by Rebecca Deel
He summarized their conversation with a few additions from Stella and Deke. When they finished, Josh said, “If the killer is Rick, then revenge is the motive for the murders.”
“What about Ty and Pete?” Rio asked. “They had nothing to do with Adele’s death.”
“Collateral damage.” Deke opened another soft drink. “Ty tried to stop him from killing Stella. Pete found evidence pointing to the killer.”
“Rick is masquerading as a marshal or he has a mole in the office, one he’s bribed or blackmailed into doing his dirty work for him.”
“You’re sure Rick’s the man we’re looking for?” Josh asked.
“Everything fits,” Deke said. “Stella’s attacker accused her of interfering. It must be connected to a case.”
“The people Milo, Chris, and Ken turned on might target you and Stella.” Josh folded his arms across his chest. “A good hacker could get into the computer system and uncover their handlers.”
“Only one thing connects those three men with Luke and Natalie and that’s Adele’s death,” Stella said. “Rick’s behind this. We just have to find him.”
Nate’s cell phone chirped. He checked his screen. Pretty fast, even for Zane. “Z, you’re on speaker with Durango, Stella, and Deke.”
Spenser yipped.
He chuckled. “And Spenser, Alex’s dog.”
“What kind of dog, Alex?”
“Golden Lab.”
“Nice. You’ll have to bring him by Fortress headquarters. I’d like to meet him.”
“Will do. What do you have, Zane?”
“Lance Cannon, the assassin who came after Stella, is dead.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Nate scowled. “How?”
“Attorney sprung him from the cage yesterday. He bragged the charges against him would never stick, that he had friends in high places. Whoever hired him must have been worried he’d talk because his car blew up with him in it a few hours ago.”
“Bomb?”
“That is confirmed.”
“His employer snipped off a loose end the cops might trace to him. Do you know what kind of explosive device was planted in the car?”
“Bomb activated by a call to a burner phone. The police found bits of the phone in the debris.”
Great. So this guy beat a woman, used a gun, and an explosive device. Versatile.
“Nate, I intercepted a preliminary run on your name an hour ago.”
“Who made the inquiry?”
“Will Riley.”
“How far did he get?” Stella asked.
“Couple layers.”
“What was he looking for?”
“Background. Riley looked at Nate’s service record and discovered his security clearance isn’t nearly high enough to go around the road blocks the military instigated.”
“Bet that ticked him off,” Deke muttered. “What was the point? The military will never give information on Nate and his missions.”
“The military brass won’t,” Zane confirmed. “My guess is Riley will find soldiers who served with Nate, see if he uncovers dirt.”
Stella’s face turned toward Nate. “Why is it a problem if he talks to the people you served with? There isn’t any dirt with which he can blackmail or pressure you to cooperate.”
“He won’t learn mission specifics, but he will discover my specialties.”
“Which are?”
“EOD and interrogation.”
“EOD?” Deke looked puzzled.
“Explosive ordinance disposal.” A grim smile twisted his lips. “Not only can I defuse bombs, I can build them as well.”
Stella’s face lost all color. “He’ll assume you killed Cannon to protect me.”
“Good thing I have an alibi with witnesses for the entire afternoon and evening.” As it was, he suspected Riley would insist on interrogating him, along with Stella and Deke. A waste of time when the deputy director should be pursing leads to the real killer.
Nate frowned. This man killed Barnes with Stella’s Sig and used another weapon on Kelly. Why change his MO? He wanted Nate out of the way to leave Stella more vulnerable to attack. She could take care of herself, he knew, but he and Durango added another level of protection and that made eliminating her more difficult. How did the killer plan to find her? No one knew where she and Deke were staying except Durango, Maddox, and Winter. “Thanks, Z.”
“I’ll contact you on the other soon.” And he ended the call.
“Time to call Jon,” Josh murmured. “We need to know what he learned about Cannon.”
Nate keyed in the number. “You’re on speaker, Jon.”
“Just getting ready to call you, Nate,” was his greeting. “Eli and I like your town, by the way. Nice people.”
“Yeah, it grows on you. Hope you have good news for me, Jon. All we have is bad.”
“Tell me what you know.” At the end of Nate’s explanation, the SEAL sighed. “Figured Cannon’s hours were numbered. He was too stupid to be left alive.”
Durango’s leader leaned closer to the phone. “Jon, it’s Josh. Do you have a contact in the Nashville ME’s office?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“The autopsy report on Cannon. I’m curious whether he was shot before the car exploded.”
“Probably won’t get anything until tomorrow at the earliest. If Sharon’s not working, I’ll hack into the system.”
Josh scowled. “I didn’t hear that.”
A soft laugh from the Fortress operative. “Hear what?”
“Did you find Cannon’s money trail for us?” Nate asked.
“Yep, not that it will do any good. The trail leads to Charles Winslow.”
“Let me guess. He’s either dead or never existed to begin with.”
“Very good, bomb boy. Charles Winslow died when he was two years old. The account was closed an hour ago.”
“Because the fake Charles Winslow killed Cannon,” Quinn said. “Nice.”
“What about the encrypted file we sent you?” Stella asked.
“Another interesting piece of the puzzle for you and your colleagues to decipher. The file contained information on U.S. Marshal Will Riley.”
Beside Nate, Stella stiffened. He cupped the nape of her neck. “Give me the abridged version.”
“Oh, no. You need to see this for yourself. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Huh. That sounded interesting. What was Riley into? And more important, did it have anything to do with the attack on Stella or the plot to frame her for murder? “Forward it to my email. Thanks, Jon.”
“Yep. Alex?”
“Right here.”
“Your wife is a spunky lady. She’s come a long way in a very short period of time.”
“She did all the work herself. I’m just her cheerleader.”
“Looks like she and Dana will be good friends.”
Alex’s face softened. “I’m glad. Your wife looks as if she’s holding her own.”
“She’ll be pleased you think so. Dana’s progressing. How can she not when her husband is a big, bad, Navy SEAL?”
Groans from Durango was his response. “Imagine how much further along she’d be if she had married a Delta warrior,” Rio said.
A bark of laughter from Jon.
“Any problems in town?” Josh asked.
“Not that I’ve heard. We touched base with Blackhawk today. He promised to keep us in the loop. So far, the only strangers in town are Fortress operatives and your friends.”
“Hope it stays that way.”
“Let me know if you need anything else or if Z needs help with the searches. In the meantime, I plan to buy a few books from Del.”
“What do you think of PSI?”
“Top notch training facility. Eli and I know some of the instructors from our time in the Navy, the rest from Fortress. The training program is excellent. When will you add housing on site?”
“Within the year. We’re working on the bui
lding permits now. A new firm of contractors moved into the area a month ago. It’s a family-run business. They agreed to build for us.”
Nate ended the call a minute later.
Josh slid his computer across the table to Nate. “Let’s look at Riley’s file. Jon piqued my curiosity.”
Nate clicked on the email and scanned. He rolled his eyes. “Before he signed on with the marshals, Riley was with The Company.”
Rio’s mouth gaped. “He was a spook?”
“According to Barnes, the deputy director was tired of political games on overseas assignments. Barnes believed Riley’s wife was very vocal about him being assigned stateside. She told him she was finished being a CIA widow for months at a time, so either he came home for good or found another wife.”
“Explains the sharp feelings about dirty cops,” Stella said. “You have to believe in this country and the agency you work for to survive that pressure cooker. I wish I didn’t know this information.”
“Why not?”
“Makes Riley a more sympathetic figure. It’s hard to be mad at someone who’s a patriot and trying to do the right thing.”
“It also means he’s good at research.” Nate gathered the empty plates and bottles on the table. “He’ll take another run at us.”
“Go to him instead of waiting for him to come after you,” Josh said.
“Why volunteer for interrogation?” Deke asked.
“Sometimes you learn as much as the interrogator.” He smiled. “Especially if one of the interviewees is Nate.”
Nate’s cell phone chirped. He checked the screen. Perfect timing. “Taylor and Riley left messages with Maddox. They want to talk to Deke, Stella, and me.”
“Call Taylor.” Josh powered down his computer. “Let’s hear what he has to say.”
“He’ll want your alibi for Cannon’s death,” Deke said.
“Good thing mine is impeccable.” When Taylor answered, he said, “This is Nate Armstrong. You’re on speaker with Stella and Deke.”
“Convenient. Is the rest of your team present?”
“They are.”
Voices were raised in the background, shouted curses, phones ringing. Sounded like the detective was still at the station. Then Taylor said, “Hold on a minute.” When his voice came through the speaker again, the background noises were gone. “I walked into an empty office so I won’t be overheard even though it’s a zoo tonight. Somebody might catch the drift of our conversation. Give it to me straight, Armstrong. Did you have anything to do with Lance Cannon’s murder?”
“Why would you assume I killed him?”
“Don’t be coy with me,” Taylor snapped. “I know about your skill set and what you’re capable of. If some clown was after the woman I loved, I’d want to make sure he never touched her again. One more time. Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Alibi?”
“Security footage at Fortress headquarters.”
A bark of laughter. “Again? You’re lucky I’ve worked for Maddox and know he has integrity. He’d never manufacture evidence in a murder investigation.”
“Unless we’re on a mission.” Maddox didn’t have a problem protecting his people, especially when they were involved in an operation to protect innocent lives.
“Are you on a mission, Armstrong?”
“Not officially.”
Taylor growled. “You and your colleagues made a splash at Barnes’ funeral. You know how to irritate people, I’ll give you that.”
“I don’t care if I rub people the wrong way, Taylor. My priority is Stella.”
“Inciting people wasn’t our intention,” Stella said. “Deke and I wanted to pay our respects to Ty and his family.”
“You stirred up a hornet’s nest, whatever your motivation. I know you’re investigating on your own. You have resources I can’t afford to tap right now, not with the feds all over this. Give me what you have to this point.”
Nate brought him up to speed within a couple minutes.
“What do you need from me?”
“An address for Will Riley.”
A pause, then, “If I give you the information, there better not be another body.”
“We plan to talk at his request, not kill him.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Give me a minute.” The noise level picked up again. “Address is 3415 Iris Lane and you didn’t get that from me.”
“Of course not. We protect our sources.”
“Nate, watch your back. You and your friends aren’t popular in this town.” He ended the call.
“What’s the plan?” Stella asked.
“Beard the lion in his den.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Turn right at the next corner.” Stella scanned the house numbers on Iris Lane. “Third house on the left.” The home in question was well lit with Riley’s SUV in the driveway. She couldn’t tell if his wife, Nadine, was home or not. Nate parked behind Riley’s vehicle.
“Hope we don’t end up behind bars,” Deke said. “I’d hate to call my wife to post bail.”
“It won’t come to that.” At least she hoped not. Nate already posted bail for her once. She couldn’t let him do it again. He’d sacrificed enough for her. Of course, if she landed in jail, her parents wouldn’t lift a finger to get her out, much less post bail.
“Riley’s convinced we’re guilty of murder, Stel. He won’t be reasonable.”
“He still needs proof and there isn’t any.”
Outside the vehicle, all of them scanned the area. It made her smile. Soldiers and cops were all about situational awareness. It’s what kept them alive in the field.
Deke rang the doorbell. A minute later the locks were disengaged and the door swung open. Riley’s service weapon was in his hand. He started to raise his arm when Nate grabbed his wrist and applied enough pressure that his hand opened and the gun dropped into Nate’s waiting palm.
“You wanted to talk, Riley. That’s why we’re here.”
“I expected you to call, not show up at my house. My wife and kids are here.”
“They’re not in danger from us.”
“Will? Who is it?” Nadine Riley appeared behind her husband, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. “Oh, Stella, Deke. Come in. Will, move aside, honey. We don’t want to be rude.”
Nate released his wrist and returned the marshal’s Sig, butt first.
With a warning in his eyes threatening retribution if they hurt his family, Riley stepped back, allowing them to enter the house.
“Would you like coffee?” Nadine asked. “I just made a fresh pot.”
“No, thanks,” Stella said. “Nadine, this is Nate, my boyfriend.”
He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Please, it’s Nadine. Come sit down.” She waved toward the couch. “I assume this visit is work related, so I’ll leave you. I’m baking cookies. If you’re still here when the first batch comes out of the oven, I’ll bring a platter for you to share.”
After his wife left the room, Riley dropped into an armchair, weapon still clutched in his hand. “How did you find my address?”
“I have sources,” Nate said. “Ones I won’t divulge.”
A snort. “You’re not a reporter. You can’t claim that privilege.”
“You checked my service record.”
“How did you…never mind. You wouldn’t tell me anyway.”
“Very good, Riley. What were you hoping to learn?”
“Got something to hide, Armstrong?”
“As much as you do.”
Riley stiffened. “What does that mean?”
“You played in the dark underworld of international intrigue, Marshal Riley.”
“Where did you learn that?” He stabbed a finger in Nate’s direction. “Don’t bother telling me that’s privileged information. I’ll run you in for obstruction.”
“Nate.” Stella laid her hand on his knee. “He needs to know.”
He no
dded at her to proceed.
She faced the deputy director. “We got the information from Ty.”
Riley scowled. “I didn’t tell anyone in the office, a deliberate choice.”
“There are no secrets in government service.”
“What were you hoping to learn from my military record, Riley?” Nate asked.
“I know you were trained well by the military. I want to know your specialties.”
A smile. “Interrogation and EOD.”
“You specialized in explosive devices?” Riley swallowed hard.
“That’s right.”
“Were you any good?”
“What do you think?”
“If you hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” he muttered. “I assume you’re a decent shot.”
“I’m not a sniper, but if you’re thinking of me for the murders of Barnes and Kelly, I’m more than capable as both were killed at close range. Any soldier or cop could have done the same, including you. You’re wasting your time pursuing me for these killings, Riley. I have alibis for both shootings.”
He scowled at Stella and Deke. “That doesn’t clear these two.”
“Deke and Stella were cleared for Kelly’s murder. You have copies of the security footage from Fortress. Maddox sent them to you.”
“Are you interested in what we pieced together?” Deke asked.
“I’m listening.”
Footsteps drew near. Nadine walked into the living room, a tray of cookies in her hand. “Here you go. Fresh from the oven. Are you sure you don’t need coffee?” she asked as she placed the tray on the coffee table.
“You know, coffee sounds great with these cookies.” Nate stood. “I’ll help you bring it in.”
Riley’s hand clenched the armrest. He rose.
“He would never hurt Nadine,” Stella said.
“You can’t expect me to take your word on that.”
“Stubborn, aren’t you?” Deke grabbed a cookie and took a bite. “Oh, man. Your wife is a fabulous baker. Riley, Nate is a chef. He’s always interested in food and beverages.”
“Interrogation, EOD, and chef.” He returned to his seat. “Is there anything he can’t do?”
