Walk Through the Fire

by Calle J. Brookes

  “I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t know.”

  “No one does. We plan to keep it that way. I don’t want her targeted because of who she was fathered by.”

  “So how did your sister end up in your department?”

  “That was my decision,” the chief said. “She’s actually Detective Delancey Kelso McKellen, located out of Galveston’s branch. She works our Internal Affairs. There’s some concern that there’re dirty cops still on my force. Delancey was helping us find them.”

  “You think she was targeted.”

  “Yes, we do. We need to figure out the connection between what happened to Delancey and the corrupt city official,” Elliot said. “Which means…”

  “I had Claudia and Linsey print out all the records they could, now that our servers have been found and repaired. I’m not a forensic accountant, but we may be able to find someone to go over these numbers.”

  “I’ve asked Brynna to consult on this,” Elliot said, surprising Turner. Elliot’s sister-in-law Brynna Marshall was a computer genius who’d once worked for the TSP. She was also his cousin Houghton’s sister-in-law, Mel’s younger sister. They were all extremely protective of her. Involving her with anything to do with the TSP shocked him. “She’s had some experience with computer records that may be helpful. And she’s someone I absolutely trust. She’s agreed to take a look, as long as we ensure her name is kept out of everything.”

  “Of course.” He didn’t want Elliot’s sister-in-law’s name associated with anything to do with this. That was one of the last things Turner would ever do. “This is just a casual look over, that’s all. Anything probative, and we send it to the right people.”

  Elliot’s expression was grim when he looked at the files in Turner’s hands. “Those channels are not going to be through me. There are rats in my house, Turner. And I’m still cleaning them up. I probably will be for a very long time.”

  “I know the feeling.” He had his own rats to deal with. Turner made himself a vow. He wasn’t giving up until all of those rats got exactly what they’d deserved. “We’ll exterminate. Whatever is necessary—”

  Daniel’s phone cut them off.

  He looked at the screen once, then frowned. When he looked up, it was at Turner. “It’s Annie Gaines, a nurse from FCGH. She was on the schedule tonight, for Delancey’s ward. I checked before I left.”

  He answered it quickly.

  When he cursed and stood, Turner stood, as well.

  If it involved Annie in any way, Turner was going to know about it.

  “What’s going on?” he asked after Daniel disconnected. “Is Annie ok? Your sister?”

  “Delancey woke. Annie was with her.”

  “That’s great.”

  Daniel shook his head. “Not with the things Delancey told Annie. We need to get down there and keep this contained. Before anyone learns Annie spoke with her. For both of their sakes.”

  Elliot and Turner were already on their feet. Turner looked at Daniel. “Call hospital security. Have a guard placed on Annie. I don’t want her right in the middle of this. Do you have guards on your sister?”

  “None that anyone will notice. I don’t trust anyone in the TSP right now but a select few. And they are otherwise occupied right now. Or too recognizable.”

  Elliot already had his phone to his ear. He’d disconnected by the time they’d reached Turner’s SUV.

  What mattered was that now Annie had just become involved. Turner wasn’t going to let any of this touch her. No matter what he had to do to keep her safe.

  56

  Not even five minutes after she’d spoken to Daniel McKellen, Rafe and Vince Alcardi—Cherise’s fiancé and the hospital’s head of security—had appeared in her department.

  Very quietly, they’d told Wanda they needed Annie to meet them in Rafe’s office as soon as possible regarding a former patient. As soon as possible wasn’t really her choice. Everyone knew that Rafe meant immediately.

  Annie slipped up the back stairwell toward his office, nerves causing her stomach to clench and her hands to slick. Something had happened. She wasn’t stupid. Annie strongly suspected she had really stepped into it this time. Just what the it was, she wasn’t fully sure of.

  Rafe and Vince met her in the hall corridor that led to Rafe’s office.

  “What is this about?” Annie asked. At first, she’d been unbelievably nervous whenever around Rafe. The man was six-foot-six, strongly muscled, and not exactly brimming with good cheer. That had changed when he’d nearly died saving Jillian. Now she considered him a friend, as well as her boss.

  She’d been a bridesmaid at the man’s wedding.

  “I spoke with Elliot. He wants to speak with you about something private. Something with Officer Royce.”

  “She’s in serious danger, isn’t she?”

  Rafe hesitated. “I’m not sure. But we’re not going to wait around to find out.”

  57

  Turner’s eyes went to Annie immediately when he and the other two men entered Rafe’s office. Her big, blue eyes were worried—and scared. He wanted to comfort her, make that fear go away in any way that he could. “Annie, honey.”

  “Turner. I…I’m not exactly certain what’s going on here.” She had on blue scrubs now. Her hair was in a French braid down her back. The blue of the scrubs made her eyes even brighter. But that didn’t detract from the worry in them. The fear.

  Turner didn’t stop to think; he just went to the chair where she sat and knelt down in front of her. He wrapped a hand around hers. “You ok?”

  “Of course. I’m just not sure what this is about.”

  Turner felt like an idiot. But the idea that the people responsible for executing a twenty-five-year-old female TSP officer after forcing her to shoot her own partner and watch him die—Elliot’s forensics team had put what had happened to the two officers shot just after the storm together two days ago—wouldn’t hesitate to take out a nurse who knew too much.

  It would be too easy for them to do. How much of a threat could a single mother of three present? Every hackle he had was rising with the urge to protect his woman. Caveman of him, no doubt. But he was a Barratt. And they protected.

  Daniel came in behind Elliot and closed the door.

  Turner slipped behind Annie’s chair and dropped his hands to her shoulders. He had no real idea what Elliot and Daniel were going to ask. But whatever it was, he felt the tension running through her. He wasn’t going anywhere.

  “We need to know what Delancey might have said to you,” Elliot started.

  “Thanks for calling us so quickly, Annie. Delancey…Delancey means the world to me,” Daniel said at the same time. Elliot fell silent.

  Annie shot him a look filled with compassion. “I know, Daniel. She told me about your relationship.”

  “What else did she say?” Elliot asked.

  Turner stood quietly and listened to her words, trying to make sense of just what it meant. When she was finished, he looked at the man in charge. “So what do we do now?”

  “The best thing for us to do is to do nothing, for Annie’s sake. As far as the world knows, Delancey hasn’t woken up yet, and she’s Officer Kelsie Royce, a transplant out of Brownsville,” Elliot said. He looked at Annie. “Does anyone else know?”

  “No. There wasn’t time for me to even put it in her chart that she’d awakened yet. I called you as soon as I left her room. There was an officer outside the room. He asked me if she’d woken. I told him no. Just being cautious. He concerned me. I’m not sure why he was even back there. We don’t let people in surgical recovery.”

  “Do you remember his name?”

  She shook her head. “But I’ve seen him before, I think. I’m just not certain where. Wherever it was, the mayor was there, as well. It may have even been the night of the storm. I can’t remember. I’m sorry. I wish I could be more help.”

  “You have helped. You relayed the information from Delancey that we needed to keep her saf
e.” Elliot looked at the fourth man in the room.

  His cousin Rafe. Elliot was first cousins with Rafe and Rafe’s brother, the governor. That came in handy, no doubt. “How soon can Delancey be moved?”

  “Tomorrow morning at the latest,” Rafe answered. “Why? What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking we can’t leave her here. It’s far too dangerous. We need to get her someplace safe,” Elliot said. He looked at Daniel for confirmation. “I think it’s time we put out a notice that Kelsie Royce didn’t make it. And get your sister out of here.”

  “I’m ready when you are. So how are we going to make this work?”

  58

  Annie looked at the surgeon across from her as the two of them worked to keep Delancey McKellen stable and comfortable for the move, even though the woman had yet to wake again. To learn her fate.

  Annie had to admit it was a good plan. She just wasn’t so certain she was the one who should be involved in this.

  She wasn’t exactly the type for adventures. Far from it.

  “This is crazy, Allen. She needs to be somewhere more—”

  “Safe?” Allen had been recruited to help because Elliot trusted him, and, as the woman’s surgeon, he knew the extent of her injuries. The rest of the surgical staff would be told there had been unexpected complications or an allergic reaction to the anesthesia or something.

  Rafe had taken care of the necessary paperwork for Kelsie Royce, who would pass away from the complications and disappear as if she’d never existed.

  Maybe that was how undercover work was supposed to go?

  “Exactly. She needs to be in the critical care ward right now. Not in the back of the ambulance being driven by the COM of the FCGH.”

  Rafe had experience driving ambulances in Djibouti, Africa.

  Apparently, it had been enough to satisfy his cousin, Elliot. Now they had taken an extra ambulance that had been scheduled for an oil change to transport this poor woman to the one place Elliot, Daniel, and Turner had thought she’d be safe.

  Mel and Houghton were waiting to take her into their care. Jillian had agreed to take a week or two off from the hospital to act as her private nurse. Rafe had been reluctant to allow his wife to get involved, but there hadn’t been much choice.

  Jillian and Rafe were going to stay with her sister Mel for a while as Mel recovered from a bad fall, while Jillian supposedly dealt with morning sickness. Jillian would watch over Delancey while Rafe worked and take it easy herself.

  That was what they were saying if anyone asked.

  Jillian was taking medical leave to care for herself and her sister.

  Delancey would have round-the-clock care—and round-the-clock guards. Houghton had an extremely terrifying security crew; Annie had seen them before.

  All the stories were falling into place, but it still seemed too crazy for Annie to process. She was going to finish out her shift at Mel’s until Jillian and Rafe could make it to Mel’s to take over.

  “I think this is the best option, Annie. She’ll be safe with the Barratts. I don’t think there is any place in the county that would be safer.”

  Annie knew he was right, but still…if she were in this woman’s place, she wouldn’t want to just disappear forever. To stop being one woman and become another somewhere else. Undercover work had to be absolutely terrifying.

  They pulled into the back entrance of what Jillian referred to as Houghton’s Fortress of Ostentatiousness. Annie was closest to the rear window and looked out, mostly to make certain they hadn’t been ambushed or something.

  She really was close to panicking here.

  Houghton and his wife waited for them on the steps. Along with a man she didn’t recognize.

  “Allen, there’s someone in…adventure wear…standing next to Mel. He looks like a cross between Indiana Jones and Turner.”

  Allen snorted. “Relax. That’s Turner’s younger brother, Trevor. He’s an archeologist with the university.”

  “Oh. Why is he here? I didn’t think anyone was supposed to know about her being here.”

  “Don’t panic. I doubt Trevor Barratt will do anything to put her in danger. The guy’s not like that. Let’s just get her inside and make her more comfortable, ok?”

  Annie pulled in a breath and nodded as the chief of the TSP’s SUV pulled in behind them.

  Turner climbed out of the rear seat. Annie’s breath caught, seeing how in control he looked as he approached his family on the steps.

  She certainly didn’t feel all that in control right now.

  59

  He hadn’t expected his brother to be at his cousin’s. Trevor lived by his own rules, his own schedule. Turner had always understood that about the brother who was only a year or so younger than he was.

  Trevor had demons that drove him, that was for sure. Always on a quest for answers to some of the world’s questions. Damned brilliant, in his own way. Just like Houghton was with electronics.

  Turner was glad to see his brother, but he sure as hell wished it was at any other time and place than here and now.

  The less eyes on Delancey McKellen, the better. “Trev, what are you doing here?”

  “I thought I’d stay with Houghton, flirt with Mel for a few days.” Trevor clapped him on the back. “Happy to see you, too, by the way. What’s the rig for?”

  “It’s hard to explain.” Turner started after Daniel McKellen, and Elliot stepped out of the SUV. “Chief Elliot Marshall, and head of Major Crimes, Daniel McKellen, my brother Doctor—of archeology or something like that—Trevor Barratt.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Elliot said. “We weren’t aware you’d be here today.”

  “Neither were we, El,” Mel started. “But we’ll vouch for him. If nothing else, he’ll be another barrier between her and the outside world. He’s armed; and Houghton assures me Trevor knows how to use it.”

  “Her?” Trevor asked. His expression narrowed, and he looked at Turner. “What’s going on?”

  Turner looked at Daniel McKellen. As her brother, he got the ultimate say-so. Daniel studied Turner and then Trevor for the longest time.

  Trevor was the largest of the brothers—Turner, to his chagrin, was the smallest, even though he was the oldest—and built like a linebacker. He was almost as big as Rafe Holden-Deane. The gun he wore at his waist was highly visible, and Trevor did know how to use it. Far better than Turner did, that was for sure.

  And there was a hardness about his brother now; Turner hadn’t missed it. His brother had been out there in the world—and not the safe little corners. “I trust him with my life, Dan. I’d trust him with Mel’s and Annie’s, and every other woman in the world I care about, too. This is the safest place for her. Trevor can help make it safer.”

  “Can someone actually explain what’s going on here?” Trevor demanded.

  Elliot made short work of it. “An officer on my roster was targeted and shot while undercover. We’re here to prevent another attack. She’s Daniel’s younger sister. We believe she is still a target.”

  “We’re offering her a safe place to recover,” Mel added. Turner studied her for a moment. Mel had been shot a few years ago, as retaliation against her sister, he thought. She’d recovered, but would always be partially paralyzed. She’d only had like a ten percent chance of walking ever again. She’d been back on her feet within a year. Nothing stopped Mel when she wanted something.

  Mel was one of the most remarkable women Turner had ever met.

  Another was currently opening the rear door of the ambulance.

  Turner was close enough to reach in and grab Annie by the waist and lift her to the ground. “I have you, honey.”

  “Thanks.” Her word was breathless as she looked at him, then turned to Allen. “We’ll need help lowering the gurney out, so she’s not jostled.”

  Turner and his brother both stepped forward, as well as Daniel. Between the three of them and Allen, it was a seamless process.

  Delancey never
stirred.

  Annie kept by her head while Rafe and Allen, the more experienced with gurneys, rolled her up Mel’s ramp that Houghton had had installed shortly after his kidnapped bride had moved in.

  60

  Kelsie Royce had died. Dennis Lee would have to reward the family of the man who’d carried out that little task of his.

  Officer Kelsie Royce had gotten in a lucky shot before she’d been found. It had hit Paul straight in the heart, killing him instantly.

  Which was a good thing. Mostly. It meant the loss of the supplies Paul had been moving, but it had also taken care of the officer who had been a burr in Dennis Lee’s saddle since the storm. It meant Paul couldn’t run his mouth where he shouldn’t, either. But he’d been a good worker. That wouldn’t be forgotten.

  Dennis Lee hated loose lips. They really did sink ships, after all.

  Royce had been Dennis Lee’s Enemy Number One. He hadn’t intended for Paul to die, although whenever a police officer was one of the targets, that risk always existed. Dennis Lee had made certain his people knew that.

  He paid handsomely for those who performed services for him. He always had. Since that first time he’d had someone work for him in any way. Paying his people well meant he had their loyalty. Loyalty that he’d needed and utilized as best he could.

  “No one spoke to the woman before she died?” he asked the officer who had brought him the news of Officer Royce’s demise. He’d been ordered to specifically watch that woman and everything she did and report back. And then, when it had been necessary, he’d been ordered to talk with Paul exactly how to make her demise happen.

  “No, sir. She was unconscious for most of the time she was in the hospital. When she was awake, I don’t believe she was lucid. Although…” Collin hesitated for a moment. “I’m almost certain I heard voices coming from her room after her second surgery. I thought it was hospital staff, but only one nurse came out. And she was the only one in with Officer Royce at the time.”