“Now you sound like Murke!” Nicki jumped to her feet and began to pace the small room. “Arianna and I were related, yes, but we weren’t close. Not anymore. There’s no reason for her to even mention me.”
“Does she have other cousins?”
Nicolette’s shoulders slumped and she shook her head slowly. “Only one that I know of. I have a half sister somewhere back East. Since even I don’t know where she is, I’m sure Arianna couldn’t have meant her.”
“So, that leaves you,” he said calmly.
“I know, I know.” She blinked back unshed tears, unwilling to let a stranger see how close she was to losing control of her emotions. That was another of the side effects of pregnancy, or so she had read, and she couldn’t believe how often she’d fought mood swings lately.
“We’ll need your half sister’s name.” He poised to write in a small notebook.
“Her maiden name was Mae Johnson. I heard she got married. I don’t know what her last name is now.”
“We’ll track her down, just in case.” He stood and pocketed the notebook and pen. “Are you sure there’s nothing else you’d like to tell me?”
“No! Nothing. I don’t know why nobody will believe I’m innocent.”
“It doesn’t matter what I do or don’t believe, Ms. Johnson. I’m just doing my job.”
“I know you are. Sorry.”
He nodded stiffly. “No problem. I’ll be glad to escort you to work if you want.”
Nicki almost told him to go away, to leave her alone and stop treating her as though she was lying. If she hadn’t still been so afraid she might have done so.
“Okay. I guess there’s no sense sitting home brooding,” she finally said with a muted sigh. “Besides, I can’t afford to make my boss mad. When I had to call in sick the other night after Murke came gunning for me, Lou told me it had better not happen again or I’d be fired.”
“In that case, we should get going. If you receive more strange calls or notice anything unusual, feel free to call us again. That’s what we’re here for.”
“Thanks.” She hesitated. “Would you mind walking me to my car and having the dog check it, too? Just in case.”
“Sure. Be glad to.”
Nicki grabbed her wallet off the end table and fisted her keys. They jingled, attracting the dog’s attention and making him pant and wag his tail.
“Looks like your partner is ready to go for a ride.”
“Titan is always ready for adventure.” Jackson stepped to the side while Nicki opened the apartment door.
She halted abruptly, staring at the floor. Someone had tucked a small, fresh flower arrangement in the doorway so that she couldn’t miss seeing it.
“Oh, how pretty. I love daisies.”
Jackson frowned. “I thought you said you didn’t have a boyfriend.”
“I don’t. Not since Bobby Lee got so mad and took off. Maybe he changed his mind.” She bent and reached for the flowers.
To her left, she saw Titan plop down into a sitting position so fast the movement was a blur.
Jackson shouted, “No!” and lunged for her.
Half bent over, Nicki was almost toppled. She recovered, managing to rescue the bouquet by clutching it to her chest.
Titan began to bark.
In what felt like one fluid movement, Jackson grabbed the flower arrangement from her, threw it inside the apartment, shoved her and the dog into the hall and slammed the door. Then he covered and shielded them both as best he could with his own body.
Moments later, a loud explosion shook the building and made Nicki’s ears sting as if they were being stabbed by needles. Stunned, she could hardly breathe.
The flowers! She could have been killed. So could her innocent baby. But they were safe! Thank you, Jesus.
As the officer slowly straightened and allowed her to move, she felt so light-headed she was afraid she might faint. If she hadn’t already been sitting on the floor she knew she would have been reeling.
Tears gathered and spilled down her cheeks. So utterly thankful she could not speak, she threw her arms around the dog’s neck, pressed her face into his fur and silently wept as the reality of her situation dawned. There would not always be a police officer at hand to rescue her at the last second, so what could she do? What should she do?
Nicki was at a loss to know. Death had stalked her, and she had once again triumphed. The question was, how many more narrow escapes could she hope to endure before some lurking, unnamed evil slipped through her meager defenses and succeeded in ending her life?
TWO
“It doesn’t make any sense for them to want to hurt her when they think she’s keeping secrets,” Jackson told Captain Slade McNeal as they stood apart from the other officers at the scene of the chaos. “If the gang wants the information Arianna gave her, they need to keep her alive and well.”
“Unless they knew you were with her and figured your dog would identify the device before it was touched.”
“Possibly.”
“How’s the woman doing?” Slade asked.
“She’s scared silly. Who wouldn’t be?” Jackson paused and raked his fingers through his short, dark hair. “I can’t believe how close we all came to buying the farm.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t a big explosion, but it sure made hash out of her apartment. I’m having the paramedics hold her in the ambulance until the ATF boys get here. They may have a few questions for Ms. Johnson, too.”
“Makes me wish we had our own bomb squad right here in Sagebrush.”
“Can’t afford it.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just glad you hired me and Titan.” He sobered even more as he regarded his superior. “We’re all sorry about what motivated you.”
“Thanks. I still blame myself. If you’d been here then, my wife might have been warned in time, and Caleb would still have a mother.”
Chagrined, Jackson shook his head and thrust his hands into his pockets. “Don’t be so sure about that. I messed up on this one.”
“You saved the woman’s life. I’d hardly call that a failure.”
Jackson snorted derisively. “Tell that to Ms. Johnson when she gets a look at what’s left of her place. It’s a shambles. Every window is blown out, and the furniture looks like a wildcat on meth shredded it.”
“Yeah...but she’s still alive. If I were you, I’d remind her of that before I let her go up and look. The bedroom seems to have escaped damage, except for lots of plaster dust and smoke, so she will still have clothes and personal items to salvage.”
“I hope that helps. She has every right to be furious with me.”
“You’re too hard on yourself,” McNeal told him. “Why don’t you go see to your dog and check on Ms. Johnson while I wait for Boomer.”
“Right.” Hearing the familiar ATF agent’s nickname almost always made Jackson smile. Any guy with the initials TNT was a shoo-in for a bomb-investigating job. Timothy Nelson Taft was not only good at his job, he seemed to enjoy the good-natured teasing he usually received when people realized why he was called Boomer.
Several other members of the Sagebrush P.D. and fire department were milling around the rescue and police vehicles parked in the street. Some regular officers had cordoned off the apartment grounds and were detouring traffic. That was probably unnecessary, yet Jackson didn’t complain. He had mistakenly underestimated their foes and an innocent bystander had almost paid for his laxity.
He went first to Titan and the fellow K-9 officer who was tending to him. Valerie Salgado’s Rottweiler had been the one wounded on these premises a few days ago and since Valerie was on her own for the present, she had volunteered to look after Titan while Jackson spoke to their captain.
A tall woman with green eyes, freckles and long, reddish hair, Salgado was seated in one of the SUVs, petting Titan to soothe his jangled nerves.
“How’s he doing now?” Jackson asked, approaching.
“Better. He’s not shaking nearly as muc
h as he was when I got here. What happened, anyway? Didn’t he alert properly?”
“The dog did fine.” He reached toward his canine partner to affectionately ruffle his velvety ears. “I was the one who messed up. I let a civilian get ahead of me and she picked up the bomb before I could stop her.”
“That’s when it went off?”
“No, thank God. Literally. I had a few seconds to grab it and throw it. Unfortunately, the only place I could pitch it was into her apartment.”
“Better a few dented walls than dented heads.” She gently stroked Titan’s broad back, wiggling her fingers, much to the dog’s delight. “What a good boy.”
“Do you have time to mind him for me a little while longer? I want to check with the EMTs and see how the vic is doing.” Jackson inclined his head toward a parked ambulance.
“Sure. No sweat. I’ll take him back to the station with me and you can pick him up there later, if you want. Lexi won’t be able to work for a while yet, and I miss relaxing like this.” She sighed. “Petting a dog lowers your blood pressure and does all kinds of good things for your state of mind.”
“I know. Just save me a little Titan chilling time. I’ll need it after I get through showing the lady over there what happened to her apartment.”
He could hear Valerie’s light laughter behind him as he started for the ambulance.
One of the paramedics headed him off before he got all the way to where Nicolette was being treated.
“Worth. Hold up,” the medic said. “I need to talk to you for a sec.”
“Sure.” He peered past the shorter, younger man’s shoulder. “Is there a problem?”
“Not yet. At least not that I know of, but you should know that this victim is pregnant before you continuing questioning her.”
That brought Jackson up short. “She’s okay, though? I hit her pretty hard when I was shoving her out of the way.”
“Seems to be. It’s early in the pregnancy so she’s not showing. There’s no way you’d have known unless she chose to tell you.”
He huffed quietly. “I figured she was holding something back, but I had no idea that was it. No wonder she seemed so overwrought.”
“Yeah, well, I wanted you to know.”
Jackson clapped him on the shoulder and stepped past. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
The ambulance was positioned at an angle to the curb so it could go into action without delay. Jackson made sure he was smiling as he circled it and came face-to-face with Nicolette.
The woman’s eyes were misty as she looked up at him and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m supposed to be the one asking you that.”
“I’m fine.” She returned his smile. “Well, relatively fine.”
When he said, “I’m really sorry about your apartment,” he saw her face grow ashen.
“How bad is it?”
“Truthfully? It’s a mess. But the good news is we’re all safe and sound.” Noticing that her arms were crossed to hug her torso he added, “All of us.”
Rosy patches replaced the lack of color in her cheeks. “The medics told you?”
“About the baby? Yes. I hope I didn’t hurt you when I knocked you down. I had no idea...”
“I’d lots rather be knocked over than blown to bits, so thank you for saving me—us. When I saw your dog react that way, I didn’t put two and two together fast enough. If you hadn’t been there...”
She raised her eyes to the apartment building. “I can’t see any damage to the outside.”
“It wasn’t a large explosion,” Jackson explained. “I don’t think they actually intended to kill you. Not if they really do think you’re withholding information they need.”
Nicki rolled her eyes. “I am not. What do I have to do to convince everybody of that?”
“I don’t know that you can. Or if you should,” he replied soberly. “You might be better off if the criminals keep on believing you do have info they need.”
Shoulders slumped, she exhaled noisily. “Okay. What’s next? How long before I can go back inside?”
“Hours, at least. The bomb crew and our local techs need to comb the wreckage. If the captain okays it and you’re up to it, I suggest you go on to work for the present.”
“Will that be safe?”
“You’re safer in a crowd than you would be alone in that apartment.” He smiled. “Besides, I plan to accompany you.”
“My boss won’t like it if you just hang around and watch me work. He never approved of my... Never mind.”
Jackson assumed, judging by the face she was making, that she was remembering her now-absent boyfriend. How any man could abandon a woman like that, after what he’d done to her, made Jackson furious. “You’re sure there’s no way your ex could be the one harassing you?”
“No way. After I told Bobby Lee about the baby, he said some really awful things and insisted he never wanted to see me again.” She grimaced. “I know it’s not him.”
“You’re positive?”
“Absolutely. He packed up and left the day we argued while I was at work. Friends tell me he was headed for Dallas. Personally, I don’t care where he is. As far as I’m concerned, good riddance.”
“He’s a fool” was all Jackson dared say. If he had opened up and told her everything he was thinking, she would have been even more embarrassed.
He’d always had a strong sense of honor, of right and wrong. Maybe that was why his job seemed to fit him so well. And why he felt such an undeniable obligation to step up and take care of Nicolette when her need was so great. She would never know how deeply, how personally, her plight affected him, of course, because he would never tell her.
But he would be there for her, helping and guarding her to the best of his ability, for as long as she needed him to be. It wasn’t only because she might help the department solve a difficult case, either.
Looking after her was simply the right thing to do.
Whether she liked it or not.
Whether she was helping the investigation or not.
* * *
During the drive to work, Nicki had visualized her poor apartment, imagining the worst. The place hadn’t been much to start with, but it was hers. The landlord had just repaired the door the police had damaged when they’d burst in to arrest Murke. No telling how upset the apartment manager was going to be when he saw what had happened today. She hoped there was insurance to cover this new damage because it was bound to cost a lot more than the broken door had, and she was pretty sure the authorities were not going to pick up the tab this time.
She parked her trusty old sedan in the usual spot behind The Truck Stop Diner and paused to try to compose herself. She’d been just getting over the jitters left after Murke’s attack only to have her life thrown off-kilter once again.
If the familiar police car hadn’t been following close behind her all the way, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to convince herself to go ahead and report for work. But there he was, on duty as promised.
His dog was absolutely precious—so sweet-natured and friendly. Nicki smiled to herself, noting that both man and canine had the same dark, silky hair and puppy-dog brown eyes.
She looked in the car’s mirror and fastened her long hair out of the way as her job required. Two quick twists of an elastic band and she was good to go. “I can do this,” she told herself. “I’ve worked here so long I could fill the orders in my sleep.”
A smile lifted one corner of her mouth as she climbed out of her car, locked it and pocketed the key ring. Considering her lack of adequate sleep since Murke’s break-in, and the adrenaline she had expended today, she just might doze off at the grill. The books she’d read about pregnancy had said to expect changes in her metabolism, but they hadn’t told her how tired she’d be. Of course, those writers hadn’t allowed for repeated attacks and terrifying threats, either.
Nicki glanced over to the visitor section of the lot where Jackson was parking the p
olice car, then started for the back door leading to the kitchen. Wafting odors of burnt grease and accumulated garbage overflowing the trash receptacle instantly set her stomach churning.
Seeking to escape the cloying stench, she held her breath and chose a roundabout route instead of heading straight for the door.
A shadowy figure, hardly more than a blur, appeared for an instant in her peripheral vision. If she had continued along her usual path without diversion they could have collided!
Startled, Nicki shrieked. Whirled around. Started to run without waiting to see who or what had scared her.
A dark shape loomed directly in front of her. She crashed into a hard chest and would have fallen if the man had not quickly grabbed and steadied her.
Clenching her fists, she began to beat on him.
“Whoa. Take it easy. It’s me. It’s me.”
As the voice penetrated her fog of fear, she realized it was familiar. Gasping, she looked up at Jackson Worth and managed to croak out, “Somebody tried to grab me!”
“Are you sure? Where? I didn’t see a thing.”
“Back by the trash bin.” She struggled to catch her breath.
Bright lights twinkled at the corners of her eyes. Her head spun. Her legs refused to support her.
She could sense that she was being lifted and cradled protectively just as the parking lot vanished and blackness wrapped her like a warm blanket.
Fighting was useless. Surrender felt too good.
* * *
Bearing his lightweight burden, Jackson shouldered through the front door of the main service station complex and carried Nicki past racks of cellophane-wrapped snack food and into the dining area. Their passage generated a few raised eyebrows but apparently his uniform, badge and gun were enough to keep any of the truckers or other customers from interfering.
As she began to stir, she slipped an arm around his neck, laid her cheek on his chest and clung to him as if she knew what she was doing. That was troubling. So was his reaction. Having her show such reliance felt far too good. It was also something he could not permit. He’d learned the hard way that romance and being a cop did not mix.
He lowered her to sit on the edge of one of the green plastic booth benches, unwrapped her arm from his neck and steadied her as she regained full consciousness. Her color was wan, her eyes blinking rapidly.
Explosive Secrets (Texas K-9 Unit) Page 2
