Love Inspired Suspense May 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: Trail of EvidenceGone MissingLethal Exposure

by Lynette Eason

“Yes, I’m fine, thanks.” Jonas’s jaw worked. She could see he was touched at his son’s concern. “The house isn’t so fine, but we are.” He explained what happened and that they would have to stay at his office until the insurance company could give an appraisal on the damage. “But I’ve got friends in high places. We’ll get it taken care of pretty fast.”

  Felix looked dazed. “So who are you again?” he asked her. Finally something other than defiance on his face.

  “I’m Brooke Clark. I work for a law enforcement organization called the Capitol K-9 Unit.” Felix’s eyes flicked toward Mercy, who sat under the table, her head the only part of her body poking out. Brooke answered his silent question. “Mercy and I are partners. Your dad called us last night after the breakin.”

  “Why you?”

  “I found this.” Jonas pulled the phone from his pocket and slid it across the table.

  Felix’s eyes went wide, and he clamped his lips together.

  Brooke’s senses tingled. “Where did you get it?” she asked him.

  Felix crossed his arms and looked away, the defiance back in spades. Jonas gave a huff of frustration. “Tell me, Felix. This is important. A picture of a dead woman is on this phone, and we need to know what you know.”

  Felix swallowed and a flash of fear crossed his face, but he refused to comment. Jonas’s face began to darken, and his eyes turned thunderous. Brooke laid a hand on his arm. He sat back, and she could tell he was putting good effort into gaining control of his temper. “Felix, do you mind if I tell you a story?”

  He jerked and shot her a confused look. “About?”

  “About a little boy who no longer has a mother.”

  Felix’s fist tightened around his glass and for a moment Brooke wondered if he was going to pick it up and throw it. “Sure,” he gritted. “What about him?”

  “About two months ago, a woman named Rosa Gomez was killed. Even though it hasn’t been proved to be murder yet, we believe she was pushed off the cliffs at President’s Park. She had a little boy who’s only two years old. The good thing is that Rosa had a sister named Lana. Lana now has custody of little Juan, but losing his mother shouldn’t have happened. We want to catch the person who took her away from him.”

  Felix flicked a glance at his father. “He doesn’t have a dad either?”

  “Not one that wants to be in the picture,” Brooke said. “At least that’s the impression we’ve gotten so far since no one has come forward to say he’s the father.”

  Felix took a swig of his drink, then set the glass back on the table with a thunk. The waitress delivered the food and a lull rose. Jonas thanked the woman, who nodded and left.

  “Do you mind if I say the blessing?” Brooke asked.

  “No, go ahead,” Jonas said. Felix looked a little uncomfortable, but didn’t protest.

  Brooke prayed over the food and asked God to continue to keep them safe. They ate in silence for the next few minutes. “What’s going to happen to him, to Juan?” Felix asked.

  “Right now, he’s with his aunt, so he’s being taken care of, but his mom is gone and we want to find who killed her so he doesn’t have to grow up wondering.” Felix looked ready to burst into tears, but Brooke hoped her words would get the boy to tell them what he knew. She didn’t like being so manipulative, but every word she spoke was true. “We’ve tracked down every lead we could get, but lately, it seems the trail has grown cold. Until now. Until your dad called to tell me about the phone. This is a huge deal for us, Felix. Would you please tell us what you know about the phone?”

  “I found it,” he blurted. “On the cliffs, buried under the rocks near the police tape. I didn’t know it belonged to a dead woman. I didn’t know, I didn’t.”

  “Okay. I believe you.” Brooke felt Jonas tense beside her. She spoke quickly before he had a chance to interrupt. “Would you be willing to show us where you found it?”

  “Yes. I’ll show you.” Now that Felix had confessed, he couldn’t seem to get the words out fast enough. “I didn’t mean to steal it. I thought someone had just lost it. I knew once I got it charged, I could connect to the internet to play games with my friends. That’s all I wanted it for.”

  “How’d you get—and keep—the battery charged?” Jonas asked.

  He shrugged and looked down at the table. “I couldn’t charge it until the day before yesterday. Travis finally found an extra charger and brought it to school for me.” He lifted his head and jutted his chin. “If you’d let me have a cool phone like all the other kids, I wouldn’t have felt the need to keep the one I found.”

  “So this is my fault, huh?” Jonas asked, the thread of anger back in his voice.

  Felix swallowed and offered another shrug.

  Brooke’s heart ached at the tension between the two. They needed each other, they just didn’t know what to do about it. “Okay, here’s the plan—”

  “He chased me,” Felix muttered.

  “What?” Jonas asked sharply.

  “When I found the phone,” Felix said, “there was a man out there. He, uh, saw me, I guess, and chased me.”

  Jonas leaned in. “Who was it?”

  Felix lifted a shoulder. “How should I know? Some old dude. Like about your age, I guess.” Brooke barely managed to smother her snort of laughter at the look of consternation on Jonas’s face at his son’s comment. She looked away and processed Felix’s words. But he wasn’t finished. “I thought he was a cop and if he caught me he’d put me in juvie or something for being behind the crime scene tape. I ran fast and hid. He looked for me for a while, but I was faster and smarter.”

  “Good for you,” Brooke said. “I’m glad he didn’t catch you. He could have been a dangerous guy.”

  Felix shivered. “I didn’t think about him being dangerous, I just didn’t want him to catch me.”

  “When did you find the phone?” Jonas asked.

  “A couple of months ago.”

  Brooke glanced at Jonas, her mind spinning with possibilities. Sometimes deduction was a “what-if” game. “Okay, so you found the phone a couple of months ago. You get it charged up day before yesterday. Felix, last night the person who broke into your house demanded your dad give him ‘the phone.’”

  Felix flinched. His gaze jumped from his father to Brooke then back to Jonas. “Are you sure you’re really okay?”

  “I’m fine, but I don’t think the timing is a coincidence.”

  “I don’t either,” Brooke said.

  Jonas rubbed his eyes. “You think whoever is after the phone has just been waiting for it to come back online?”

  “I do.” She nodded and took the last bite of her food.

  “And tracked it via the GPS.”

  “Exactly.” She nodded to the phone. “I can’t believe the thing still works. I mean, you didn’t find it the day she died, did you?”

  “I don’t think so. I remember that it had rained that day. I was throwing rocks into the puddles to see how high the water would go. There was a big puddle behind the police tape, so I ducked under. I moved one of the rocks and found her phone.” He shrugged. “It had a LifeProof case on it,” Felix said. Brooke nodded. The case would have protected it against the elements. “The battery was dead when I found it,” Felix said. “I took the case off to make it easier to play the games once I got it charged. I didn’t know someone would be tracking it.” He dipped his head and studied his fingers. “I guess I should have turned it in to someone when I found it, huh?”

  Jonas sighed. “Yes, you should have, but there’s nothing to be done about that now. The important thing is that you’re telling the truth now.”

  Brooke drew in a deep breath. “Absolutely. Thanks for telling us this, Felix. I appreciate it.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low, eyes on the table once again.

  Jonas reached across the table to cover his son’s hand when the window over the booth behind them ruptured.

  SIX

  Jonas
registered the bullets riddling the side of the restaurant, the glass falling, the screams surrounding him. All he could do was wrap one hand around Felix’s wrist and the other around Brooke’s arm and yank them to the floor.

  He covered Felix with his body as best he could while he scrambled to think, to picture a way out. What if they came inside? Terror slammed through him. He had to keep Felix safe. He stayed still, feeling Felix’s heartbeat slam against his own. “Be still, don’t move,” he yelled above the screams, the chaos.

  The roar of an engine, then the squeal of tires spinning against the asphalt reached his ears.

  Were they gone? He stayed put for another few seconds, waiting, listening. When nothing more happened, Jonas lifted himself away from his son. He ran his shaking hands over Felix’s face, his arms, chest, checking for blood. And found nothing. Felix stared at him, freckles looking 3-D against his white face. “Are you hurt?” Jonas asked him.

  “No.” Felix blinked. “I don’t think so.”

  Jonas turned. “Brooke? You okay?”

  “Fine.” Her fingers trembled, but she pushed away from him and scrambled to her feet. She checked the dog, then glanced out the window. “He’s getting away. Stay here and stay down! I’m going to see if I can get a plate.” She and Mercy bolted through the restaurant. Jonas grabbed Felix to him and held him as he searched the restaurant for anyone with injuries. Sirens sounded in the distance.

  Was the shooter really gone? Had they just lived through a drive-by?

  “Dad?”

  His son’s shaking voice cracked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay.” He pulled Felix to him for a hug, and the teen didn’t resist. He held him for a brief moment and then the chaos escalated a notch with the arrival of law enforcement.

  Brooke came back in, her face tense, jaw set. She probably didn’t get a plate. She beelined for them as more cops and paramedics swarmed the restaurant. Brooke must have told them it was all clear. Which meant the shooter got away. Brooke motioned for them to follow her. Jonas gripped Felix’s arm and led him away from the scene. The noise level rivaled that of a jet plane. Once outside, Brooke turned to say something and stopped. Her eyes went wide. “You are hurt.”

  “What?” Felix frowned.

  “Who?” Jonas asked.

  “You.” She reached for his arm. He looked down to find it bleeding. The low throb of pain finally registered with him.

  “It’s just a scratch.”

  “We’ll let the paramedics make that diagnosis. Come on over here.”

  “I’m a doctor, remember?”

  Felix snorted. “You’re a vet, Dad. Let a real doctor look at it.”

  “Thanks so much, son. Nothing like keeping a person humble,” he muttered. But he saw the worry in Felix’s eyes and nodded. “Fine, if it will make you two feel better.”

  Brooke led him over to one of the ambulances. While the paramedic patched him up stating, “It’s only a scratch, you’re a fortunate guy,” Brooke and Mercy dove into the fray of the investigation. He watched her put Mercy to work, the dog sniffing, looking for any evidence that might help them discover who had just shot up the restaurant.

  And why.

  Jonas decided not to let denial take over. There was no doubt in his mind that this shooting was related to the other two incidents from last night. What scared him was that whoever was after the phone didn’t seem to care if he hurt someone else in the process to get it. Innocent people could have been seriously injured or killed in this latest episode and that scared Jonas to the bone.

  Mercy didn’t seem to find anything to interest her. The crime scene unit moved in and an officer approached him. “Do you feel up to giving your statement?”

  “Sure.” His arm throbbed, but he’d refused the painkiller offered. He needed a clear head. His glance slid back to Brooke and he watched her nod at one of the other Capitol K-9 Unit members as she walked toward him. She’d called for reinforcements.

  Which meant she’d come to the same conclusion he had. Everything was related. He just hoped they managed to live long enough to figure out the connections.

  *

  Brooke tried to rub the grit from her eyes. She was used to going with very little sleep sometimes, but that didn’t mean she liked it. She walked over to fellow team member Nicholas Cole. A former navy SEAL, he stood tall, military written all over him. He’d left his K-9, Max, in his vehicle but she hadn’t called him to the scene for Max’s help. She wanted to give Nicholas the phone to pass on to Gavin, their boss. She knew the two were meeting in a couple of hours and she wasn’t sure how long she’d be tied up at the scene. “Thanks for coming.”

  “No problem.” Concern knit his brow. “You sure you’re all right?”

  “Shaken, but I’m fine. Grateful to be alive.”

  “Was anyone hurt?”

  “A few scrapes and cuts, but fortunately no one was killed. The bullets hit the window of an empty booth just behind where we were sitting. I tried to get out fast enough to see a license plate, but I was too slow.” Frustration at her failure bit at her.

  He shook his blond head and focused pale brown eyes on her. “What’s going on?”

  Brooke pulled the phone from her pocket and handed it to him. “Do you have a charger in your car? I have a different kind of phone so mine won’t work.”

  He looked at the bottom of the phone. “Yep, mine will work. Come on.”

  Brooke followed him with a glance over her shoulder. Jonas appeared to be finished with the paramedics. He caught her gaze and motioned for Felix to follow him. The two headed her way. She turned back to Nicholas.

  “What’s on it?” he asked.

  “Rosa Gomez’s picture.”

  He shot her a sharp look. “Where did you get it?”

  She gave him the short version of the story. He plugged it in and the phone beeped to indicate it was charging.

  Jonas and Felix drew closer. “They’re escalating,” she murmured to Nicholas.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The smoke bomb was meant to get us out of the house maybe.” She nodded toward the mangled restaurant. “This was different. This was meant to kill.”

  Jonas stepped up beside her, and she shut off that thread of conversation. Felix hung close to his dad, still looking pale and shaken. She nodded at Jonas’s arm. “Are you okay?”

  His lips quirked, but his eyes remained serious. “It’s just a scratch.”

  She smiled. “This is Nicholas. Nicholas, meet Jonas Parker and his son, Felix. Felix is the one who found the phone and was gracious enough to tell us everything he knew about it.”

  Felix’s brows shot up and Brooke winked at him. His shoulders relaxed a fraction and he shot her a grateful look.

  The two men shook hands and Nicholas gave Felix a fist bump. “Good job, kid.”

  “But I—” Felix started. Brooke held his gaze and he finally shrugged. “You’re welcome, I guess.” He swallowed. “I have the case at home if you want it, too.”

  “We do, thanks.” Nicholas powered up the phone and gave a low whistle when the screensaver appeared. “That’s her and that’s her son, Juan.”

  Nicholas scrolled through the other pictures. “Most of them are of the boy.”

  Brooke leaned in. “Wait a minute, scroll back. What’s the last picture she took?”

  Nicholas went back to it. “This one? It’s fuzzy, but it’s a man.”

  “And they’re out on the cliffs. See the outline?” Brooke pointed.

  “Yes. And the date is the day she was found dead.”

  Brooke met his gaze. “I think it’s possible Rosa took a picture of her murderer.”

  “It hasn’t been proven to be murder,” Nicholas reminded her. “It could have been an accident. This guy could be anyone.”

  “True,” Brooke agreed, “but the fact that her wallet is still missing…”

  “Could be someone have found it lik
e Felix here found the phone.”

  “Okay, that’s possible.” Brooke pursed her lips. “But she’s still connected to the Jeffries home where there was a murder. And then there was all that trouble at the children’s home after it was discovered one of the children may have seen the murder…” Several weeks ago, the All Our Kids foster home had been targeted. The children and staff had been moved to a secure location until authorities were sure they were safe. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be until they discovered which child had snuck out during the night and witnessed Michael Jeffries’s murder and the congressman’s shooting. None of the kids would admit to being near the Jeffries home.

  “You don’t believe Rosa’s death was an accident, do you?” Jonas asked.

  “No. Not for a second. Do you?”

  “No,” Nicholas said. “I’ve made no secret that I think it’s homicide. We need to keep digging for the evidence to prove she was murdered.”

  Brooke pulled in a deep breath. “We also need to have a meeting with the rest of the team and figure out the best way to determine who that man in the picture is.”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ll set up that meeting and get this phone to Gavin. I’ll text you when he gives me a time. In the meantime, quit getting shot at.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  *

  Brooke had slept fitfully last night, worried about Jonas and his son. She worried Felix would have nightmares about the shooting. She’d also been concerned that whoever was after the phone would come back again, not realizing Jonas had turned it over to the Capitol K-9 team. She knew Gavin had arranged for a protection detail on Jonas and Felix, who were staying at the veterinarian office until his home could be aired out, but she’d been unable to put the duo’s safety from her mind.

  And now she worried she’d be late for the eight o’clock meeting Gavin had called to discuss the new developments in the case. Mercy lay at the foot of the bed and watched as Brooke rushed to get ready. Brooke had finally fallen asleep around four in the morning and of course she’d overslept. She clicked to Mercy and she and the dog rushed out the front door to the vehicle. Mercy hopped in the back. Brooke paused to see her neighbor, twelve-year-old Christopher Denton, swinging his wooden bat. “Nice form, kiddo!”