Burden of Proof

by DiAnn Mills

  He grinned. “You’re adorable with a black eye.”

  “Are you flirting with me out here in the middle of mosquitoes, snakes, wild pigs, and animals that want us for lunch?”

  He stopped and held up his hand. She immediately hushed. He turned and mouthed the words, “Get down.”

  She obeyed and strained to hear. Nothing but the rustle of nature. She prayed the snakes were busy elsewhere.

  He peered through his binoculars for a moment. Wordlessly, he handed them to her. Opposite them about 150 feet, on a moss-covered bank, a huge, jean-clad man with his back to them stood as though listening. The man did a 180 and stared straight into the brush where she and Jason were crouching.

  Willis.

  April lowered the binoculars. “We need to let Simon know we’ve found Willis,” she whispered.

  “I will,” he mouthed. “And give him the coordinates.” He checked his phone and frowned. Undoubtedly no connectivity. While she continued to observe Willis through the binoculars, Jason composed a text and tried to send it. He pocketed his phone and shook his head, followed up by an attempt on the radio. “Must be too far from the vehicle’s repeater.”

  “Can’t let him escape,” she said.

  Jason bent low and moved effortlessly around the marshy terrain in Willis’s direction. She crept after him. A snake uncoiled on her left—short . . . black, yellow, red . . . a venomous coral snake. She couldn’t move.

  “Jason,” she uttered barely above a whisper.

  As if he could smell danger, he yanked a pocketknife from his pant pocket, released the blade, and sank it into the snake’s head. Took him three seconds to save her life.

  April clutched her chest and inhaled as though her life depended on it. She’d take bad guys over snakes any day. Never would she walk these woods in the summer without her gun in hand. Jason touched her arm, and she expressed her okay.

  She pulled her weapon. “Let’s go make an arrest.”

  “I want answers, not a dead body,” he said.

  April took the lead, and Jason stayed at her heels. Stooping in a low position compounded with the beating her body took last night and made her back ache.

  They pressed in closer until they were about twenty-five feet from Willis. She slowly stood and aimed her Glock. “Willis, stop. Raise your hands. You are under arrest.”

  The big man froze, but his right hand crept toward his holstered firearm.

  “You know the drill. I pull the trigger. You’re a dead man.” She feared if he chose a firefight, they’d never get their answers. “Now.”

  “You two just made a terrible mistake. Add trespassing to that.” When he raised his right hand, she moved closer.

  “With your left hand, remove your firearm and place it gently on the ground.”

  Still Willis hesitated.

  “Willis, don’t be a fool. No one else has to get hurt.” April poured softness into her tone in an effort to mollify him.

  He dropped his weapon and raised his hands. “Your and Jason’s playtime isn’t a secret,” he said. “Deputy Wilcombe and Deputy Viner witnessed your behavior. They’re prepared to testify.”

  The tide was turning against the two deputies. She hated it for Kevin . . . a friend to Jason.

  Regroup.

  April approached Willis and Jason joined her. “Do you have Billie and Zack out here?” she said.

  “Have no idea where they are.”

  “Then what are you doing in these woods?”

  “Enjoyin’ a stroll across my own property.”

  “Where can I find Brenda Krew’s daughter, Joey Frederickson?”

  “I’m not her daddy.”

  “Help me, and I’ll tell the judge you assisted in solving a series of crimes. She’s wanted for assault and kidnapping.”

  Willis shook his head.

  “Did you arrange for her to kidnap Isabella Snyder and force Ted and Vicki at gun—?”

  Willis lowered his arms.

  Jason moved forward. He reached for Willis’s hand, but the big man grabbed Jason’s right thumb, twisting it under and out, rendering Jason helpless with his arm flipped to his back.

  “As I said, you two just made a terrible mistake. You aren’t going to pull the trigger and hit Jason.”

  “Let him go.”

  Willis laughed. “Couldn’t leave it alone, could you? But we can talk about this. Make it easy for the three of us.” He wore a familiar sneer. “Put down your gun and I’ll release lover boy.”

  “Don’t do it, April.” Jason’s face was distorted in pain.

  “Tell me where I can find Billie and Zack.”

  “Why?” she said.

  “My wife has something that belongs to me.”

  “Your son?” Jason said.

  “This is worth a whole lot more than a sniveling kid who’s just like his mother. The original flash drive. I have the one she gave you.”

  “What if she made more than one copy?”

  “My wife isn’t that smart.” Willis’s lip curled. “Here’s the deal. Tell me where they are, and I’ll tell the FBI who killed Russell.”

  “You can’t bargain with the FBI.” Jason’s words rose through the obvious pain of Willis twisting his arm.

  “Willis, you’re in enough trouble without facing additional murder charges,” April said. “If you didn’t kill Russell, who did?”

  “You think because you’re a hostage negotiator, I’ll talk to you?” Willis said.

  “No. But you need to consider helping yourself, because this will get ugly real fast.”

  “Gotta violin and I’ll wail you a tune. I’m the one in control here.” He jerked Jason’s arm, and he winced. “Put down your gun, Agent Ramos. Or I break his arm.”

  She couldn’t bear to lose Jason, not when life seemed to be making sense.

  “I warned you.”

  She heard the bone snap. Jason cried out, and she slowly lowered her gun.

  “Kick it my way,” Willis said. When she obeyed, he dragged Jason several feet into the dense woods. “Don’t try following us.”

  48

  JASON STRUGGLED TO HIS FEET, the agony in his arm radiating throughout his body. Willis had laid a punch along the side of his face. Tossed him into a pile of brush. Then disappeared into thick underbrush. Another mistake on his part—underestimating Willis’s wit and strength. He drew in his right arm and made his way back to April. He despised defeat.

  She stood in the same path as when he’d left her. Only this time, she held her gun. Blinking back the tears, she hurried to his side. “I’m so sorry. I heard your arm snap.”

  He wanted to sound all brave, but he felt like a fool in pain. “By the time we get back to the others, Willis will be in the next county.”

  She wrapped her arm around his waist, like he’d done for her when she’d been run off the road. Such a little battered thing to try to support a grown man. “Let’s get you to the ER.”

  The walk to meet Simon and the female agent at a designated spot took far too long, each step reminding Jason of his disastrous attempt to bring Willis in. The only thing he’d accomplished successfully was finding his daughter. That counted for something.

  “Whoa. What happened?” Simon said.

  “Willis got the best of us,” April said. She relayed the story, and her tone sounded as though she was experiencing the same frustration as Jason.

  Simon squinted at Jason. “He got away this time but not the next. I’m ordering a chopper, but it may be too late.” Simon instructed the other team to see about picking up Willis’s trail. “Woodville officers found what appears to be a grave, matches the one in Billie’s photo. I’ve requested a dig to exhume a body, if one is found.”

  “Do you need a court order?” Jason said.

  “Not with what Billie Lennox reported. Thanks for your help. I’m staying in the area through tomorrow. Can you drive yourself to the hospital?”

  “I’ll take him,” April said.

 
“Okay.” He bored his gaze into Jason. “I’m grateful for your help, but this is where it ends. Do not interfere in a federal investigation.”

  “Do you have Russell’s killer? Joey Frederickson? Willis in jail?”

  “You heard me.”

  Late that afternoon, with his arm casted, Jason walked out of Tyler County Hospital into a chilly fall breeze from the north. The doctor had taken one look at April’s bruised face and examined her, too.

  “We’re pathetic,” she said.

  “My dad would say we looked like we got beat by the end of an ugly stick. But you’re still cute.”

  She feigned a glare at him, then smiled. The tense muscles in her bruised face said volumes about the unsolved crimes. “Willis is in huge trouble.”

  “So we lost the battle but the war’s not over?” His idiocy still frosted him.

  “Optimism.”

  He caught her gaze. “Hungry? I can make a mean grilled cheese. Even have a jar of Mom’s homemade tomato soup.”

  “Perfect. I’m starved. How are you at left-handed cooking?”

  “A pro. I whipped up plenty of them while holding Isabella.”

  Jason drove with April beside him. He breathed in, letting the air fill his lungs. “Don’t suppose Simon will allow me to watch the dig, see who or what’s buried there?”

  “You already know the answer.”

  “Were he and the agent friends?”

  “No. Just from the same family of risk-takers.”

  Jason had never viewed himself as much of a risk-taker until his loved ones were facing down the barrel of a gun. “Simon isn’t thinking straight if he believes I’m going back to pounding nails.”

  “I assumed nothing had changed.”

  “You know me well.”

  “I learn more every time we’re together.”

  He peered her way, but her focus was occupied by a squirrel scampering across the road. “Professionally or personally?”

  “Both, I suppose.”

  He stared at the gravel driveway leading to his farmhouse. Coming to a halt in front of the porch, he uttered the words pelting his mind. “I like you, April . . . more than I thought possible.”

  She slowly faced him. “Friendship is easy, comfortable. What we’re feeling, thinking, is scary, for me anyway.” She glanced out the passenger-side window, then back to him. “It’s only been a little over a year since Lily passed. What would she say about us?”

  He’d wondered the same thing. “She’d like you, who you are, and what you stand for. I think she’d be happy for us.” He leaned across the seat. “I sure want to kiss you, but it looks painful.”

  She closed the gap between them and touched her lips to his. “This is healing.”

  “In more ways than you can imagine.”

  Fluffy bounded up to the truck door and greeted him.

  Her phone alerted her to a text. “It’s Simon. He wants to talk privately.” She left the truck and walked onto the front porch.

  49

  AS APRIL AND JASON SAT at his kitchen table and munched on grilled cheese sandwiches with Mom’s homemade soup, he wanted to ask about Simon’s conversation with her. Maybe it had nothing to do with the case. Maybe she’d made arrangements to drive back to Houston.

  “What kind of cheese did you use?” she said. “I taste provolone and cheddar.”

  “You’re right, and two kinds of cheddar, sharp and mild.”

  She laid the half-eaten sandwich on her plate. “Simon wants to talk to me face-to-face at your parents’ home,” she said. “About 6 p.m. He’d like to add you to the conversation at 6:30.”

  “What about?”

  “The obvious.”

  “And keeping me in line.” He sighed. “I understand his position and yours. We all have stakes. Mine are personal. I’m worried about Billie. Too many reasons for why she might have disappeared, and most are not good.” He finished his soup, flipped to a new page on his legal pad, and grasped his pen.

  April took another bite of her sandwich and studied him. She’d probably guessed his thoughts. “You’re blaming yourself for Billie’s disappearance.”

  “You’ve taken up mind reading?”

  She pushed back her plate and bowl. “Regrets keep us chained to guilt.” She’d experienced her share. “There’s nothing you could have done to prevent this.”

  “My head says you’re right, but it will take time to get past it. She trusted me, and I betrayed her.”

  “You are looking out for her safety. Jason, you have an integrity this world craves. You’re honorable and filled with caring for others. Those traits are why Billie came to you for help.”

  Simple words of encouragement and support—those used to come from Lily. “I should be this pillar of strength without flaws.”

  “Perfection isn’t in the human DNA.”

  “We strive for it.”

  “I was told with God’s help we do our best to model Jesus. When we slip, we ask for forgiveness and God is merciful.”

  “I thought your views on Christianity weren’t solid.”

  “After the accident this morning and seeing the miracle God performed, I gave Him control. Biblical principles were in my head, and now they’re in my heart. The things I learned as a child—from nuns in school, from those who are believers, and on to you and your family—keep pouring into my mind. Thanks to what I’ve seen in the people around me. Including you. Don’t discount your positive impact on others.”

  Her words should have inspired him, but instead they hit him hard. “Right. Sure.”

  “Can the darkness be replaced with treasured memories?”

  He grimaced. “Isabella deserves laughter.”

  “So do you. When the ugliness of Willis’s attempts drags you to the bottom, think about your precious daughter. Plan a vacation with her.”

  Would April be a part of the future? Did he dare even consider it?

  Taking notes was no longer important. He wanted to kiss her, and he fought a losing battle with the emotions surging inside him.

  He lightly stroked her cheek and leaned toward her. Their lips met. He tasted the soft sweetness that he remembered from the early hours when he feared she was dead. The soft glow in her eyes told him what her words failed to convey. When he felt an urge to deepen the kiss, he pulled back instead. “Should I apologize?” Hoarseness wove through his words.

  “I’d rather we talk about it.”

  Jason grinned. That sounded like a line from the hostage negotiation handbook.

  “Never mind,” she said, growing flustered. “I take it back. I don’t want to discuss us.”

  He took their bowls and plates to the sink to give her a little time. He leaned back against the counter and faced her at the table. “Okay, we won’t. For now. But when life around here calms down, can we explore the next step after friendship?”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll put you and me on a to-tackle list for later.”

  “Like football?” She smiled.

  “You—” he paused to form his words—“are not a sport or a game.”

  “Thank you.” Taking a deep breath, she moistened her lips. “What’s up next?”

  “Lots of unfinished business. I’m making a list of people to visit.”

  “Can you hold off contacting them until I’m finished with Simon? We’re still partners.”

  “April, we’re a team too. Our skills complement each other. Well, mostly yours.”

  “Promise me you won’t break the law or undermine the FBI’s work. If you do, I can’t protect you.”

  “I understand. But I know the people of Sweet Briar, and while they might hold back talking to a stranger, they’ll open up to me, especially with Willis on the run. People in the community loved Russell, and they want justice served. I have a license to carry a handgun, but no technology, no fancy connections or resources for information. But I can’t let this go.”

  April wished she could relieve Simon’s stress,
evident in his pinched features. Shortly after 6 p.m., he sat upright in Ted’s brown leather recliner while she eased onto the sofa across from him. These last few years before Simon retired at fifty-seven were shadowing him.

  “So Kevin Viner is the deputy who contacted the FBI.”

  Simon dragged a hand over his face. “Yes. He’s kept us informed while looking for evidence to prosecute Willis. If the body is Eric Deckett, and we’re able to find Billie Lennox, we can put Willis away for a long time.”

  “I imagine Billie, like others in this community, has more than one tale. Any clues to her whereabouts?”

  “A few but nothing definite yet.”

  He looked so tired, her friend and partner. “Want me to brew a pot of coffee?”

  “No thanks. I’m on a caffeine high, and my stomach’s raw.” He pressed his lips before speaking, obviously choosing his words with care. “I asked the SAC why you weren’t the one working the public corruption case against Willis since it is your area of expertise.”

  She gazed out the huge window facing the quaint property across the street, an image of small-town peaceful living. “Honestly, being out of the loop bothers me tremendously.”

  “Remember the case in south Houston where a dozen young women were being held hostage by their pimp?”

  “Took me days to interview each one. They were malnourished, abused, and required medical care.” The case unfolded in her mind. She had helped the girls obtain counseling and reconnect with their families. Some she still visited on a regular basis.

  “You were involved for nearly three weeks, then you took a week off.”

  “That’s when Willis’s case came in?”

  “Right.”

  “I was consumed by every woman’s situation.” She breathed in. “I understand.”

  “Okay, back to Sweet Briar and the criminal activities here. Quantico is backlogged, so the behavior analysis will take more time. We have the typical motivation of power and control, but the underlying factors require intensive psychological research.” Simon clamped his palms on the arms of the recliner. “You’ve managed to turn up evidence which we were unable to find. Good job.”

  And she intended to work every angle. “Does Willis have a lawyer? I’m thinking he’s aware of at least some of Willis’s illegal activities.”