diner and all. You know?”
Conroy’s expression shifted, just a tiny bit. Like when it was obvious someone didn’t like their meal, but they were trying to be nice about it.
“Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted to know if there was a problem I should look into.” Conroy slid his arm around Mia’s shoulders and tugged her to his side. Their wedding was scheduled for just a few weeks from now. Hollis hadn’t planned to be there. Now she almost wished she was going to stick around long enough to see what everyone had been waiting for all these months.
Before Hollis could say anything, he continued, “After you left, I called Frankie, but he didn’t pick up. The unit I sent to his house said no one was there, so I called your mom. She told me he was with her. She even put him on the phone.”
“What? You talked to him?”
“Yeah.” Conroy shook his head. “Why?”
“What’s going on, Hollis?”
She ignored Will’s question. “This is crazy. They called me and said he was kidnapped.”
Everyone started talking at once. Apparently, withheld information was a big deal to cops. Plus it seemed they were freaking out about Frankie being kidnapped, as though it had just happened. Finally, Conroy lifted his hand and commanded silence.
“One at a time.”
Basuto said, “Kidnapped.”
Mia glanced around, reading lips. Will turned to Hollis, “Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have helped you, but you said nothing.”
“They told me not to tell the cops, or they’d kill him. I didn’t know it at the time, but it turns out you’re the cops.” She looked at Conroy. “He’s really fine?”
Conroy nodded.
“This makes no sense.” What on earth was going on? “He’s with her. Even that should mean he’s not fine. But he is.”
Her dad—stepdad. Her mom.
Together?
Hollis, caught in the middle again. Plus, gunmen chasing them. The chief and his fiancé were here. Basuto, too. And now that the others were on their way to help, she could see that an entire team was rallying to provide aid, and not just because Will was involved.
No, they’d come here to help. Her.
Hollis couldn’t even begin to figure all this out.
Now, more than ever before, she really did need to leave town and start over somewhere else. A place where things would actually make sense for once.
Chapter Twelve
Conroy hung up the phone. “Eric is on his way.”
“Great.” Will clenched his molars. It wasn’t worth trying to smile. “How long until he gets here?”
That would give him a timeline on how long he had to solve this case. If he could hand Special Agent Cullings the full explanation when he walked in the door…Will could imagine the satisfaction. The look on his handler’s face when he realized Will had figured it all out.
Conroy looked at his watch. “Four hours, probably. Even with the FBI chartering a plane.”
Good. That had to be enough time. Will stood, “I’m going to go talk to the guy we brought in.”
The cops had rounded up the man Will had subdued. He was here now, and Will needed answers from him. Hollis was at the hospital getting her wrist looked at. Then she’d be brought back here.
“Let’s check with Ted first.” Conroy met Will at the door to his office. “See if he got anything from the guy’s phone.” But he didn’t exit the office. He said, “You don’t want to wait, debrief with Eric, and figure this all out together?”
“No point sitting around until he gets here.” Will shrugged. “Not when we can get the ball rolling and maybe get answers.”
Conroy nodded. “Fair enough.”
He led the way through the office to the back hall. Will spotted Savannah, the police detective, and Mia at their desks. He lifted his chin to them. These people had come and rescued him and Hollis. They’d brought their guns and driven miles into the middle of nowhere to bring the two of them back and get this case put to bed.
He owed them.
Will figured solving this case, and finally finding West after they’d all been trying to identify him—or her—for months now, would be good payback. He really had thought it might be Hollis. After all, it was clear he could be swayed by his feelings.
No more, though.
Now he knew her stepfather had been abducted, it made a lot more sense that she’d acted strangely. But it still didn’t answer all of his questions.
Conroy knocked on the door frame of Ted’s office. The department’s technical specialist was in a relationship with Officer Jess Ridgeman, granddaughter of the previous chief. This police department had a seriously high ratio of officers involved with each other. It made Will wonder if there was something in the water. Maybe they were all drinking out of the same fountain and it was contaminated.
He didn’t envy Conroy the job of making sure no one’s personal bias got in the way of police work—especially his own.
Once this case was done, Will would be out of here. It had been years since he worked from the FBI office he was technically assigned to. Maybe he’d ask for a transfer. Start over somewhere new. Or leave the FBI and take a different job. Go into the private sector in some fashion.
Ted spotted them in the doorway. He started, then pulled the air pod from his left ear. “Hey.”
Will said, “Anything on the phone?”
Conroy glanced at Will. Ted nodded, typing on his computer faster than Will would ever be able to, even if he practiced every day for the rest of his life. “Do you want the results of the contents of the flash drive first?”
“The one I found on Hollis?”
“Yes.” Ted continued, “I had a look at the oh-so-incriminating evidence. It’s all fake.”
“Are you serious?”
Ted glanced over at him. “And Arnold Tenor’s call history indicates he called one number more than anyone else.”
“Girlfriend?” Conroy asked.
“If it is,” Ted said, “he’s having a thing with Hollis’s mom.”
Will had seen Sharleen. She might be attractive, but the hard way she lived had given her a brittleness that was not cute. Her personality was equally as abrasive. Hollis, on the other hand, was soft. In every way, including the one that took up far too much of his attention.
Will ran his hands down his face. Hollis was innocent, but her mother was the one mixed up in the middle of this? Her diner had been targeted. Her stepfather had been kidnapped, and was now with the mother?
He should be thinking about Sharleen right now, but instead his thoughts inevitably strayed to Hollis.
Was her arm broken? He wanted to call and find out, but her phone was dead, and he didn’t even know where his was. Shattered. An officer had been dispatched to the accident site to secure the scene and wait for the tow truck. They had orders to grab all his stuff out of the trunk.
Until he had that, he only had his wallet and badge. Nothing else.
Why did he want to be at the hospital sitting with her, waiting to find out the extent of her injuries? He should be glad he was here so he could wrap all this up. She would at least be safe. Will no longer thought Hollis was the main suspect, but if her mother was involved, he still needed to entertain an aiding and abetting charge. So then, maybe she would find herself in jail.
The clock was ticking.
Here, he was useless. He couldn’t stop thinking about H
ollis, as though his heart was attuned to her. And his brain followed his heart, down that rabbit hole. When he returned back to reality, he realized he hadn’t gotten anything done.
Will had been dealing with these same daydreams, ever since he realized she might be involved in the case, and he’d told Eric he planned to get close to her and find out for sure. Eric hadn’t thought anything of it. Will had never fallen for a suspect before.
That wasn’t going to happen now. He couldn’t let it. If he was with her now, he’d be asking about her mom’s romantic life. Questioning her. He wasn’t going to say interrogate.
“Let’s go talk to him.” Will backed up a step and pivoted on the ball of his foot. He assumed Conroy was going to follow. He just wanted to get this done instead of being continually distracted by thoughts of Hollis.
The pain in her eyes. The sheen of tears. The way she’d ditched him. His hip still hurt, but his clothes were dry now, at least. Two cups of coffee, and he was good.
Ten minutes later, they had the suspect in the interview room. Conroy had sent an officer to check on Sharleen and Frankie and ask some questions. He’d also had Ted print him out a copy of the call history and texts from the phone. Will pulled out a chair and sat without wincing, even though the bruise on his hip was still fresh. Conroy set the pages down beside Will and remained standing.
“We meet again.” Will folded his arms. “Arnold Tenor.”
The man who’d beaten him and tried to burn him alive—the one Will had left in the middle of nowhere tied up—sniffed and glared at him. He wore a gray jumpsuit now. Hair mussed.
“You look like you could use some coffee.” Will motioned over his shoulder with his thumb. “Wanna cup?”
“Not unless you pour something stronger in it.”
“Ah.” Will nodded. “I’d need a drink too, if I was stringing along a woman like Sharleen. I’d probably have a stomach ulcer.”
The skin around Arnold’s eyes contracted.
“But maybe she’s nice to you. Or maybe she’s mean, and you like your relationships like that.”
Arnold made a face. “It ain’t like that.”
“No? Then tell me. What’s it like? Because the last time I saw you, I was about to be burned alive.”
“Cause you’re a Fed.”
“I know,” Will said, “on account of you sitting on that side of the table, while I get to sit on this side. With the Last Chance chief of police.”
Arnold curled his lip.
“So, who told you to burn down the diner?”
Arnold sneered. “West.”
Will chuckled. “That sounds familiar. So far it’s been a pretty good line, keeping the cops chasing after someone who’s turning out to be nothing but a ghost.” Let this guy think Will didn’t even believe West existed. “Probably just a made-up story. No one’s looking for a real person, am I right?”
“Sure. West doesn’t exist.” Arnold nodded. “That sounds right.”
Will figured Arnold was planning to just string him along, to see how this all worked out. The guy had one card to play, and that was the information he knew.
Will said, “Tell me what West has to do with you and Sharleen.”
“What makes you think I have anything to do with Sharleen?”
Will tapped his index finger on the papers. “This. Your phone records. So, is it business, or pleasure, this thing you’ve got going on with her?”
“It can’t be both?”
“What were you and your friend looking for in the diner office?”
“Stuff.”
“Wow, this is such a productive conversation. I can’t believe how much information you’re bombarding me with. I can hardly handle it.”
Arnold smirked.
“Who is West?”
Arnold pressed his lips together.
“You know. So tell me.”
“And if I tell you, what do I get then?” Arnold directed his question to Conroy, then glanced at Will.
Conroy said, “Depends on what you want.”
“Between the police department here in Last Chance, and the FBI, I’m sure we can come up with something.” Will shrugged like it was no big deal. Not like the whole case was riding on what this man had to tell them. “We’ll see what we can do.”
“Not good enough.” Arnold shook his head. “If I tell you what I know, I want a guarantee of a lesser charge. Something in writing with the DA’s signature on it. Or the US Attorney. Whoever tells you guys what to do. I want something from them.”
Will tried not to look as irritated as he was.
“Someone with more clout than y’all.”
He stood, gathered up the papers, and walked to the door. When Conroy joined him in the hall and had shut the door, Will said, “That was a waste of time.”
“Maybe.” Conroy shrugged.
“I need to talk to Hollis. See what she knows.”
“You still think she’s deeply involved in all this?”
Will said, “I think she can wear a wire and go talk to her mom.”
“I would never do that.”
He spun and saw her at the end of the hall. Bandaged arm in a sling. Pale face, probably too pale. She looked like she needed to sit down and eat a sandwich. Which, now that he was thinking about it, sounded really good.
Before he could say anything, she turned around and walked down the hall. Back to the main police station office.
Will sighed.
Conroy was shaking his head.
“What?”
The police chief grinned and slapped Will on the shoulder. “Good luck with that.”
He left Will in the hallway wondering what that was about. Until he gave up trying to figure out Hollis and headed after her. She was over by the front desk, talking with Kaylee. The receptionist needed to let her sit down.
In fact…
Will dragged over a chair for her to be close to her friend. “Sit down.”
Hollis lifted her eyebrows. “Thank you?”
“You’re welcome.” He strode to Conroy’s office, but the man was on the phone. So Will detoured to Basuto’s desk. The sergeant was working on his computer but looked up when Will got near. “Anything I should know?”
“Conroy is calling the DA to see if there’s a possibility of a deal with a guy that has Arnold Tenor’s record.”
Will nodded. “Okay, thanks.”
“There are a few left over sub sandwiches in the fridge if you want one.”
He nodded again and helped himself, wondering if he should ask Hollis what she wanted. What he should be doing was asking her questions while she was caught off guard. Using her physical and mental state against her and getting her to let her guard down.
The way he’d done when he hugged her. That sweet moment in the middle of all this.
“Special Agent Briar!”
Will walked out of the kitchen chewing a huge bite of meatball sub. He lifted his chin at Basuto. Conroy was across the room at the door of his office.
The sergeant said, “Our officer who went to check on Frankie and Sharleen just radioed in.” Hollis started to object. Before she could say anything, Basuto continued, “Front door was open. They’re both gone, and there are signs of a struggle.”
Chapter Thirteen
Hollis sank into her chair. She reached for her phone, but it wasn’t done charging. She powered it up anyway.
Frankie had been kidnapped. But now it turned out he wasn’t actually kidnapped. He was fine. He was with her mother—whatever that was all about.
Now they were both missing. Signs of a struggle.
“This makes no sense.”
Mia came over, leaning against the desk opposite her. Relaxed. Calm and in control. “We’ll find them. I know telling you not to worry is going to be futile, but you really don’t need to worry.”
Hollis nodded. The phone loaded. She navigated to the photo she’d been sent, the one of a bloody and gagged Frankie.
She held it
up with her good hand so they could see the screen. “He was kidnapped.”
Mia said, “No one thought you were lying.” She paused. “Did you think that we did?”
Hollis didn’t need a therapist right now. “I’m actually not as confused that Frankie had been abducted, as I am about the fact he was fine this whole time, and with her.”
“Is there somewhere you can think of they might have gone together? A place they might hide out, if someone was looking for them?”
She shook her head, but tried to think it through while everyone in the room stared at her. Even Will. Why did he have to pin her with that rough-handsome stare? Especially now she knew it was all about him being a Special Agent, his focus on her solely because she was a suspected criminal.
He might know now that she wasn’t West, but that didn’t let her off the hook as far as he was concerned. She’d thought on it while they were X-raying her arm and wrapping it in the temporary cast they’d given her to wear until the swelling went down and they could put the real cast on for a few weeks. All Hollis’s mind lingered on was the diner. But how did West link to it?
And what did all this have to do with that flash drive of fake incriminating evidence?
Someone had wanted her to be implicated as West. She’d always figured the notorious West and connected criminal activity was actually the work of a few people. Or maybe like a ghost he only operated in the shadows, and would never be identified. Given more than one founder of Last Chance had been exposed over wrongdoing lately, she’d figured it was one of them.
All she wanted to know was why she was being targeted. Considered expendable by someone, the mysterious “they” were trying to force the cops’ hand. To put her in jail as West, so she’d take the fall for everything.
“Hollis.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think they’ve been in the same room as each other for…years. They got divorced when I was nine. They hate each other.”
Her mom had tried to involve Frankie in some dirty business. He’d always grumbled about her voicemails, or how she’d send guys to lean on him about one deal or another. If there was someone laundering money through the diner, it was more likely to be her than Hollis. But how would her own mother set her up to take the fall as West?
