It only took a few seconds to reach the man’s side, but it seemed as if she moved in slow motion. She dropped beside him. “Joseph, what’s wrong?”
Something sounded above her and splinters dropped from the ceiling. Gabe tackled her to the floor of the porch. “Get inside! He’s been shot. Craig, call for backup!” Cassidy scrambled to open the door to the building.
Once inside, she turned to help Gabe pull the wounded man through the opening. Gabe slammed the door shut, locked it and pulled out his cell phone.
Drenched, shivers and adrenaline racked her as she leaned over Joseph to grasp his chilled hand. “Joseph, please open your eyes.” Fingers felt for a pulse. It beat, but was faint and slow. “Please, please don’t die.” Her tears mingled with the rain on her face.
Through a foggy haze, she heard Gabe barking orders to the emergency medical team on the way, telling them about Joseph. She offered up a string of prayers, for Joseph, for their safety, for the shooter to be caught.
Finally, the sound of sirens screamed through the air.
“How is he?” Gabe demanded as he shook the rain from his head.
She looked up through the sheen of tears. “Not good. He needs an ambulance.”
“Let me look at him.”
With relief, Cassidy complied. Gabe was a doctor. He’d help him. Gabe stripped off his outer shirt and made a pad to press against the wound. “Here. Hold this. Lots of pressure.”
Cassidy obeyed and pressed down on Joseph’s chest while continuing her prayers. “Please, Joseph, look at me.” His eyes flickered. Cassidy applied more pressure. “Joseph?” Water from her hair dripped down on his face. His eyes opened briefly then shut again.
“Keep fighting, Joseph,” Gabe whispered as he held the man’s wrist. “Come on, people, come on. Where are you?”
As if in answer to his question, Craig’s voice called out, “Sinclair, you okay in there?”
“I’ve got a man who needs a hospital, now!” Gabe reached up to unlock the door. Cassidy continued the pressure until the emergency personnel rushed in and took over.
The room spun and she felt faint. She swallowed hard and concentrated on staying upright. As they loaded Joseph into the ambulance, she whispered a silent prayer. Please, Lord, let the madness stop.
“Why shoot Joseph?” Cassidy demanded as she paced the den area of her house later that evening. “I was standing right there. Why not me? And why didn’t we hear the shots? Never mind, dumb question. We did hear them. I just thought it was thunder.”
Anguish worked its way across her face and Gabe wanted to grab her in his arms and keep her there. Protect her. They’d just received word from the hospital that Joseph was out of surgery and doing well. His wife was with him.
The police were heavily involved now and after taking Gabe and Cassidy’s statements, they’d released the two of them. Craig would take care of the final details. Cassidy had wanted to go to the hospital, but Gabe convinced her she couldn’t do anything productive there and besides, she needed to pick up Alexis.
The ambassador had been notified. Extra security had been ordered for him and his wife and now Cassidy would be covered even more heavily. The six o’clock news ran the story.
Cassidy stood in front of him. Gabe watched Alexis stack blocks while he thought. “It looks to me like the shooter’s sending you a message.”
Wrinkles creased her forehead as she offered Gabe a frown. “What do you mean? What kind of message?”
“If he can’t get to you, he’ll get to the ones you care about.”
“But…but…no attempts have been made on my parents. No one’s tried to hurt Alexis or you.”
Gabe’s heart stilled and he even wondered if she realized what she’d just admitted. She cared about him. He knew it, but it was nice to hear.
“So, what do we do? How do I keep him from getting close to those I love?” Cassidy sat on the floor next to Alexis and started stacking the blocks so the child could gleefully knock them down again.
Gabe watched them play and wasn’t even shocked when the desire for this to be the real thing swept over him. He wanted Cassidy and Alexis. He wanted them to be a family; someone he could come home to every day. Going home to his empty lake house left him aching for something more. This.
“There’s nothing else you can do. Everyone’s got bodyguards. And you’re doing everything right short of shutting yourself up inside and becoming a hermit.”
“There’s no way I can do that.” She shuddered at the thought. “Besides, I have that speech to make on behalf of Dad at that dinner in two weeks. It’s been on the calendar for six months.”
“Well, you’ll have to cancel it. It’s too dangerous.”
Cassidy frowned. “I can’t cancel. It’s too late. I’ll just have to be extra careful.”
“Cass…” Gabe warned.
“Seriously, I can’t back out now. This event is too important. And besides, security is top-notch. The word needs to get out about this problem of human trafficking and the only way to do that is to have as much communication as possible with people who have the power and the money to do something about it. And that’s where I come in. Passing bills to force harsher punishments and raising money to help the hurting families is my cause, my calling right now. There’s no way I can miss this dinner.”
Gabe noticed the fire in her eyes and heard the passion in her voice. She cared deeply for those less fortunate and had made it her goal in life to help change lives for the better. She had become such an incredible woman. Gabe didn’t feel worthy to be in her presence knowing what he’d done.
Like getting Micah into the jungle and then leaving him to die.
He shook off the thought and said, “I understand. You’ve convinced me. I had no idea how involved you are in your father’s politics. We’ll just have to make sure that you’re protected.”
“Security will be extremely tight anyway simply because of the high-profile people who’ll be in attendance.”
Gabe stood. “Okay. I’m going to make some calls. Rafael’s behind bars, which means whoever wants you out of the way has already hired someone else to do his dirty work. I think it’s too big a coincidence that we confront Oliver Morgan with our questions, and then on the way out of the office Joseph gets shot. I’ll call Craig to see if he’s got any new information.” Gabe needed to do something productive before he did something stupid like pull Cassidy into his arms, spill his guts and beg for forgiveness.
Cassidy was still thinking about the dinner long after Gabe left. Maybe she should back out. Get someone else to give the speech for her. Cassidy made a mental note to double-check with Craig about the safety of the other people that would be in attendance. There was no way making her speech was worth putting lives in danger.
As she was pondering what to do, she heard the security buzzer sound and stepped into the kitchen to press the button. “Yes?”
Frederick said, “Miss Cassidy, there’s a lady here to see you. Says her name’s Susan Cooper.”
Cassidy flinched and looked over at Alexis. She sat in the middle of a pool of toys, playing contentedly. Should she let the woman in? Her last words had not been nice. And she had threatened to sue.
“Miss Cassidy?” Frederick asked.
Lord, what do I do?
And yet, the woman was the child’s aunt. “All right, you can send her on.”
“Will do.”
Cassidy clicked the intercom off and stood by the window. Approximately two minutes later, Susan Cooper’s silver Mercedes pulled into the driveway.
Taking a deep breath, Cassidy opened the door before the woman had a chance to ring the bell. “Hello, Susan.”
Susan slipped the sunglasses from her eyes to the top of her head, pushing her blond hair back behind her ears. Cassidy noticed the dark circles underneath the flawlessly made-up eyes. She’d used makeup concealer, but that hadn’t helped much. Clearly, the woman was under stress, suffering. Cassidy’s heart soften
ed.
“Come on in. Would you like to see Alexis?”
Susan bit her lip and nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate this.”
Cassidy led the way into the den area where Alexis still played. The little girl looked up when the two women entered the room.
Susan sucked in an audible gasp and said, “She looks just like Kara at that age. I still look at pictures every once in a while…”
Cassidy nodded and said, “Alexis, this is your aunt Susan.”
Alexis looked up and grinned. “Hi.”
Cassidy heard Susan give a choked laugh and respond to the child, “Hi there. You’re a very pretty little girl.”
Alexis nodded and said, “Yep. Pretty.” Then she held up a wooden puzzle piece and asked, “Play?”
Susan seemed to forget Cassidy was in the room as she dropped to her knees and helped the child put the puzzle together. Cassidy just watched, her heart going out to the woman who obviously loved her niece. If only Brian wasn’t in the picture.
Cassidy beseeched, “Susan, please reconsider your idea of suing. I know we left things tense in the lawyer’s office, but…somehow, surely we can work something out.”
Susan looked up, anguish reflected in her tired eyes. “Will you reconsider and give her to me?”
Cassidy sighed. “I can’t, Susan. Kara…”
“This child is my family, the only piece I have left. I can’t have children…we’ve tried for so long, and now here is this precious…” Tears appeared and Susan blinked rapidly. “I’m sorry. Maybe this was a bad idea. But I can’t give up. I won’t give up.”
Susan sounded almost sad as she said the last words. Cassidy shook her head and escorted the tortured woman out the door. She stood staring at the empty driveway long after Susan’s car disappeared from view.
SEVENTEEN
April 13
With no further incidents, Cassidy and Alexis had settled into a routine of eat, play, sleep, then play some more. And while she’d been thinking about it, she’d written a six-digit check to the orphanage in Brazil to help cover the damages the rebels had inflicted.
Thirty minutes ago, Amy, along with two bodyguards, had stopped by to pick up Alexis to take her to the zoo. Cassidy was supposed to be putting the finishing touches on her speech. Instead, she needed a distraction.
Friday night was fast approaching and Cassidy had sucked in a deep breath, shoved aside anger, resentment and other emotions, to call her father and ask that a bodyguard be assigned to her temporarily—again. She hated this estrangement, the stiffness between them, but she couldn’t just act like the past hadn’t happened—or that things weren’t vastly different now. She’d prayed and prayed and still couldn’t figure out how to forgive—or even what she was supposed to feel and think. She’d keep working on it. In the meantime, she had a new bodyguard.
Anderson Wilmont was a large man from Jamaica who had a lilting accented voice and kind dark eyes which seemed at odds with his choice of profession, but her father assured her that the man knew how to do his job without being intrusive.
Cassidy’s one requirement was that he wear a bullet-proof vest.
She powered down her laptop and jumped up from her chair. Concentrating on her e-mail helped keep her thoughts in order; however, that couldn’t last forever. She needed to do something. The shooter had escaped and still roamed the streets; out there somewhere, waiting to make another move.
The phone rang.
Cassidy looked at the caller ID. Morgan, Cline and Edwards. Ugh. What now? “Hello?”
“Cassidy, this is Sheila Simons with Morgan, Cline and Edwards.”
“Hello, Ms. Simons. What can I do for you?”
“Mr. Morgan asked me to call and inform you that Brian and Susan Cooper have filed a lawsuit, suing you for custody of Alexis.”
Cassidy dropped into the chair next to the phone. Weakness shook her and stars danced in front of her eyes for a brief moment. Then anger kicked in.
“I figured this would happen.” Almost to herself she said, “I suppose I should call my lawyer immediately.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. McKnight. I wish I had better news for you.”
“No, I kind of expected it. All right, I’ll get right on it.”
Cassidy hung up feeling as though she’d been side-swiped. Although Susan had warned her she would sue, Cassidy had high hopes after the woman’s visit that maybe she would change her mind. She ran her fingers through her hair, glanced at her laptop and gave a tearful, humorless chuckle. Well, she’d gotten her distraction.
The Bible lay on the end table next to the recliner. It had been a while. Life had been so crazy lately that she’d neglected her daily quiet time. Not that God was keeping score. Still, she realized she missed God; missed her quiet moments in the morning gazing out her kitchen window while she listened to what He had to tell her.
Cassidy picked up the Bible and flopped into the recliner. She opened the book and searched for something that might help her understand why her life had gone crazy all of a sudden. Certainly, she’d had a rough few years as a rebellious teenager, but now that she was trying to do the right thing, everything was going wrong.
I don’t understand, God. Show me. Keep my faith strong and my trust in You unfailing. I know Moses didn’t have a clue of all the trouble he was going to face when You chose him, he just had to trust You. You’ve chosen me to go through this trial right now and I guess I’m just going to have to trust You. No matter what. God, I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose that little girl, but I have to give it to You. Keep Your hand on us; Your protective shield around us. I know You are the ultimate protector and I thank You for that.
Cassidy went on to pray for her family, Brian and Susan Cooper, Amy and her family and, of course, Gabe.
April 15
Saturday
Gabe’s cell phone rang as he jogged up the steps to his front porch. He’d just finished a three-mile run, as being active seemed to clear his mind and allow him to think. Sitting around worrying about Cassidy just made him insane.
He let the phone ring one more time while he caught his breath, then he pulled the device from the clip on his shorts.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Gabe. Craig here. I called the hospital and they said you had the morning off.”
“Craig, good to hear from you. How are you?”
“Doing all right. Staying busy, unfortunately. I have some bad news for you. You know your pal Rafael?”
Gabe’s gut tightened. “Yeah? He wasn’t released, was he? Or he didn’t escape?”
“Nope. He’s dead.”
“Whoa! What happened?” Gabe sat on the top step, stunned.
“He committed suicide. Guess he wasn’t going to talk no matter what.”
Gabe blew out a breath. On the one hand he felt relieved that the man couldn’t hurt Cassidy anymore. Yet on the other hand, he felt sorry for the waste of human life.
“So, guess there’s not going to be a trial, huh?”
“No, guess not. You can pass the word on to your lady friend. Now we’ve just got to figure out who shot the bodyguard.”
“You got any leads?”
“We think the shots came from the roof of the building across the street. We questioned a group of people there, but no one saw anything.”
“What do the surveillance cameras say?”
“There are four cameras, so we’ve got our guys going through them now. So far, nothing’s turned up. But, we did find one thing pretty interesting.”
Gabe stretched his legs in front of him and flexed his legs to cool down the muscles. Then he stood to pace while he talked. “What’s that?”
“A black outfit tossed in the Dumpster around back. The person wasn’t too careful. Obviously in a hurry. They left gloves, hat, stretch pants and a pullover shirt.”
“Any DNA?”
“Working on it. You know how long it takes the lab to do anything.”
Gabe clenched his jaw. “Tel
l them to work faster. You’ve got lives at stake.”
“I know. I already told them. We’ll see if it makes a difference.”
“Any idea where the clothes were purchased?”
“All the tags were cut out.”
“Wonderful. All right, well, keep me posted.” Gabe ran a hand through his sweaty hair. Time for a shower. “Let me know the minute you hear something on the DNA or anything else.”
“You got it. You know, Gabe, I could use a man like you in my business. You want a job at the precinct?”
Gabe laughed. “No way. I’m not into stress. That’s why I like the emergency room.”
Craig barked a short laugh. “Oh, yeah, no stress there, right? Okay. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Later, man.” Gabe hung up the phone and walked into his house. After he showered, he’d call Cassidy and break the news to her. First, that Rafael was dead and second, that he, Gabriel Sinclair, was going to set foot in a church tomorrow morning for the first time in two years.
April 16
Easter Sunday morning
Bright morning sun streamed through Cassidy’s bedroom window and she stretched under the covers.
Then she remembered and smiled.
Last night, Gabe had called to say he’d join her at church this morning. She’d already prepared herself for his negative response, so when he’d agreed to come, she’d been flabbergasted—and thrilled.
Yesterday, she’d delivered her mother’s Easter dress and the woman had raved about it, declaring she was going to hire Cassidy to do all of her shopping from now on. Cassidy was glad her mother had liked it, but never would she tell her she’d found it on the fifty-percent-off rack. She giggled to herself. Excitement finally propelled her from the bed and she hurried to shower before Alexis awoke and demanded her undivided attention.
It was amazing that the little girl had adjusted so well considering the upheaval she’d been through. But other than an occasional waking during the night to call for her mama, Alexis seemed content.
Thank You for that, God.
Cassidy dressed and applied a light coat of makeup while listening for sounds of Alexis. Finally, she heard, “Me up. Come get me, my Cass-ty.”
Lethal Deception Page 13
