Active Defense

by Lynette Eason

  “So it could have been you when you found her,” Travis said.

  “Nope.” He looked at Heather. “I followed the GPS location from your car and spotted you at the hotel, but I didn’t drive this vehicle. I was in my personal ride. There’s no tracker on it. I had Zane go by and check it.” Zane Pierce, Caden’s partner.

  Heather blew out a low breath. “So, who knows me well enough to know which of my friends’ vehicles to track?”

  The officers finally left after passing out their cards and offering their services should they be needed for anything. Travis asked them to drive by Heather’s house on a more regular basis, and they promised to do so.

  By the time Caden finished calling everyone else, they’d discovered they weren’t the only ones who’d been tracked. “Sarah and Brooke found theirs,” he said. “One was on Asher’s car as well. On the off chance this person was watching the night of the party and keeping track of who Heather’s been hanging out with, I called Gina. She found one on her vehicle too.”

  “Wait,” Heather said, “then wouldn’t there have been one on mine?”

  “No, I had Zane check yours. It was clean. I don’t think whoever it was put the trackers on the vehicles until later—but they sure took note of who you spent time with and which vehicles to target. They probably figured one of us would locate you.”

  “Maybe,” she said, her gaze locking on his. “Unless, like you, he was just watching, letting me get comfortable.”

  Travis could see that happening. “And planning?”

  She nodded. “I mean, it has to take a while to set up a kidnapping, right?”

  “Yes,” he said slowly. “But I never saw anyone watching you.”

  “Maybe they weren’t. Maybe they didn’t have to.”

  “Meaning they knew where you were and took the time to get everything arranged?”

  “That’s one scenario. But it failed.” She chewed her bottom lip. “Trying to run me off the road wasn’t the brightest idea in the box.” She paused and tilted her head, brow furrowed. “I wonder if I was supposed to just kind of slide off the road and into the ditch instead of actually going over the side in a move that could kill me.”

  “So they could grab you? Makes sense.” He rubbed his chin. “But the gunshots . . .”

  “The bullets came close, that’s true, but I think the person was aiming more for you than me.”

  Travis pondered that idea. “Okay, so they were trying to get me out of the picture in order to grab you?”

  “It kind of makes sense in light of the fact that they did manage to kidnap me just a little while later—which brings up a whole slew of other questions. But for the moment, where my confusion comes in is that they could have killed me if that had been the goal.”

  “But they didn’t mind taking out others who stood in their way of snatching you.”

  “Right.”

  “There’s logic behind that.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So, let’s talk about how they knew where to set the explosives,” Caden said. His phone rang. “Hold that thought—or discuss it while I get this.” He stepped into the kitchen.

  “It had to start from the sheriff’s office,” Gavin said. “Or the attackers were just quick. Doesn’t take long to bury an IED or set it off remotely when you’re ready.”

  Travis nodded. “We know there were at least two men involved. One could have been watching the route we were going to take—which wouldn’t be hard to figure out, even though we didn’t take a direct one.”

  “Exactly.” Gavin narrowed his eyes. “There are only a few ways out of that town, and whoever was watching Heather would know she was headed home and could simply radio ahead to the other person.”

  “So,” Heather said, “not so hard to figure out after all. They simply watched to figure out where we’d eventually wind up to hit the interstate and picked a rather remote area along the way to set the explosive.”

  Gavin pursed his lips. “I think it sounds feasible.”

  “To me too,” Caden said from the doorway. “Well, we know who the cabin belongs to. It’s in the name of a woman named Tammy Powers.”

  “Who’s Tammy Powers?” Travis asked.

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out. Agents are on the way to her home as we speak.”

  Heather raised a brow. “She has two homes?”

  He nodded. “The cabin is a weekend getaway place. Her primary residence—where she is now—is located about an hour from here. She said she’s clueless who could have been in the cabin, but there’s no alarm system and the door has a flimsy lock. It wouldn’t have been hard for them to break in.”

  “But”—Heather frowned—“how’d they even know about it?”

  “It’s listed on a few rental sites,” Caden said. “Or someone could have simply scoped the area and picked one that was empty.” His phone rang and he snatched it to his ear. “Caden here.” Travis and the others fell silent when Caden’s eyes snapped up to his. “Right. Got it. We’ll be there in about an hour.” He hung up. “They found your wounded kidnapper on the floor of a gas station bathroom about an hour ago. EMS transported him to the same hospital where Asher is. Unfortunately, the guy’s in rough shape and not really expected to live.”

  “They have a name?”

  “No. There’s no ID on him and he’s obviously not talking right now. We’ll get some prints and see if we can figure out who he is—and if they match up to the prints at the cabin. The crime scene unit said they pulled about ten different ones they’ll need to run.”

  “Speaking of prints,” Heather said, “have you heard anything about the ones off the pill bottle I gave to the agent?”

  “Not yet, but I’ll check on that.”

  “I think,” Travis said, “you should come home with me until we can put all of the pieces of this puzzle together and figure out who your stalker-slash-kidnapper is. They might have one, but there’s still another one out there.”

  She blinked at him. “Go home with you?”

  “After we stop by the hospital to see if your kidnapper wakes up and is able to talk.”

  Caden nodded. “That might not be a bad idea. Are y’all ready to head out in about fifteen minutes?”

  “If we can get there without getting shot at or blown up,” Heather muttered.

  Caden’s lips twisted into a humorless smile. “I’m getting ready to make sure that’s all arranged.” He glanced at Travis, then back to Heather. “We have time for you to pack a suitcase. Sounds like you’re going to be gone for a while.”

  CHAPTER

  FOURTEEN

  Heather rode to the hospital in silence, fighting fatigue and the effects of everything that had happened over the last couple of days. Her snatches of sleep here and there hadn’t been enough. She didn’t ever remember being this tired—not even in med school.

  Travis drove and a helicopter churned overhead below the gray clouds. “I wonder how many favors Caden had to call in to get that bird out here so fast.”

  “I think he has quite a reserve of them built up,” Gavin said from the back seat, “so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

  “Good to know.” She leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. For the first time in weeks, in spite of her exhaustion, she actually felt safe. “How’s Ryker?” she asked Travis. “Have you heard?”

  “I got a text from Dr. Colson while you were packing. You’re welcome to read it if you want.”

  “Sure.” She snagged his phone from the vent clip and he gave her his passcode. She read the text aloud.

  Ryker is doing well. Back in bed with a full stomach and a dose of Toradol. He’s sleeping at the moment. Ryker’s dad has gone missing. No one seems to know where he is and Ryker’s worried about him.

  “Having the man disappear might not be a bad thing,” Travis said.

  “Agreed, but he’ll show back up. They always do.” She slipped the phone onto the holder. “Dr. Colson says he
’ll touch base if anything changes, but for now everything is fine.”

  “For now. I’m just hoping it stays that way.”

  An hour later, Travis pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and rolled as close to the entrance as they could, then checked his phone. “Caden got the all clear from the chopper. No one followed us.”

  “Good,” Gavin said. “I’ll walk inside with her while you park the car.”

  Once inside the hospital, Gavin hovered, his stance tense in spite of Caden’s reassurance that they hadn’t been followed. Heather appreciated his vigilance but stepped to the side and scanned the area.

  Sick children, worried parents, a young man with a bloodied towel wrapped around his hand—all waited for their turn to go back through the double doors. But no one who looked like they wanted to do her harm.

  Still . . .

  She kept her back against the wall and her eyes on the occupants of the area until Travis stepped inside. A fine white powder covered his black beanie hat.

  “It’s snowing?”

  “Yep. Started as soon as I parked.”

  Caden appeared too. “The medicine bottle you gave the agent has been shipped off and is being processed for prints,” he said, brushing flakes from his hair. “They were backed up, but I tried to push things along a little faster, so . . . we wait. On that anyway. I’m going to head up to get a status update on our John Doe.”

  Gavin nodded. “We’ll go see Asher, then join you if that’s all right with everyone.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Heather said. She was just as anxious as the rest of them to see their friend. And Brooke. Would she still be speaking to her? Heather gave a mental scoff at the stupid question. Of course she would. Brooke wouldn’t blame Heather for Asher being hurt. The only person who blamed Heather was Heather. She said a short prayer for wisdom instead of wasting time questioning why all this was happening.

  “Heather?”

  She jerked. Travis was looking at her, concern stamped on his features. “Right. I’m coming.” She fell into step next to Travis while Gavin brought up the rear. Caden headed for the elevator at the end of the hall.

  On Asher’s floor, they found Brooke at the nurses’ station filling a cup of ice water from the cooler.

  Brooke gasped, passed the cup to Travis, and threw her arms around Heather to pull her into a breath-stealing hug. “You’re okay.”

  Heather’s eyes filled, and she blinked the tears away, grappling to corral her emotions once again. “I’m sorry, Brooke.”

  “Stop it.” Brooke stepped back and looked Heather in the eye. “I mean it.”

  Heather nodded and smoothed her features. “Thank you.”

  “Now come say hey, but I’ll warn you, he’s antsy and ready to go home.”

  “When does he get to do that?” Gavin asked.

  “Probably tomorrow. He lost a lot of blood so they’re monitoring him pretty closely. Fortunately, I’m a universal donor, so I get to hold over his head the great sacrifice that I made to help save his life.”

  Heather forced a smile. She wasn’t able to appreciate jokes about that yet. Brooke noticed, cleared her throat, and led the way to Asher’s room.

  He was sitting up in bed, pale and drawn, but with a smile on his face at their entrance. “Heather. Boy, am I glad to see you healthy and whole.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Asher.” Heather stepped forward and gave him a gentle hug.

  Asher gave her hand a squeeze. “Nothing to say. All that matters is you’re okay.”

  Heather nodded and cleared her throat. “So . . . you’ve got a good doctor?”

  “I’m still alive. I’m assuming that says something about his skills.”

  “Cute.” She glanced around.

  Asher’s gaze traveled from hers to the men behind her. “The gang’s all here, minus Caden.”

  “Sarah and Gina went down to grab a bite to eat,” Brooke said. “They’ll be back shortly.”

  “Gina came too?”

  “Yes. She was with Sarah and me when we got the call. Gina’s still having a tough time, so we’re all trying to be there as much as possible for her.”

  “Of course.”

  “But Sarah only has a couple of hours before she has to head over to do an interview with the mayor,” Gavin said.

  Asher cleared his throat and Brooke handed him the cup of water. After he took a sip, he raked a hand through his mussed hair. “How’d they know we were going to be there?”

  “We’ve discussed that,” Travis said. “Still don’t have a real answer, just some speculation.”

  “Caden’s working on it,” Gavin said. “He and Zane were assigned the case.”

  Asher nodded. “Brooke told me.”

  For the next thirty minutes, they questioned Heather about who could be behind the attempts on her life—and if they were really attempts to kill her or simply take her. While rehashing the experience, Heather watched Asher for signs of fatigue. When his eyelids began to droop and he had to force them to stay open, she stood. “I think it’s time for us to let Asher get some more rest.”

  He frowned. “All I’ve been doing is resting.”

  “Quit grumbling, hon,” Brooke said. “Rest helps you heal.”

  “Aw, Brooke . . .”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “I’ll lay beside you and you can put your head on my shoulder.”

  Asher raised a brow and pointed to the door. “Right. Y’all need to leave so I can get some more rest.” He turned and gave Heather a wink before pasting an obedient expression on his face.

  Gavin snorted and Heather smothered a giggle. Brooke rolled her eyes and opened the door. They filed out and Brooke followed. When the door shut behind them, her amusement faded and tears filled her eyes, but she smiled through them. “Thanks for coming by. He was getting really restless. Now that he’s had some company—and seen for himself that Heather is safe—he’ll rest better.”

  Travis pulled his phone from his pocket. “Sorry, this thing’s been going off for the last two or three minutes. I’d better check it.” He glanced at the screen.

  “Everything okay?” Brooke asked.

  “Yeah. It’s just Caden letting me know that our mystery man kidnapper has a name.”

  “They got the prints back that fast?” Heather asked.

  “No, his wife identified him.”

  Heather frowned. “How’d they find her?”

  “Not sure. Caden will fill us in when we get there.”

  “Go on,” Brooke said. “Once Asher’s asleep, I’ll catch up on some reports I’m behind on writing or Sarah and Gina will keep me company before Sarah has to leave.” She blew them a kiss and stepped back into her husband’s room.

  Heather yawned and fought the urge to pace a rut in the tile in front of the nurses’ station, refusing to let her agitation show so clearly. Not while Travis leaned against the counter, hands jammed into his pockets, looking alert and watchful, but a lot more patient than she was.

  She fought another yawn and dropped into the nearest chair, which happened to be just outside the kidnapper’s room. She clasped her fingers in front of her . . . and waited. For all of thirty seconds. “Is he going to come out and tell us what’s going on or what?”

  “He will.” He eyed her with an expression she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  “What?”

  He raised a brow. “What?”

  “You’re looking at me like I’m a bug under a microscope.”

  “Oh. Sorry. It’s just I’m seeing a new side of you, and while I hate the circumstances, I have to say it’s kind of interesting.”

  Her jaw swung loose for a fraction of a second before she snapped it shut. “What on earth are you talking about?”

  He shrugged. “You’re usually so calm and collected, it’s intimidating.”

  She intimidated him? “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head or something in all the chaos?”

  He sputtered on a laugh. “I’m
sure.” Sobering, he shook his head. “Maybe intimidating is the wrong word, but you just never seemed quite human to me. Now, you’re more approachable, I guess.”

  Uncertainty hit her. “Oh.” What was she supposed to say to that? He hadn’t thought her approachable? “What does that even mean?”

  “It means . . . well, it’s not like it’s some kind of personality flaw. It’s just how you come across.”

  “And I come across as intimidating and unapproachable?”

  “No.” He stopped. “Well, um . . . yeah. Somewhat. A little unapproachable. Maybe a lot intimidating. It’s not a bad thing,” he rushed to reassure her, “but I think it’s just because you’re a doctor and you’re used to barking orders.”

  She straightened. “I bark orders?”

  Travis cleared his throat and pointed to the door. “You know what? I’m just gonna see if—”

  The door to the room opened and Caden stepped out. “Sorry that took so long.”

  “I’m not,” Heather said with narrowed eyes focused on Travis. “I learned a few things.”

  “About?”

  “Something I’ll deal with later.” She turned her gaze to Caden. “What did you find out?”

  “Your kidnapper’s name is Samuel Powers.”

  She blinked.

  “Wait a minute,” Travis said. “The woman who owns the cabin is Tammy Powers. That can’t be a coincidence.”

  “It’s not. She’s Sam’s wife.”

  “His wife?” Heather asked. “He took me to a cabin owned by his wife? Is it just me or is that incredibly—”

  “Stupid?” Caden asked.

  “Sure,” she said, “we’ll go with that.”

  “Yes, stupid to you and me. But where’s the rule that says all criminals have to be smart? That’s why the majority of them get caught without too much of a problem. However, until Mr. Powers wakes up and talks to us, we’ll just have to wonder why he’d do that. Zane’s working on a warrant for the house. We’ll search it and see if anything turns up.”

  “I’m sure his wife is going to love that,” Heather muttered.

  “I’m planning on being there during the search. Why don’t you two go on to Travis’s place, and I’ll call when I learn something.”