Safeguarding the Surrogate

by Delores Fossen

  But so did the anger.

  Kara had felt plenty of anger when she’d set her plan of bait into motion. She hadn’t wanted to feel helpless, and she’d gone into that barn, waiting for the worst to happen. However, the anger she’d felt then was a drop in the bucket compared to what she felt now. The monster who’d murdered Brenda and now Mandy wasn’t going to get away with this.

  “I didn’t hear anything about the killer posing Brenda’s body or moving it to a location away from the place she was killed,” Kara said as Daniel drove away from her house. “You read the police reports. Was there any mention of that?”

  Even in the dim light from the dashboard panel, she could see the rock-hard set of his jaw muscles. He was still glancing around, no doubt looking for the person who’d murdered Mandy. “None.” This time when he cursed, it wasn’t muttered. “I didn’t believe you. I didn’t believe there was a killer.”

  She heard the guilt in his voice and knew this was something that would eat away at him. But Kara had no intention of holding his feet to the fire on this.

  “You had to look at this as a cop,” she reminded him. Like Daniel, she also continued to keep watch, but there were lots of woods on the rural roads between their two ranches. “Besides, there wasn’t a lot of evidence to convince you that someone was targeting surrogates.”

  “You knew there was a killer,” he snapped.

  It wasn’t much consolation for her to know that she’d been right all along about her being in the crosshairs of a killer. “Because I sensed someone following me. Because I was paranoid,” she added in frustration. “I’ve been paranoid for the past thirteen years.”

  He didn’t have to ask what had happened thirteen years ago to make her that way. Daniel knew. That’s when her parents had been murdered. But not just murdered. A ranch hand her father had fired, Lamar Darnell, had stalked her parents and taunted them with threats for weeks. Before the cops could find Lamar and arrest him, he’d shot and murdered her mom and dad and then turned the gun on himself.

  There was that old saying that what didn’t kill you made you stronger. Well, their deaths hadn’t killed her, but Kara had known she wouldn’t go through something like that again without a fight. For all the good it’d done.

  A woman was still dead.

  “I should have handled this a different way,” Kara whispered, talking to herself. “I should have tried to find out the names of the surrogates so I could contact them and warn them. I should have looked harder to find some kind of evidence to give the San Antonio cops a push to get involved.”

  Daniel groaned, and he shook his head. “If you need to blame someone, blame me. I didn’t listen, but I’m listening now. Whoever’s doing this might have a beef against the fertility clinic. Maybe against the idea of surrogacy itself. Either way, I want access to the files. I want to read some of that letter they got from the guy claiming to have killed Brenda.”

  Kara wanted that, as well. In fact, she’d asked for permission to read that letter and any others of a threatening nature, but her request had been denied. Maybe Daniel could use his badge to get to them, and that in turn could lead them to suspects.

  Maybe an insane one.

  “Mandy was a brunette, too,” Kara murmured, and just that little detail caused her stomach to twist into knots. “Just like Brenda and Marissa. Just like me.”

  “Yes,” Daniel said, and he paused for several moments. “Often a killer like this will stick to the same type of victim and the same method of murder.”

  Kara thought about that. Brenda had been beaten to death, and from the looks of it, Mandy had been strangled. They still didn’t know what had happened to the missing woman, Marissa, but Kara had the sickening feeling that they’d find her dead, too. And everything was pointing to their being surrogates at the same clinic as the reason for their deaths.

  “You think there’s more than one killer?” she asked, trying to focus on the investigation rather than the images of the dead woman.

  Daniel lifted his shoulder. “It’s too early to say. Maybe. Or maybe he just got carried away with Brenda. He could have beaten her because she fought back.”

  True, and that didn’t ease the stomach knots any. It only proved to her that whoever was doing this would use any means to reach his goal.

  And his goal was to kill.

  “All the surrogates who used that clinic will need to be contacted,” Kara said. “They should know there’s a possible threat.”

  He made a sound of agreement. “It’s tricky when getting access to medical records, but maybe the press can help with that. When the news media picks up on the two murders, possibly three, and all were former patients at Willingham, then—”

  When he didn’t finish that, Kara turned to him and saw that he was looking in the rearview mirror. At first, she didn’t see anything other than the darkness, but then she spotted the vehicle.

  A black truck with the headlights off.

  “It just pulled out from a side road,” Daniel said.

  Kara’s heart immediately jumped to her throat. There were other ranches and houses out here, and while there wasn’t a lot of traffic, there was still some. Still, everything inside her went on alert because this could be the killer, especially considering the driver wasn’t using the headlights.

  Without looking at her, Daniel passed his phone to her. “Text Barrett and let him know that we’re being followed.”

  Kara tamped down her nerves and did as Daniel asked. She also kept her attention nailed to the side mirror so she could see the truck. The driver still had the headlights off, and they stayed that way even after Daniel flashed his own lights. Even though the truck was behind him, he’d be able to see the lights go on and off.

  Despite the fact that Kara had been expecting a reply from Barrett, the dinging sound from Daniel’s phone nearly had her shifting her gun to take aim. “Barrett’s on the way,” she relayed to him.

  Kara did a quick estimate and figured Daniel’s brother could be there in five minutes or so. Then, maybe they could stop the truck and figure out what was going on. It could turn out to be nothing. Or this could be a huge break. One that would lead them to catching a killer.

  “I don’t want to go to my place just yet,” Daniel muttered.

  “I agree.” Kara couldn’t say that fast enough. If this was a killer, no way did she want him going to Daniel’s doorstep. Sadie was in the house, and if there was trouble, she could be hurt.

  That reminder gave Kara a new surge of anger that steadied her hands and her mind. She’d already lost too many people she loved, and she would do whatever she needed to do to stop it from happening again.

  “He lowered his window,” Daniel said, his voice hard and tight. He drew his weapon while he continued to drive. “Get down on the seat.”

  Kara wanted to argue with him, to remind him that she could help him keep watch. But this wasn’t the time to distract Daniel with what would no doubt be a disagreement. The cop in him wouldn’t want her to take any unnecessary risks—even if he was taking one just by staying behind the wheel.

  The reality of that risk hit her hard when she saw the hand snaking out from the open window of the truck. Oh, mercy. The driver had a gun.

  And he aimed it right at them.

  She slid lower into the seat but not so low that she wouldn’t be able to provide backup. And she did that just as the bullet slammed into Daniel’s truck. The sound she heard was of metal ripping into metal. Not once but three times. That sent her heart pounding and her grip tightening on her Glock.

  “Hold on,” Daniel ground out, and he hit the accelerator.

  This wasn’t exactly a good road for speeding. There were a lot of curves, even a bridge, and it would be so easy for them to crash. Still, they needed to get out of range of those bullets.

  “Text Barrett again,” Daniel tol
d her. “Tell him we’re under fire.”

  Before Kara could do that, the sound of another shot blasted through the air. This one didn’t hit Daniel’s truck, but the shooter immediately sent another shot their way. Then another. Worse, the guy was managing to keep up with them. Both trucks were flying down the country road.

  She sent the text, knowing that at the speed they were going, it would take Barrett even longer to reach them. However, he could likely manage to get them some backup that could arrive faster since they were headed in the direction of Mercy Ridge.

  Daniel sped past the turn that would have taken them to his ranch, and then he cursed. Kara risked sitting farther up in the seat so she could look in the side mirror again. What she saw sent her heart to her knees. The shooter had slowed down and taken that turn.

  He was heading to Daniel’s ranch.

  Daniel slammed on the brakes, the tires squealing against the asphalt, and he turned his truck around. Not easily and not fast. It was hard to do a U-turn on such a narrow road, and the maneuver ate up precious seconds, but Daniel finally got them turned around.

  “Call Noreen,” Daniel snapped, but Kara was already doing that.

  With the lead the driver of the truck had on them, he would make it to the ranch before they did. Kara tried not to let that terrify her. Terror wouldn’t help right now. She just needed to let the nanny know what was going on so she could do whatever possible to keep a killer from getting into the house.

  Thankfully, Noreen answered on the first ring, and Kara didn’t even bother easing into this. “There’s trouble. A gunman is on the way to the ranch,” Kara blurted out.

  “Kara?” Noreen said. “Why are you calling? What’s going on?”

  “I don’t have time to explain everything. He’ll be there within minutes so you need to make sure all the windows and doors are locked. Turn on the security system if it’s not already on and then take Sadie into one of the bathrooms. Do it now,” Kara snapped when Noreen didn’t respond.

  “I’m checking the doors.” Noreen finally said. “God, what’s happening?”

  “We’re not sure, but this gunman could try to break in. Are the doors and windows locked?”

  “Oh, God,” Noreen repeated. “We keep the windows locked, and the doors are, too.” Kara heard some soft clicks. “And I’ve just set the security system.”

  “Stay on the line and get Sadie to the bathroom,” Kara instructed.

  Daniel muttered something, maybe a prayer, and he continued to speed through the night toward the ranch. She could hear their gusting breaths, but that was the only sound.

  Until the next shot.

  It seemed to come out of the blue, and it blasted through the window right next to her head. The safety glass tumbled down onto her, and Kara didn’t even have time to bring up her gun before the gunman fired another bullet. Then another.

  “Get down,” Daniel yelled.

  She did but not before she saw the black truck. Not on the road ahead of them. The driver had pulled off onto a trail, the front of the truck facing them.

  With a hail of bullets coming directly at them, Daniel’s truck lurched to the right, and that’s when Kara knew their situation had gone from bad to worse. Because the gunman had managed to shoot out at least one of the tires.

  Fighting with the steering wheel, Daniel kept going, and the bullets kept coming. The shooter’s truck did, too. From the glimpse that Kara got in the side mirror, the driver had bolted out behind them again. And that meant they were now headed for Daniel’s ranch.

  “Do you have Sadie in the bathroom?” Kara asked Noreen.

  “Yes.” Noreen’s voice sounded even shakier than it had before.

  Kara could also hear Sadie fussing, and that was like a fisted hand on her heart. Sadie could be afraid. She was too young to understand what was going on, but the little girl had no doubt picked up on her nanny’s fear.

  The shots started again, and Daniel’s truck did another lurch. Mercy, the gunman was trying to stop them, and if he succeeded, they’d be sitting ducks. He could continue to fire until he killed them both.

  “I’m not going closer to the house,” Daniel snarled.

  Unlike Noreen, there was no fear in his voice. Just some raw anger. Something Kara totally understood. She wanted to make this gunman pay hard for what he was doing.

  “Text Barrett again and give him our location,” Daniel added, and he finally brought his truck to a stop.

  Kara knew that it was necessary for Barrett to know where they were so that there wouldn’t be the possibility of being wounded by friendly fire, but she wanted to help Daniel with this showdown. Still, she sent off the text, tossed the phone onto the glass-strewn seat and levered herself up so that she could return fire. Beside her, Daniel did the same.

  There was another sound. Not gunfire this time. But rather the gunman throwing his truck into Reverse. He flew backward, whipping the truck onto a trail so that he could turn around.

  Daniel bolted out from cover, taking aim, and he fired two rounds into the cab of the truck. However, it was already too late.

  The killer was speeding away.

  Chapter Four

  While Daniel waited for an update from Barrett, he paced across his living room and watched Kara. He had to hand it to her—she was looking a lot steadier than she must be feeling.

  And she was doing that for Sadie’s sake.

  Kara was pulling off the steady facade, too, because Sadie showed no signs that anything was wrong while Kara read her a story. They were snuggled up on the sofa with Sadie in her lap. Of course, Sadie was only eighteen months old and thankfully too young to realize something bad had happened.

  The calm veneer wouldn’t last for Kara, though. Daniel was certain of that because he figured it wouldn’t last for him, either. Right now, he had plenty to do, what with trying to find out what the hell had happened with that attack, but once Sadie was in bed and Kara and he started talking about it, the emotions would be right there at the surface.

  The fear, too.

  After all, their attacker was still at large, which meant he could return for another round. Since the shooter was also likely the same person who’d murdered Mandy, it wouldn’t be a friendly encounter.

  Sadie clapped when Kara finished the book and gave Kara a kiss on the cheek. That was Noreen’s cue to get Sadie moving. The nanny was also keeping up appearances, trying not to let it show that she was worried, but Daniel would have to talk to her soon, too, and try to reassure her that he’d do whatever it took to keep them all safe.

  “Remember, you get to sleep in the bathtub,” Daniel told Sadie.

  That caused his daughter to grin. She believed this was some kind of an adventure. Like indoor camping with the bedding that he’d put in the tub for her. However, it was much more than an adventure. It was for her own safety. If a gunman fired shots, Sadie would be safer in the tub than in her crib. Daniel would add a level to that safety by sleeping on the bathroom floor next to her.

  As usual, Sadie doled out good-night kisses and hugs first to Kara and then to Daniel. He let the hug linger a couple of moments. Just having his baby with him settled him down a little. However, it also reminded him of how high the stakes were right now. His little girl could be in danger, and he needed to find out why because the why often led to the who.

  “What kind of updates have you been getting?” Kara asked the moment Sadie and Noreen were out of earshot.

  Obviously, Kara had noticed that during the time she’d been reading to Sadie, he’d been getting texts. Some had been from Barrett, others from Leo, but neither of them had good news.

  “There’s still no sign of the killer,” he said, giving her the worst of it first. Until they found him, they couldn’t make an arrest, and the threat would continue.

  Kara nodded, and she stayed quiet a moment,
no doubt trying to come to terms with that. “Anything on Mandy?”

  “Some, most of it is still preliminary, though. Cause of death is likely strangulation. San Antonio PD is going through her place now, and they’ve told us there are signs of a struggle.”

  Another nod from Kara, followed by some deep breaths. She was trying to steady herself. Good. Because even though she had a darn good reason to fall apart right now, Daniel was hoping she wouldn’t. He needed both of them to hold things together so they could figure out the safe thing to do about Sadie. About Kara, too, since she was almost certainly the killer’s target.

  But why hadn’t the guy just killed her tonight?

  Kara had put out the word that she’d be in the barn, and he could have gone in there after her. It could be this was some kind of cat-and-mouse game, or maybe the killer was a coward. It was one thing to take and drug an unarmed woman like Mandy, but he must have known that Kara would be armed and ready for him.

  “The crime scene unit is out at your house,” he went on after glancing through his texts. “They’ve found two sets of footprints outside your office window. There are some drag marks, too. So maybe the guy had drugged Mandy before he got there, revived her enough so she could walk at least part of the way and then gave her a second dose of the drug once he got her inside.”

  Of course, the killer could have incapacitated the woman other ways, smothering or a blow to the head, but it didn’t really matter. He’d gotten Mandy into Kara’s house, murdered her and staged the body. Maybe as a threat to Kara to tell her to back off her investigation into the missing and dead surrogates, maybe just to torment her.

  The tormenting was definitely working.

  She shook her head. “I didn’t hear anything to let me know someone was in my house.”

  At the moment, he considered that a good thing. “If you had, you might have gone inside to check things out and been killed.”