Love Inspired Suspense September 2015 #1

by Margaret Daley

  As they sped away, Jonah waited. Watched. The brake lights blinked out and the truck roared away in the opposite direction. The driver wasn’t hurt, but he was likely going to regroup and try again later.

  Elise was gasping. “You think I know you? I don’t. You never would have done that.”

  “I would have if I’d needed to save your life.” Jonah selected his phone on the display and waited while it rang in the car’s speakers.

  “Shelder.”

  “Keep watch tonight. Someone just tried to run us off the road.”

  “You guys okay?” Hailey was in work mode.

  Jonah said, “We’re fine.”

  “We most certainly are not fine!” Elise’s yell was loud in the cab.

  Hailey chuckled. “Alive, aren’t you?”

  “Barely.”

  For some reason Elise’s reaction made him smile. Maybe she was right, maybe they didn’t know each other now. He had the feeling she’d discover plenty of things about him before they were done. Would she react like this for all of them?

  “Are you laughing at me?”

  Hailey laughed. “I’m hanging up now.”

  Jonah clicked the phone off on his end, just because he didn’t want anyone listening by accident. Or on purpose. “They were going to try and kill us. Or me, and then kidnap you. Would you rather have experienced that, or do what we just did?”

  “Neither.”

  “Face the fact that this is happening, Elise.”

  “I’m not in denial. But I don’t have to like it.” She folded her arms. “You scared the life out of me.”

  Better him than anyone else.

  Jonah grabbed her hand again. This time he brought it close to his mouth, touching his lips to the soft skin on the back of her hand. Elise was completely still and silent while he said, “Nothing will happen to you if I can help it.”

  ELEVEN

  Jonah pulled into the underground parking garage that served their whole building, not just the floors that housed the Marshals’ downtown offices. His phone beeped, so he checked the email notification.

  “Cops will be here in ten minutes.”

  Elise didn’t say anything. Jonah didn’t know how he was supposed to relieve her fears. It was good that she was afraid. That respect for the danger she was in would help keep her alive.

  Jonah swiped his access card and signed Elise in with the duty receptionist. The office had a few lights on, but most people were home for the night if they weren’t out working like his team. Jonah’s office was at the end, next to the conference room. He unlocked the door and motioned Elise to his couch.

  She sank into the cushions, huddled in the corner and pulled out her phone—the replacement Hailey had given her. Jonah figured she was texting Nathan, but she could just as easily be posting to her social media accounts about how awful a US marshal he was and what a bad job he was doing of protecting her.

  Jonah sat behind his desk and cleared his inbox of things he could solve in a second, filing the emails that weren’t urgent and would take longer to respond to for Monday morning. Was she simply going to retreat into silence? He’d never seen her so defeated as she was now, finally recognizing the strength of the threat. His confusion lay in the fact that she’d apparently only fully comprehended this at the point she was in danger—when she should be grasping the fact that he could protect her.

  It wasn’t pride; it was an understanding of the skills he’d been honing half his life. Maybe Elise was right, maybe she was trying to get to know a stranger, even despite their connection. He could only hope all that work was enough to help her, and part of that was her needing to trust him when it counted. If she hesitated and didn’t trust him, things could go wrong. Jonah was assuming a lot, counting on his skills. But between that and Elise praying about everything so she had the peace she’d been talking about, they were covered.

  Elise took a shaky breath. Jonah looked over without turning his head and saw her wipe under her eye. Jonah locked his computer and went to sit by her. “How’s Nathan?”

  Some of the tension bled from her posture. “Helping Hailey’s father install a new screen door because the puppy Eric bought Hailey’s daughter chewed through the old one.”

  Jonah chuckled.

  She glanced at him. “How much did you hear before you tackled Fix?”

  “All of it.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t believe he said I betrayed them. Why does he even care what I did? It’s like trying to be happy, moving out and finding my own life was wrong.”

  “But—”

  “They suddenly decide to be offended the first time I ever do for myself, because apparently I’m supposed to be one of them until death.”

  Jonah could actually see how they might feel betrayed by her leaving them behind. People like that, who’d spent Elise’s entire life telling her that she’d never make anything of herself or that she would never go anywhere else than their small town, would hate being proven wrong. Her mom and brother were only going to feel good about who and what they were if Elise never rose above exactly where they’d tried to keep her.

  She blinked. “You agree with them?”

  “I get their point. From where they stand you did betray them.”

  Jonah met selfish people like that every single day. People who thought nothing of dragging others down with them. People who knowingly hurt those they were supposed to care for. It was a fact of life, but she couldn’t see that because she was still under the impression families were supposed to always love each other. But the world didn’t usually turn out the way it was “supposed” to.

  “I didn’t betray them.”

  “I only said they think you did,” Jonah said. “Not that you were selfish. If you hadn’t left with Nathan, where would you be now?”

  She was quiet for a moment. “It’s not like I loaded him in the car and drove away. I didn’t even know I was pregnant. When I left town I was nothing but a scared kid with one suitcase, enough gas money to get to the sanctuary in Idaho and the promise of a job that had to be better than being here where everything reminded me of Martin.”

  “You seem like you’ve taken care of both of you just fine.”

  “Sure, we lived in a really nice trailer that leaked when it rained.” She smiled, but there was no humor there. “It was a perk of the job, the sanctuary owner’s dead uncle’s trailer he didn’t want to put any money in to repairing.”

  “You had the death benefits, though. That must have seen you through having Nathan and setting up your life. Did you invest any of it, or just use it to support you?”

  Elise’s brow crinkled enough that dread settled in Jonah’s stomach. “What?” She said, “I didn’t have any money other than what was in the bank at the time—my last paycheck from the zoo. And the bills for my student loans.”

  “So you never claimed the death benefits?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The military compensates the family, to help them. It’s not a lot, but it should have helped you. Why did you have nothing? Didn’t they offer it to you? You were Martin’s next of kin. My mom was mine, but he’d have signed his to you in the event he was killed in action.”

  “Your mom dealt with everything for me. She never said anything to me about money.”

  “What about Martin’s life insurance?”

  Elise said, “Do you think if I’d had any insurance that I would have lived in a run-down camping trailer until Nathan was ten? Eventually I saved enough for a two-bedroom apartment, but we certainly never lived the high life with all this cash you think I had.”

  Jonah shook his head, not quite believing his mom hadn’t made sure Elise had what she needed. He’d have to talk with her, to find out what had happened to the insurance and the military death benefits that should have been Elise’s. She hadn’t known Elise was pregnant, but still… He couldn’t comprehend disliking someone that much that you would tear down the security of her en
tire future.

  “It doesn’t matter now.” Elise shook her head. “Nathan will have college money. I’ll have a place to stay at the zoo, and everything will be fine.”

  Be that as it may, Jonah wasn’t going to deny Elise something that should rightfully have been hers. It wasn’t like his mom had needed the money. What had she done with it?

  Jonah glanced at his phone, sat on the top of his desk. He could wait until daylight tomorrow, but he was going to be calling his mother and talking with her. Or he could wait until this all blew over and Elise wasn’t in danger anymore.

  Either way, he’d find out what happened.

  *

  Elise’s head was still reeling from what Fix had said. And now, on top of that, Jonah had thought all these years that she had taken the money from Martin’s death to fund her new life.

  She couldn’t believe he’d think she was so callous as to have simply taken the money and left. He’d known her better than that.

  Money was important, but it wasn’t the most important thing.

  When she was growing up, it had seemed like every single person around her thought money was the source of a person’s value. Even the Rivers brothers, though maybe it was just part of how they were raised.

  It had taken her years to come to the place where she’d no longer been hurt by one careless comment or other, which they probably hadn’t meant anything by anyway. They were no more responsible for their upbringing than she’d been for hers.

  She’d tried to leave the past in the past, and Nathan had been her fresh start. God had taken the stains of the life she’d left here. He’d allowed her to forgive her family and the town who’d seen her as one of them.

  She knew she was going to be safe now. God would take care of her and Nathan, no matter what. He always had, even through all the lean and lonely years.

  The fact was, if she’d had all that money Jonah thought she should have had, her life might have been easier. But she never would have learned the lesson God had wanted her to learn—the lesson of fully trusting in Him. Not just for some things, but for everything.

  The door popped open and the marshal who’d signed her in stuck his head in. “Two detectives are here to see you.”

  Elise waited while Jonah shook their hands. The first cop was the older man who’d interviewed her at Jonah’s house—William Manners—and the other had been there, too, his partner. Though they acted casual enough, their eyes were anything but.

  Detective Manners nodded. “Ms. Tanner.”

  She gave him a small wave. “Hi.”

  “I hear you identified the reporter for some of our officers.”

  “Yes, though it doesn’t seem like it did any good. Not since he was found dead.”

  The cop shook his head, the honesty plain on his face. “You didn’t start any of this. And for the record, I don’t like when good people take on board guilt that isn’t theirs to carry.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  Jonah laughed. “Leave the lecture for the next candidate, yeah, Bill?”

  The detective huffed what was probably supposed to have been a laugh. “Can’t help the way I feel.” He glanced at Elise. “I’ve been a cop a lot of years. This one—” He pointed to Jonah. “He’ll take care of you, and then some.”

  Elise nodded. “I know that.”

  Jonah might scare her, but it was obvious he knew what he was doing. If he’d taken an interest in her safety, who was she to turn down his help?

  Jonah told them all about the car trying to crash into them, and the evasive maneuver he’d pulled. He looked jazzed, like this was a race and he’d been triumphant. When the officer had finished making notes about the make and model Elise hadn’t even noticed, but apparently Jonah had, Jonah said, “What’s the latest?”

  Jonah’s stance was all business. A man of authority used to commanding his team and infinitely comfortable in his own skin. Had she ever felt that confident about herself?

  The cop gave her a wink and sat in one of Jonah’s chairs. His partner, who was younger and reminded her of Nathan, leaned against the wall.

  The older cop settled himself. “Couple of beat cops over on Elm found a trash can on fire in a back alley. They managed to salvage a stack of papers that hadn’t burned yet along with the reporter’s computer.”

  “Anything usable on it?”

  Manners nodded in answer to Jonah’s question. “Hard drive wasn’t all the way destroyed, so our techs are uploading, or downloading, or whatever it is with those things. They’ll let us know what’s on it as soon as they know. I told them to put a rush on it, but everything they have is priority.”

  “Did you get anything from the papers?”

  “It looks like our reporter was making notes the old-fashioned way. And he seemed to think there was some significance to the zookeeper’s body never being found after the flood.”

  Elise said, “Didn’t a few people go missing?”

  “Sure, but most of those were found in other states, trying to start over. Or their bodies were discovered, eventually.”

  “But not Zane?”

  The cop shook his head. “Never. No sightings of him, and no body.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Jonah said, “It could mean he’s not dead.”

  Detective Manners shrugged. “I doubt it means much, but we’re going to look. Not sure where else there is to check, but we’ll do it. The zookeeper never had the skills to kill the reporter the way it was done.”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s not ultimately responsible.” Jonah perched on the edge of his desk. “He could be working with another person.”

  Elise tried to imagine Zane Ford hurting anyone, or even collaborating to do so. “There’s no way. He took care of animals, he wouldn’t hurt them. Not to mention, if he was still alive, then someone would have seen him.”

  Detective Manners nodded. “That’s where I’m leaning.”

  Elise looked at the younger cop to see if he agreed, but the guy was doing something on his cell phone. Apparently he had business to take care of, or he was late for a date or something. It was past eleven at night, and despite sleeping in that morning, Elise was exhausted. And her pain meds were wearing off.

  She shifted on the couch, trying to find a more comfortable way to sit that wasn’t lying flat, which was what she wanted to do. When nothing was better, and every angle hurt her ribs, Elise sighed.

  Jonah was studying her. The cop cleared his throat, which made the other cop look up from his phone screen. Jonah turned to Detective Manners and said, “You keep working your theory. My guys will tackle Zane Ford.”

  “You think he’s alive?” Elise felt her eyebrows rise. “Did Fix tell you something which makes you think that, or are you guessing?”

  “Cops don’t guess, Elise. We use our best judgment and we find evidence.”

  “I just can’t believe Zane Ford would let people think he was dead all this time.”

  Jonah’s gray eyes darkened. “Maybe you didn’t know him as well as you thought you did.”

  “He ran a zoo. He didn’t know how to plant bombs and shoot people.”

  She might not have been best friends with the man, but she’d respected his work for as long as she’d known him.

  The cop nodded. “She’s got a point.”

  “Be that as it may, I’m not going to leave any loose ends.”

  The younger cop looked up, probably noting the tone of Jonah’s raised voice. Still, he didn’t look impressed by Jonah’s determination.

  Detective Manners stood. “If that’s all, we’ll take our leave.”

  Jonah nodded, and they both said goodbye to the cops. When they were gone, he turned to her. “Want to get out of here?”

  “Sure. I can stay with Hailey if you need to be up early. She said it was fine.”

  Jonah didn’t say anything for a moment. “Is that what you want?”

  She eyed him while they walked to the elevator. Why did he look
so disappointed? He wanted to focus, find the killer. Right? “It would be nice to be near Nathan, but he probably doesn’t want me coddling him in front of other people. And he’s texting me updates pretty regularly. He’ll be okay with two marshals close by.”

  She took a breath, waiting to see if he’d accept her offer of company. His guest room bed was more comfy than anywhere she’d slept in years.

  They stepped out of the elevator in the parking garage. The whole place was dark and cold. The clack of their shoes echoed off the concrete floor as they walked.

  Elise glanced around, then at Jonah. She tried to smile, to show him she wasn’t scared. When he reached for her hand she figured it hadn’t worked. Jonah’s warm palm touched hers, and his fingers folded around hers. Elise wanted to stop. To just breathe in the sensation of having a man hold her hand. It had been a long, long time.

  He paused at her door. “If you’d like to stay in my guest room again…”

  Elise smiled. “I’ll make dinner, if you do the dishes.”

  “Deal.” He let go when she got in the car.

  He pulled out onto the street, and Jonah’s foot let off the brake, his eyes on a vehicle across the street. “That’s the same black truck that nearly ran into us.”

  TWELVE

  Jonah pulled out, despite the urge to drive straight over and give the guy a talking-to for nearly running them off the road earlier. It was the same truck—no plate on the front and it’d been lifted for off-roading. Jonah beat back the urge to confront the guy, knowing he would’ve had Elise not been in the car. Bringing her to the killer wasn’t a good idea, no matter how many skills he had. He needed a way to end this that didn’t put her in danger.

  Running away and living to fight another day grated against his marine sensibilities, but he was getting too old for all that, anyway. Instead he pulled out his phone and called the office, explaining what was happening even as the car pulled out onto the street behind them.

  The duty marshal said, “Beta team is running the operation on Franchez tonight.”

  Of course they were. Which meant that team and their backups were all busy. While Jonah’s team was busy protecting Nathan and watching Fix.