Code of Valor

by Lynette Eason

  “Heather keeps the key in a magnetic holder on that small plant stand,” Emily said. “Behind the right rear leg.”

  He found it with ease, but if he hadn’t known it was there, he never would have spotted it. “Clever.”

  “She is.”

  Brady inserted the key in the lock and turned it. And frowned. “It’s unlocked.”

  “What?” Emily stepped forward and reached for the knob. He caught her wrist and she yelped.

  “Sorry.” He released his hold immediately, knowing he’d grabbed the area the ropes had rubbed raw. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but don’t touch that. We may need to see if there are any prints on there.”

  “Right. Of course. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.” She held her wrist with the other hand and pain glittered in her eyes. Regret arced through him. He’d have to be more careful. And in that moment, the reason for his attraction clicked.

  There was no pretense about Emily. What you saw was what you got. He blinked and shook his head. “It’s okay. No apology necessary. Stand to the side out of the line of fire. Should there be any shooting. I’m hoping there won’t be.”

  “You haven’t learned to wait for backup?” Derek said from behind them.

  Brady jerked to see Derek and Linc hurrying toward them, hands on their weapons. “Didn’t know I was going to need it, but backup is always welcome.” He nodded to Emily. “Make sure she stays behind you.”

  She frowned, but didn’t argue. Once she was positioned so that if someone started shooting she’d be out of danger, Brady pulled his weapon and used the hem of his shirt to turn the knob. He pushed the door inward.

  When nothing happened, he rounded the doorjamb and into the small foyer, favoring his throbbing knee. Empty. But the place had been ransacked. His nose twitched at the combined smell of cinnamon and other spices he couldn’t identify while he took in the destruction. Satisfied no one was going to shoot him immediately, he glanced back and found Derek and Linc just inside, weapons held ready, and Emily peering around the edge of the doorjamb.

  “Someone’s been here,” he said, “and it’s not pretty.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, trying to see around his brothers. “Heather?”

  “No,” he said quickly. “Sorry. I simply meant someone broke in and trashed the place. Stay put for just a minute until we can clear it, okay?”

  She stepped inside next to Linc and moved to the left of the door. Linc shut it behind her and Brady let her take in the destruction. Her gaze went to the sofa on the far wall. Then cushions on the floor and the lamp next to the sliding glass door.

  “Don’t move,” he said. “If she’s here, we’ll find her.”

  Her furrowed brows dipped farther, but her gaze met his and she nodded. He glanced at his brothers who stood ready to help and gave them a nod. Derek covered his back. Linc stayed slightly in front of Emily.

  Hip to hip, Brady limped and Derek walked down the hallway, Brady with his weapon pointing ahead and to the left and Derek pointing ahead and to the right. They passed the kitchen to his right. Silverware lay scattered on the floor with the drawer resting on its side next to the refrigerator. The broken spice bottles identified the source of the smell he’d noted upon entering the apartment. Together, he and his brother continued on down the hall, clearing the bedroom and bath to his left and then the master and en suite bath at the very end.

  “All clear,” Derek said.

  “Same here.” Brady turned and walked back to find Emily standing where he left her. Apprehension held her stiff while her gaze searched his. “She’s not here,” he said.

  A puff of air escaped her lips and her shoulders slumped. “Oh, thank goodness.”

  “For now.”

  She nodded. “I know. I’m still worried she hasn’t gotten in touch with me—or you. I’m worried about that 911 call. But she has both numbers in her voice mail. Maybe she’ll call soon.”

  Brady wasn’t so optimistic, but he wasn’t going to take away the hope the empty—if trashed—apartment had given her.

  “We good here?” Derek asked.

  “We’re good,” Brady said. “Thanks for the backup.”

  Linc stood next to the door. “So, what’s next?”

  “Can we go check my place?” Emily asked.

  “Absolutely.” Brady gestured to the door. “Derek can lead. You follow him, and Linc and I’ll bring up the rear.”

  Together, the four of them walked up to the third floor, and this time Emily held back while Brady took the lead. “Key?”

  “Same place as Heather’s. We found the matching plant stands on a shopping trip about a year ago.”

  He found it and he wished he had a way to ease her worry. But only finding Heather would make that happen.

  Derek placed a hand on his arm. “You want me to take the lead on this? I can tell your knee is hurting.”

  “Thanks, but it’s fine.” He retrieved the key and, without touching the knob, unlocked the door and pushed it inward.

  Only to have something slam into him, knocking him off his feet.

  Emily let out a low scream when Brady went down with the person on top of him. Linc grabbed her arm and jerked her away from the two men scuffling in the open doorway. Derek reached in, grabbed the intruder by the back of his collar, twisted, and yanked him away.

  The man gasped, swung a fist, and connected with Brady’s cheekbone just as Derek yanked.

  Emily blinked. It was over that fast. And she recognized him. “That’s the guy from the boat! The guy who tried to kill me!”

  Brady rolled to his feet, breathing hard, wincing when he put weight on his left leg, then patted the man down while Derek held him. “The guy from the boat, huh?” He pulled a gun from the man’s waistband and gave it a slight shake. “What were you going to do with this? Do you have permission to carry it?”

  The man was turning an alarming shade of red and Emily was about to protest when Brady said, “Loosen up a little, Derek. I want to hear what he has to say.”

  Derek relaxed his hold on the collar slightly, and the intruder gasped, then gulped in air.

  Brady touched the reddening area under his eye and winced. “Okay, I guess it’s clear you’re under arrest.” He read him his rights. “Now, who are you and why are you in Emily’s apartment?”

  The man’s rugged features tightened even as his right hand hovered over his throat. Emily took a closer look. His green eyes met hers and the flat look there sent shivers dancing over her skin. “Who are you?” she asked.

  Again, he said nothing, simply continued to stare and take in deep breaths.

  “Maybe a little time downtown will help loosen his tongue,” Brady said.

  Green eyes flashed and Emily swallowed. She doubted much of anything was going to make him say a word if he didn’t want to. He hadn’t said two words to her when he’d tied her to the rail of the boat.

  “No matter,” Linc said. “We’ll run his prints and see what shows up.” He flashed his badge and the intruder’s eyes widened, then his face dropped into a scowl.

  “Great,” he muttered.

  “You have something you want to say now?” Brady’s words were soft, but lacked nothing in intensity.

  “You’re a cop?” he asked Linc.

  “Better,” Linc said. “I’m a fed.”

  “Hey now,” Derek protested. “I don’t know about better—” He snapped his lips shut when Brady glared at him.

  Brady then returned his attention to the intruder—whose shoulders had wilted a fraction. “He’s FBI,” Brady said, pointing at Linc. “We’re with the CPD. Detectives.”

  “And SWAT,” Derek said. “Don’t forget that.”

  Their captive laughed. A harsh sound with an edge that raked across Emily’s nerves. “So that’s just great,” he said. “Three cops. Of course.”

  “Nope,” Linc said. “Two cops and a fed.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Feel like talking now?”
<
br />   With a tight jaw, he gave a short nod. “Maybe. If I talk, I want some protection.”

  “From who?”

  “The people who hired me. Who do you think?” He lunged at the door and Derek yanked him back.

  Brady shook his head. “Derek, do you have cuffs on you?”

  “Never leave home without them,” he said with a glare at the man. He passed the cuffs to Brady.

  Once he had the man’s hands secured behind him, Brady shoved him into the nearest chair at the kitchen table.

  “Come on, man,” their prisoner said, “I’m serious. Look, I got a rap sheet, I’m not going to try to deny it.”

  “I’m shocked,” Derek murmured.

  “But I don’t know who’s got it in for her,” he said as though Derek hadn’t spoken. “I’m just a hired hand.”

  “You’re also an ex-con. Which means you’re not supposed to be carrying a firearm,” Linc said, holding the weapon he’d already unloaded. “I guess you forgot that when you decided to slip this into your waistband?”

  The man scowled. “Yeah. That’s it. I forgot.”

  “Dude,” Derek said, “you’re going away for a good long time. Why don’t you just cooperate and make things easier on everyone?”

  Their intruder sighed and shook his head. “I know it won’t take you long to find my record, but the guy I work for isn’t someone you play games with.” He paused, then shrugged. “However, I have no loyalty toward him. Like I said, I’m just a hired hand, but if I talk, I want protection.”

  “Your name?” Brady asked.

  “Owen Parker.”

  “What do you want with Emily?”

  He hesitated. “She’s a job. There’s nothing personal about it, understand?”

  “Yeah, I understand. What does the job entail?”

  “Someone wants her to disappear,” he said. “I was hired to make that happen.”

  Brady turned to Emily. “You recognize this guy from the kidnapping?”

  She frowned. “I can’t tell if he’s one of the men who tossed me in the trunk or not, but he’s definitely the guy from the boat.”

  “Did you help toss her in the trunk?”

  The man glared.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Brady said as his fingers clenched into a fist. “Who was your partner?”

  “Another hired hand.”

  “And who did the hiring?”

  Parker’s eyes hardened. “Someone she’s managed to make very angry.” His gaze swung to Emily. “Trust me, whoever hired me is not a nice person. I don’t know how you ended up on his radar, but you did. And it’s a deadly place to be.”

  “Whose radar?” Emily asked with a shudder.

  “Actually, I have no idea. Every contact I’ve had with him has been via secure emails or text messages from burner phones. He—or she—” he shrugged—“never uses the same number or email twice.”

  “How’d they find out about you?”

  “Word of mouth, probably. Now, I’m done talking until I get some guarantees that I’ll be safe.”

  “You don’t get any guarantees on that until you’ve convinced us that you’re worth keeping safe,” Brady said.

  Parker started to answer when his phone vibrated. He stiffened. The phone sounded again. Brady swiped the screen and put it on speakerphone.

  “No!” Parker’s harsh whisper echoed. “Don’t!”

  Brady glared. “Hello?”

  “Parker?” the voice said.

  “Yeah.”

  A pause. “Who is this?”

  “Parker.” Brady practically growled the name.

  Click.

  Emily didn’t like Parker’s color. He’d turned an alarming shade of red without Derek’s help this time. “You don’t know what you’ve just done,” Parker growled. “Now he knows I got caught. You’ve just signed my death warrant.”

  “You’re in custody,” Derek said. “You’ll be fine.”

  Parker gave his head a violent shake. “You’re cops. You know there are ways. If someone wants me dead, I’m dead.”

  “Should have thought about that before you became a hit man and targeted Emily,” Brady said. “We all have consequences due to our actions. If you happen to get dead while in prison, it’s no skin off my nose.”

  Emily wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the man’s face darkened more and his eyes actually frosted over. “You’re all dead. You better make sure I don’t make bail.”

  “You kidnapped her,” Linc said. “She can ID you as the guy on the boat who was about to shoot her and dump her in the lake. You broke into her home. You’re carrying a weapon, which is a violation of your parole. You assaulted a police officer. I don’t think you making bail is going to be something I lose sleep over.”

  “I didn’t know he was a cop!” Parker surged out of the chair and struggled briefly against Linc’s firm hold before giving up and dropping back into the seat. “I want a lawyer.”

  “Fine,” Derek said. To Linc, he said, “Let’s get this bozo out of here. I’ll call someone to come get him.” He dialed and was soon on the line with the local police, requesting an officer come pick the man up to file formal charges of attempted murder, burglary, and assault—at the very least.

  Once the local officers had arrived and taken custody of her attacker, Emily walked to the sliding glass doors and watched the officers load the man in the back of the cruiser. Linc and Derek returned.

  “Well, he’s taken care of until we can question him,” Derek said. “Now what?”

  Emily rubbed her arms and shook her head as the cruiser pulled out of her parking lot with the man who’d planned to kill her. “I don’t believe this. Someone hired a hit man to kill me?” She gave a low humorless laugh. “That doesn’t even compute.”

  Brady stood behind her. Somehow she knew it was him and not one of his brothers. A fact to process later.

  “Come on, take a look around,” he said. “See if anything stands out to you as missing or messed with or whatever.”

  Emily ran a shaky hand over her hair and sighed. “Who is doing this? The people I was investigating?”

  She took in the familiar surroundings. It felt like she’d been gone a week instead of two nights. And she’d never feel comfortable sleeping in this place again. Her lease was up in two months. She’d start house hunting as soon as it was clear she was going to live to do so.

  In the kitchen, she noted the overturned drawers and the open pantry that mimicked the way they’d found Heather’s home. And every picture she’d had on the refrigerator had been swept to the floor. Except one that was held in place by a small black magnet. All in all, it looked innocent enough—a woman and child laughing at something they found amusing. But she hadn’t taken the photo and she hadn’t put it on the refrigerator.

  She pulled it out from under the magnet and stared at it.

  “Emily?”

  She jerked and turned to stare at him. “What?”

  “You okay?”

  “Not really.”

  “Yeah. Sorry. Dumb question.”

  “No, it wasn’t. It’s okay.” She rubbed her arms and turned the picture over. Nothing.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  She showed him the picture. “This wasn’t here when I left for work on Wednesday. I didn’t take this picture. I think someone left it on my refrigerator on purpose.”

  “Who are they in the picture?”

  “My mom and little sister.”

  “And you’ve never seen this before?”

  “No. That’s what I’m saying. Why leave all of my pictures on the floor and this one stuck right in the middle? It’s like a message.” She paused and bit her lip, then shook her head. “I think this means they’re in danger.”

  8

  Call your mom,” Brady said.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and touched the screen to bring up the number pad. Her finger hovered and she closed her eyes. A tear leaked down her cheek.
/>   “Emily?”

  “I don’t know her number,” she whispered. “I had it programmed in my other phone, but I don’t have it memorized. I can’t believe I don’t know her number.” A sob slipped out.

  “It’s okay.” He rubbed her shoulder and resisted pulling her into his arms. “Derek?”

  His brother stepped into the kitchen with a frown. “What is it?”

  “Need you to check on someone,” he said as Emily swiped tears from her cheeks. “What’s her address?”

  She told him.

  “That’s not too far from here,” Derek said. “I’ll have someone swing by.”

  “Yes, do. But I want to go.” She sniffed. “I need to go. But I want to change into some other clothes first.” Clothes that fit.

  “This is a crime scene,” Brady said. “And while we have the guy who broke in, we’ll still need CSU to do their thing. So, try to touch as little as possible.”

  “Here,” Linc said. “Put these on.” He handed her a pair of gloves.

  “Grab an overnight bag too,” Brady said, “just in case.”

  “Okay. Give me three minutes.”

  As Brady watched, she went through the apartment in record speed, even while favoring her sore foot. When she returned, she’d changed into jeans, an oversized long-sleeved T-shirt, a zip-up fleece. Her pink tennis shoes matched the fleece. She held the handle of a small rolling suitcase. “I’m ready.”

  “Great.” Brady grabbed the suitcase.

  “Oh! Wait, I need my laptop. It’s in my safe in my closet. I’ll be right back.” When she returned, he took her bag and led her outside and to the truck.

  Once they were on the way, she chewed on a thumbnail while he drove. “If he just wanted to kill me,” she said, “why trash the place? It’s like he was looking for something here too.”

  “Could be. You have any clue what that might be?”

  “No.”

  His eyes landed on her laptop. “You keep that in your safe?”

  “Yes. I don’t take any chances.” She paused. “Do you think that could have been what he was looking for?”

  “Could be.”

  “But how would he even know about it?”