Undercover Protection

by Maggie K. Black

  Bad news was that Jay couldn’t see the man’s gun anywhere.

  “Hey, I don’t know what’s going on here,” Jay said, keeping his voice low and unthreatening, “and I don’t want trouble. I just want to get in my truck and leave.” In fact, he was praying very hard he’d be able to resolve this peacefully and without having to use force. Then later, or another day, some other cop would find this man and arrest him. “Where’s your gun?”

  “I don’t have one!” The young man’s voice rose.

  “But you shot at us, didn’t you?” Jay demanded.

  “Yeah, but then Stan got mad about that and took it back!” he wailed. “He said I’m not supposed to kill the girl, just be the lookout.”

  Huh, so this guy was so wet behind the ears that nobody had explained to him how to get ahold of his own illegal gun in Canada. Hopefully the fact they weren’t actually trying to kill “the girl” boded well for escaping.

  “I’m Jay,” he said. “I was hired to tidy this farm up for sale. Do you have a name?”

  “Ben.”

  No last name, but it was a conversation at least.

  “What are you doing here, Ben?” he asked.

  “You’re not a cop, right?” Ben asked. “If so, you’ve got to tell me.”

  No, actually, he didn’t under Canadian law. Plus, this man wasn’t under arrest.

  “Do you want me to call the cops?” Jay asked.

  No answer.

  “Do you work for Vamana?” Jay tried again.

  The young man’s worried look told him all he needed to know.

  “Look, it’s not what you think,” the young man said. “We’re not doing anything wrong. This woman stole something really important from Franklin Vamana. My boss doesn’t want the police involved and so sent us to get it from her. Nobody is supposed to get hurt.”

  Jay sighed. Oh, Ben, you’re being set up as their fall guy if something goes wrong, aren’t you?

  “I don’t know what she stole,” Ben added, “but there’s a big reward for bringing her in. Like huge. If you help me, I could split it with you? I’ve got a new baby, and his mama won’t let me see him again until I sort out some legal problems.”

  So Ben was both naive and foolish, Jay thought. He hoped the young man was arrested and through that got the help he needed before he got himself killed.

  “Do you know the woman’s name?” he asked.

  “Ann-Margret,” Ben said. “This is the Herber farm, right? Ann-Margret Herber?”

  Jay blinked. Who? Was that the name of Walter’s secret friend?

  “Honestly,” Jay said. “I’ve never heard of her.”

  * * *

  Leia’s heart was beating so hard she was sure that Jay and the man he’d pinned could hear it. Sure, she’d heard Jay when he’d told her that he was an undercover cop and it’s not that she hadn’t believed him. But somehow it felt like an entirely different thing altogether to watch the precision with which he’d first tracked and then taken down his foe. It’d been both impressive and scary. And made everything feel all too real.

  “You have the wrong place!” Jay’s voice rose, and for the first time she was able to catch anything either of them were saying. “There’s nobody here by that name!”

  Her heart stopped. Was Jay trying to throw the men off their scent? Or had they really just come to the wrong place and were looking for the wrong person? Maybe there really was no big conspiracy involving her family; maybe her father’s memories were muddled and there was no evidence linked to some serial killer hidden in her childhood home. And yet, as she tried to silently thank God for the hope of that, she felt doubt rising within her, as if a whole box of the questions that had been opened in her mind back at the farmhouse just couldn’t be ignored.

  She may have never heard of Dad’s former best friend or some connection between her family and Vamana Enterprises, let alone the Phantom Killer. But for as long as she could remember, her father had lived in fear that someone or something would one day come for his children. She almost believed that he was right.

  Twin headlights pierced the darkness ahead. A car was coming down the long and twisting country road toward them. Jay’s head snapped to the approaching vehicle and then his eyes met hers through the darkness as rain streamed down the lines of his face.

  She could read in a glance that he was thinking the same thing she was.

  Were Sally and the baby back early?

  “Go!” Jay called. “Warn them! I’ll be two steps behind you. I promise.”

  She ran without stopping to ask herself whether or not she believed him. Her sister and baby niece could be in danger. That was all that mattered. Voices shouted behind her, but she didn’t turn to look and see where they were coming from. Prayers filled her heart as her feet pounded through the trees. She hoped against hope that Jay really would be right behind her and they wouldn’t have to leave without him.

  The car drew closer. Its bright headlights blinded her eyes. She waved both hands above her head and it skidded to a stop on the muddy road beside her. The passenger’s side door flew open in front of her.

  It wasn’t her sister’s car.

  “Miss Dukes!” A voice, male and vaguely familiar, cut through the rain. “It’s Miss Dukes, right?”

  She bent down and looked inside the car. A familiar-looking and heavyset man, probably in his sixties, with thinning hair and a generous nose, leaned across the front seat toward her. It was a local farmer and a friendly acquaintance of her father’s, who’d introduced him to her at the farmers market last summer. They’d made small talk there a couple of times and he’d come up to her at her father’s funeral to express his condolences. But she hadn’t thought he and her father were friends. Dad had always been skeptical of letting anyone get too close. It was a wonder he’d trusted Jay.

  “Mr....” Leia searched her mind a beat and came up with a name. “Mr. Dunlop, right?”

  “Yes!” His smile was wide and missing part of a tooth. “I didn’t know if you’d remember me. What are you doing running around in the wet without an umbrella?” He patted the passenger’s seat as rivulets of water streamed down its sides. “You’re soaked to the bone. Get in.”

  She paused for a moment, standing in the rain, battling the voice in her head that told her not to trust anyone. It sounded too much like her father for her liking. Then again, her father was paranoid and had kept her in the dark. She sat, keeping one leg outside of the car in the mud, while the roof sheltered her from the pounding rain outside. Her eyes searched the darkness.

  Where are you, Jay?

  “What are you doing here so late at night?” she asked.

  “The cell tower on your property is down,” Mr. Dunlop said. “It took out the signal for the whole block. I wasn’t sure if anyone was even on the property, but I came to see if there was anything I could do to help, just in case. Are you living here now? Or one of your sisters?”

  “No,” she said. “But do you remember that my dad had a farmhand last year named Jay? He’s staying here. I’m not going anywhere without him.”

  Again, her eyes searched the storm, hoping, waiting and even willing him to appear.

  “Is there something wrong?” The elderly farmer’s voice cut through her mind.

  “No,” she said. “I mean, yes. The farm has been broken into tonight. Thieves are still there right now. Once Jay gets here we have to drive until we get a signal and call the police.”

  There, that was as much truth as she’d tell him.

  “We should go now,” Dunlop said. “You should put your seat belt on.”

  He reached over, put the car in Reverse and began to back up.

  “No!” Leia said, and instinctively yanked her leg inside. “Not without Jay!”

  Dunlop hit the brakes so quickly her door slammed shut, almost clipping
her knee.

  “Listen, Miss Dukes.” Dunlop’s voice sharpened. He yanked a badge from his coat pocket. “I’m an undercover police officer. I retired a few years ago, but came out of retirement to help keep an eye on your father. We have reason to believe that a friend of his entrusted him with some vital property belonging to Vamana Enterprises. Vamana wants it back.”

  Her heart stopped painfully as if it had gotten snagged somewhere inside her.

  Did that mean he was working with Jay? If so, why hadn’t Jay told her? Did Dunlop even know another cop was stationed here?

  But Jay had made her promise not to blow his cover, no matter what.

  “I have no idea about anything related to Vamana,” she said, which was the truth. “But when Jay gets here we can talk all that out.”

  Something rustled in the trees and then a dark shape loomed ahead of them in the headlights, running toward them. Even in silhouette, Jay’s broad shoulders and strong form was unmistakable. Relief cascaded over her. Thank You, God! “And that’s Jay now!”

  She reached for the door to open it and call out to him. The lock clicked. Dunlop put the car in Drive.

  “Stop!” Her hand darted out and reflexively grabbed the steering wheel. “I’m not going anywhere without Jay!”

  “Yes, you are, Miss Dukes,” Dunlop said. His voice was flat and emotionless, verging on cold. He reached into his side door, pulled out a small black canister of pepper spray and aimed it at her. Then, for good measure, he pulled his coat back enough to show off his gun. “I’m not going to kill you, I promise. I don’t even want to hurt you. I just need you to cooperate and come quietly, without fuss. I’m only going to take you somewhere quiet and you’re going to tell me everything you know about Vamana and the Phantom Killer.”

  FOUR

  Jay ran through the rain, pelting helplessly after the car even as it turned around in a tight circle on the muddy ground and then drove off down the narrow lane. Dread filled his core. It wasn’t Sally’s car and somehow he knew that Leia would have never voluntarily leaped into a vehicle and left without him. Someone unknown was kidnapping her and taking her somewhere, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  Still he ran, chasing after the car as the headlights grew smaller and smaller in the distance, until finally he lost sight of it in the trees. Only then did he stop running, but even then he kept jogging slowly through the rain as if she might reappear.

  It was too late. He’d taken too long questioning Ben and then leaving him tied up under an overhang out of the rain. Then Jay had sprinted for his truck and stuck the key in the ignition, only to find the engine wouldn’t turn over. Thankfully his gun had still been in the glove compartment and was now in his ankle holster. But that was cold comfort. The truck was sabotaged, Leia had been taken and he hadn’t been able to save her, leaving him helpless to do anything but pray.

  This is all my fault. Help her, Lord. Save her. Keep her safe.

  But still he kept moving, pushing his body through the storm into the darkness as the rain beat against his head.

  Suddenly the sound of a blaring horn overtook the air. Then came the sound of brakes squealing and the deafening screech of metal crashing, seeming to shake the forest around them. Then it faded, leaving nothing but red flashing lights and the plaintive wail of someone or something leaning on a car horn.

  Leia! He sprinted toward the sound of the wreck. The trees seemed to glow on and off ahead of him. Then he saw the car mangled and mashed against a tree but still upright. An overweight man climbed out of the driver’s seat and stumbled down the road with a gun in his hand. The man froze in the blinking lights as if suddenly realizing Jay was there. The weapon raised in his hand.

  But Jay wasn’t about to give him time to decide to fire. He ran straight at the man, counting on the element of surprise, the storm around him, his own police training and God’s help to help him survive. Jay leaped and tackled him to the ground, just as he fired. The bullet whizzed into the trees somewhere beyond them. The man swung, catching Jay in the jaw just hard enough to get him to relinquish his grip, before slithering from his grasp and taking off into the woods.

  Jay let him go and ran for the car, just in time to see the passenger’s door open and Leia tumble out and onto the ground.

  “Leia!” he called. His heart leaped in relief. “Are you okay?”

  They had to run. Any moment now her kidnapper could be back and with company. But Leia whimpered in pain. Her hands cradled her face, and in a moment the thick and pungent smell coming through the open car door told him why.

  Leia had been pepper-sprayed.

  In two seconds, he’d reached her and crouched down by her side.

  “We’ve got to move,” he said. “Take my hand and I’ll lead you.”

  She turned to him. Her eyes were swollen and shut. Tears streamed down her face, mingling with the rain.

  “Jay!” She practically crawled into his arms as his name slipped from her lips in a sob. “He wanted to know about Vamana and threatened me with a gun. But I didn’t break your cover.”

  His heart ached so much it pained him to breathe.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “I’m here and I’m going to get you out of this. You were hit with pepper spray?”

  “Yeah,” she whimpered, “it hurts, and I can’t see.”

  He held her tightly, cradled her to his chest as he stood and guided her up to her feet.

  “I’ve heard it hurts a lot,” he said. “I’ve been caught in my fair share of pepper spray, but I’ve never taken a hit directly to the face like that, so I can only imagine. But your kidnapper has run off with his gun and I expect either he’ll be back or somebody else will be, so we’ve got to move.”

  He led her away from the car.

  “Dunlop,” she said. “That’s what his name was.”

  “Jim or James?” he asked. He hadn’t recognized the man in the darkness but he definitely knew the name.

  “Maybe,” she said. “Big nose, heavy guy, said he was a retired cop. My dad knew him from the farmers market and he came to my dad’s funeral.”

  He blew out a breath. “Yeah, I think I know him. I’ll show you his mug shot later. He was a cop, but a corrupt one who was discharged and I guess is now for hire.”

  But at least it was a lead.

  Voices rose from the darkness. Flashlight beams swung through the trees.

  “Someone’s coming,” he said urgently. Several someones, in fact, by the sound of it. He slid his arm around her waist. “Can you run? Or should I carry you?”

  “I can run,” she said. Her chin rose. “I just can’t see.”

  “Well, he did get you pretty good.”

  “He didn’t do it,” she said. “I did.”

  He wasn’t sure what she meant by that and didn’t have time to ask. The voices were getting louder, combined with the crunching and cracking sounds of people coming through the trees. There was no time to run, only hide. A thick and fallen tree, heavy with moss and branches, lay to their right, still leaning on its stump.

  “Get down,” he said, his voice so low he wasn’t even sure if she’d heard him. But she didn’t resist as he pulled her to the ground, wrapped his arms around her and rolled under the fallen tree.

  They stopped and lay there for a moment, side by side on their stomachs, on the muddy ground, listening to the rain beating on the fallen tree as it sheltered them from above. The warmth of her body was pressed against his side and, when she spoke, her voice was a rugged gasp in his ear.

  “What happened to the guy you jumped?” she whispered.

  “Tied him up, took his knife and left him somewhere safe,” he whispered back.

  “Where’s your truck?”

  “Someone disabled it.”

  “Got your gun?” she asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m st
ill not letting you shoot it, especially as you can’t see.”

  She laughed softly through her tears and the sound was music to his ears. They lapsed back into silence. For a while he didn’t hear anything but the muffled and chaotic sounds of voices and people running through the trees.

  Then a single male voice bellowed above the noise. “Where is she?”

  “That’s Stan,” she whispered. “I think he’s in charge here, but he’s not the big boss.”

  “I don’t know!” another voice replied. “I left her in the car, alive and with a face full of pepper spray!”

  “That’s Dunlop,” she whispered.

  A loud and furious barrage of swear words filled the air, punctuated by death threats. Jay counted four figures in total, most of whom were now yelling profanities. It seemed Stan was angry that Leia was missing. Dunlop was yelling back that it wasn’t his fault. The other two men on the team were taking opposite sides. Looked like no one had found and freed Ben yet. Jay’s heart pounded. The smell of damp earth filled his lungs. He reached for Leia’s hand and squeezed it.

  It wouldn’t be long until the criminals stopped infighting and started searching.

  “The boss wants the woman taken alive!” Dunlop shouted.

  “Not that one!” Stan barked.

  “How do you know she can’t lead us to her?”

  “Who are they after?” Leia’s voice was in his ear.