by Rebecca Deel
Whoever decorated Stephens’ office deserved an award. The room, comfortable with oversized leather and chrome furniture, remained functional with the latest technology displayed. Massive oak bookcases rose to the ceiling.
Serena perused the room with what she hoped mimicked natural curiosity, although she didn’t see any cameras. She moved to Josh’s side and pretended to help him get more comfortable.
“Thanks, sis.” Josh embraced her. Close to her ear, he whispered, “Two cameras. One in the left bookcase, aimed at his desk; one in the potted plant in the corner near the door. I’ll cover the door cam.”
He pulled back and pinched her cheek like he used to do when they were kids. Serena used to hate that; now she appreciated the support his gesture represented.
Frank Stephens hurried into the room, a medium-sized maroon pillow in hand. “How’s this?”
“That’s great. Thank you, sir.” Josh positioned the pillow behind his left hip and settled back.
“Now, Serena, what am I supposed to sign for you?” Stephens moved behind his pristine desk.
Serena set her purse down on Stephens’ desk. She pulled out a sheaf of papers and removed the top sheet. “You need to sign off on the menu for tomorrow night’s dinner. I’ve been having trouble with Jacque. He’s not familiar with Southern cuisine, and doesn’t want to learn. When I leave you, I’ll go to the kitchen and confirm the menu with your signature to back me.” She laid the paper in front of Stephens and waited for him to sign.
He scanned the document, and scribbled his name across the top. Eyeing the other pages in her hand, he said, “What are the rest?”
Serena leaned over his desk and twisted the pages around so Stephens could read them. She heard Josh get up and stand behind her, as if curious about the pile of papers as well. “This is a list of ingredients I ordered for the menu, things Jacque didn’t have stocked in your kitchen. As per our agreement, I charged these items to the hotel.”
“Looks like Chef Jacque doesn’t know what good Southern cooking is all about.” Josh chuckled. “What do you bet he won’t sample what he’s preparing for tomorrow night?”
“He doesn’t even know how to make good sweet tea.” Serena smiled. “After I sampled his tea, I gave him a recipe. Your signature on this page confirms that no alcohol will be served with dinner. And on this last page, if you’ll sign down here at the bottom, you authorize your accounts people to pay my banquet coordination bill.”
Serena slid her purse onto her left arm, preparing to leave. She curled her hand around the front edge of Stephens’ desk.
“That’s all?” Stephens asked.
“Yes, sir. Thank you for seeing me this afternoon. I know you’re busy.” Serena hoped he didn’t see the guilt she felt written on her face. No Oscar waited to grace her mantle.
“Anything for Mike’s niece. You talked to him lately?”
“Last weekend.” Serena clamped down hard on the impulse to cut and run. That would give the game up for sure. “Did you know he’s going to the Bahamas in August for vacation? Aunt Rita finally convinced him to take her.”
Stephens laughed. “Hard to believe. Mike prefers to go to someplace green like the mountains since he lives in the middle of the desert. Can’t wait to hear how his vacation turns out on a tropical island.”
“I’ll tell him you asked about him.” Serena slipped the signed papers into her purse. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, sir.”
#
Ethan stood by his office window, hands in his pockets, unmoving. Serena and Josh had been gone over an hour, one of the longest hours of his life. He still preferred leading a mission to waiting behind the lines for a status report.
The whole department seemed quiet, odd for a Friday afternoon. Either Otter Creek had shut down for the last hour, or Trudie decided to route all problems to other people. Ethan sighed, massaged the back of his neck, then returned to the only thing he could do at this point: pray.
Minutes later, a knock interrupted him. Rod slipped into the office, carrying a tape player. “Chief, the lab guys just brought in the tape from Pam’s answering machine.”
“Let’s hear it.” Ethan sat in his desk chair.
Rod pressed the play button. They listened to four hang-ups. On the fifth call, they heard a muffled male voice say, “No more games. The disk or you die, too.”
“Again.” Ethan closed his eyes. He blocked everything out but the voice, searching for speech inflections and patterns. “Can the lab clean it up any more?”
“Yeah, but it’ll take a few weeks. They’ve got a backlog.”
“What’s your impression?” Ethan asked. “You recognize the voice?”
Rod shook his head. “Too much interference. His accent seemed odd, though, like maybe he’s from Europe.”
“That’s my feeling, as well. Make a duplicate of the tape, and send the original off to the lab. When we bag The Fox, we’ll check voice print matches.”
#
“I’m going to be sick.” Serena clutched her stomach and hunched deeper into the passenger seat of Ethan’s truck.
Josh chuckled. “Figured you still had a weak stomach.” He reached into the door’s side pocket and handed her a bottle of Coke. “It’s not very cold, but it ought to do the trick.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Josh.” She took several swallows. “I didn’t look forward to steam cleaning Ethan’s truck or Meg’s razzing.”
“You did good back there, kid.” Josh changed lanes, then glanced in the rearview mirror. “You carried off your part without a hitch.”
“I almost lost it when you played up the stiff leg.” Serena grinned. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to do that?”
“Have to be creative in covert ops. I had to find a way to get Stephens out of the office for a minute,” Josh said, checking his side mirror. “Couldn’t take the chance he’d figure out I was casing his office.” After changing lanes again, he looked at Serena. “Got your cell phone handy?”
“Yes, why?” Suspicion sent a jolt of adrenaline through her. Josh never talked on the phone while he drove. Said it distracted him too much, and he didn’t like not having both hands on the wheel.
“Dial Ethan and hand me the phone.” He depressed the gas pedal. The truck leaped forward.
“What’s going on?” Serena punched her speed dial, her stomach roiling. She hoped the Coke did its job instead of adding to her misery.
#
“Blackhawk.”
Ethan raised his head, eyes narrowed. “You have an appointment, sir? I’m in the middle of something.” The volume of activity outside his office dropped.
Color flooded Henry Parks’ face. “I’m the mayor. I don’t need an appointment.” He slammed the office door.
Heads turned in the squad room. Ethan signaled Rod to stand by. “Two minutes, Mr. Mayor. Then you’ll have to leave.”
“You’re pushing your luck, Chief.”
Ethan glanced at his watch. “One minute and forty-five seconds.”
Parks slapped his palms on the desk. “Where do you get off calling in the Feds without notifying my office or the council? We take care of our own problems in Otter Creek. We don’t want outsiders nosing in our business.”
“Ninety seconds.”
He leaned nearer. “We didn’t have crime like this until you came to town. Maybe you’re like a bad penny, bringing back luck wherever you land. What’s going on, Blackhawk? How fast will we see the backs of those Feds?”
“I have nothing to say right now, Mr. Mayor. I don’t discuss on-going cases.”
“You will report to me, Chief, or you’ll find a termination notice in your next paycheck.”
Ethan stood, drawing himself to full height, his face a stone mask. “Your time is up, Mr. Mayor.” He motioned to the detective.
Rod opened the door. “Yes, sir?”
Ethan’s gaze focused on Parks glittering eyes. “Mayor Parks is ready to leave.”
The detective
stepped closer and grasped the man’s upper arm. “This way, sir.”
Parks spared him a glance. “I can find the door, Detective.” He pointed a forefinger in Ethan’s face. “You’ll regret this.” The mayor jerked his arm free and stormed out of the station.
Ethan’s cell phone rang, shattering the silence. “Blackhawk.”
“Ethan, it’s Josh. Mission accomplished, but we’ve got a small problem.”
Ethan’s stomach twisted into a knot. “What’s wrong?”
“Got a tango on our tail, and he’s homing in fast.”
“Where are you?” He moved to the map of Dunlap County on his wall.
“I just turned south onto Watermill Road from I-40,” Josh answered.
Rod stepped into his office. “Everything okay, Chief?”
Ethan held up his hand, visually tracing Watermill Road. He’d been driving out that way a few days ago. “Watermill doesn’t have much traffic. Can you put some distance between you and the tango?”
Josh chuckled. “As long as you don’t mind fixing a speeding ticket if I happen to get caught by one of your co-workers.”
“No problem.” Ethan honed in on one section of road ahead of their location. “Watermill Road divides about five miles ahead of you. Take the right fork. That’s Piney Ridge. If you can put some distance between you and the tail, you’ll be able to whip onto one of several forested side roads. Piney Ridge has some good twists that should help shield your tactics.”
“Roger that.”
Ethan turned. “Rod, send the closest units to Piney Ridge. Someone’s tailing Josh and Serena.” He frowned. “Josh, what kind of vehicle’s on your six?”
“Older model dark blue pickup. Maybe a Ford F-250. Can’t make the license plate.”
Ethan closed his eyes a second, then turned to Rod. “Tell the units they’re looking for an older model dark blue Ford F-250.”
Rod’s eyes widened. “Lawrence’s truck?”
“Let’s catch it and find out. Tell the units to step on it, and to go in hot.” Maybe obvious fast-approaching cops would scare off The Fox or cause him to make a mistake. Doubtful, but his first concern was Serena and Josh’s safety.
“Ethan,” Josh said, “we’re two miles from the fork; I need both hands on the wheel. I’m handing the phone to Serena.”
He heard Josh tell Serena to tighten her seatbelt and secure her Coke. He smiled at Josh’s use of military jargon.
“Ethan.” Serena sounded tense.
“Hello, beautiful. Same song, second verse?”
She laughed. “At least this time I’m not riding in Old Yeller.”
“The truck has all the horsepower Josh needs to pull this off. Tell me about your meeting with Stephens.”
“Josh says it went off without a hitch. You were right, Ethan. He had two cameras in his office, and I didn’t see them.”
Ethan was grateful that Josh had gone with Serena. He glanced at his watch. Josh should be almost at the fork. “We never decided when to go on our next date. You have a day in mind?”
Serena laughed. “Trying to distract me again? Okay, I’ll bite. How about tomorrow morning? Will be you free?”
“I’ll have to check my date book and see if I need to juggle the other women in my life.”
“The only other woman in your life better be 72 years old, Ethan Blackhawk,” Serena said, a smile in her voice.
In the background, Josh told Serena to get ready. “Serena,” Ethan said, “no matter what happens, don’t close our cell connection.”
“Got it.” Serena paused. “We just took the right fork. Oh, man, I may have to close my eyes, Ethan. Josh has the gas pedal flat on the floor.”
The whine of the truck’s engine echoed across the cell connection. Josh said, “Hold on!”
#
“When I get out of this truck and I can stand up on my own, you better be out of my reach.” Serena gritted her teeth. Trees whiz by in a mind-numbing blur. “I thought Meg’s driving stunk, but you win the scare-your-pants-off driving award.”
Josh laughed. He steered the racing truck around forested curves with ease. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Don’t tell me that,” she snapped. Her eyes widened as they rounded a sharp turn, tires squalling. Serena’s stomach kept going right over the edge of the mountain though the truck maneuvered through the turn with no seeming effort.
“Ethan, this is one fine ride,” Josh shouted across to her cell.
“He’s laughing. Now, please tell me we’ve lost our tangerine or whatever you called him.” Serena swallowed the bile rising in her throat. “I don’t think I can hold out much longer.”
“Almost there. One more turn, and I think we’ve got him.” Josh grinned like the maniac she now knew him to be.
“What do you mean, we’ve got him? I thought the whole point of this hair-graying episode was to lose him.” Serena held onto the seat with one hand and clutched the cell phone with the other as if holding onto a lifeline.
“Here we go!”
Josh jerked the truck’s steering wheel hard to the right, stomped on the gas, and guided the speeding vehicle around the winding side road. Two hundred yards ahead on the left, Josh wheeled the truck between two trees into an opening not large enough to accommodate the vehicle. To her astonishment, they sailed through without taking off the side mirrors.
Serena twisted in her seat and peered through the rear window, sure whoever followed them saw where they turned. Josh pulled as far into the brush and forest as he could without damaging Ethan’s truck and grabbed his gun.
“What are you doing?”
“My job, squirt.” He flung open the door. “Stay here.”
“Serena, what’s going on? Talk to me.” Ethan’s sharp demand rang in her ear.
“We turned off on a side road, and drove into the forest. I haven’t seen anybody yet, but Josh just left with a gun in his hand.”
“Stay in the truck, baby.”
Was there an echo in here? “That’s what Josh said.” Without the heart-melting endearment, though.
“If you go wandering around out there, you could get lost or he might shoot you by accident,” Ethan said, his voice soft. “He’s scouting to make sure he lost the tail. Now that he’s not driving, Josh can take out the truck and the driver if necessary.”
Serena kept her gaze glued to the spot where she last saw Josh. She worried about his safety and his leg. Did the Army court martial civilians for endangering the life of a wounded soldier? She grimaced. Forget the Army. Mom still had access to those switches.
Finally, his blonde head appeared between the trees, a satisfied grin on his face. After he climbed back in the truck, Josh grabbed the phone and said, “Ethan, we’re clear. Tell your units we’ll meet them on Piney Ridge.”
#
“I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Ethan ended the call and sat on the edge of his desk, adrenaline draining from his body.
“Well?” Rod said. “Are they all right?”
Ethan grinned. “Gage and Hernandez are escorting them back to the station. Mission accomplished.”
The eavesdropping squad room erupted in cheers. When the noise level eased down to the normal low-key buzz, Ethan said, “Josh got the license plate of the truck. Belongs to Lawrence.”
Rod whistled. “Guess The Fox heard that rumor we planted.”
Ethan nodded. “I imagine he also heard the Feds are here. He has to try again to get that flash drive from Serena, soon.” He crossed his arms, silent for a moment. “Rod, I think I might need some backup tomorrow night, after all. Something tells me The Fox is almost ready to strike.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
After Josh rolled to a complete stop, Serena threw open the truck door and leaped into Ethan’s open arms. He swung her around, laughing. As her feet touched the ground, Serena locked her arms around his neck and tugged his head down to meet hers.
Their kiss lasted so long Josh coughed to interrupt
. “Boy, squirt, you do have it bad. Give the man a chance to breathe.”
Serena released her hold on Ethan and turned to face her grinning brother. “You frightened me so much today I’ve sworn off scary movies for life.”
Then a slow smile spread across her face. “Josh Cahill, you are a true hero. One day, the right woman will realize you’re a prince. I love you.” She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
When she stepped back, Josh blinked and said in a husky voice, “Thanks.”
He held out his hand to Ethan. “Thanks for the help, Ethan.”
“Excellent work, Josh,” Ethan said. “When you part ways with the Army, call me. We could use a man of your caliber and training on our police force.”
“Only if I am assigned a truck like that Silverado.”
Ethan grinned. “I’ll see what I can arrange.”
“How are you getting home, Josh?” Serena asked. “Do you want to take my car?”
Josh laughed. “Not on your life. I’ve already had enough excitement, and I want to get home before midnight. I’ll walk over to The Bare Ewe and catch a ride with Mom.” He waved and limped across the square.
Serena frowned. “I hope Josh didn’t re-injure his leg. I don’t think he limped that much before we went to the Pot o’ Gold.”
Ethan draped his arm around her shoulders and walked with her into the station. “Don’t worry about him. That’s probably the best Josh has felt in weeks.”
“I do agree with him about one thing, though. I’ve had enough excitement for today.” She glanced at Ethan. “When can I go home?” A blanket, pillow and comfortable couch tempted her more than chocolate right now.
“I have a couple things to wrap up here. When I finish, I’ll take you home.” Ethan left her in his office for a minute. When he came back, he had a Vanilla Coke in his hand.
Serena’s eyes widened. “How did you know that’s my favorite Coke flavor?”
“I figured a woman with a chef’s discriminating taste might like this mixture.”
“You’re a wise man.” She grinned. “Caffeine and great flavor combined.”
