by Debra Kayn
Chapter 21
Stan Voltner walked up to the front door of St. John's Bail Bonds. Erikka got out of her car and hurried up onto the sidewalk. She'd promised to meet the owner of Green Bonds to hand over more files.
"Sorry about unloading everything on you, Stan," she said behind him.
Stan turned, holding up his briefcase. "After you explained the circumstances and I read the rest in the paper about Rachel missing, I wish I could do more for you. Has there been any updates on your sister?"
It'd been two weeks since Rachel had called and one month since she'd handed over all open cases to Green Bonds. She opened the new door Chuck had installed on the building and walked inside to a mess. While Notus had straightened the office the best they could, everything was out of order and neglected.
"No, nothing yet but I'm keeping positive that they'll find her." She headed straight to her desk. "Let me check my drawers for the Robinson and Turner case files."
"No hurry," said Stan. "It's nice to get out of the office for a while. Mid-summer has hit the business, and besides taking over your clients, Greens got hired to put up the bonds for the big bust over at the casino."
She stilled, hovered over the drawer. "What bust?"
"You didn't hear?" Stan dragged over a chair and sat. "Seven guys got arrested for running illegal gambling and having the casino blindly absorb their cash flow. They're talking extortion."
She sank down on the chair. "Wait, are you sure you're not talking about one man. Tony Stoddard? He was a client here. I got him out on bond as a first-timer for stealing money from the casino."
"I've heard about him. The talk is he was part of the inner circle. The Northern Chinook Springs employee who made money disappear until those in the ring could withdraw the cash later and hand it back to the ringleader. Cops got most of the upper ring."
"Was Stoddard part of the ring?" She leaned forward and cupped the jar of pretty pebbles atop the desk.
Stan shook his head. "We've got one guy in our possession, protecting him from the others. He's singing names and swears Stoddard was set up."
Her heartbeat raced. "Why is the guy talking?"
"He cut a deal with the detective on the case because they're trying to go after someone bigger." Stan leaned closer. "Between you and me, I think he's more afraid of the ringleader."
She clenched her hands into fists under the desk. "The leader's name wouldn't happen to be Teegan Markham, would it?"
Stan nodded once. "I heard Butler, who runs the Bonds place next to the police station bonded half a million, so Markham could eat dinner at home."
Something wasn't right. She ruffled through the files in her desk and quickly found the ones Stan needed. If Markham got arrested, then posted bail, where were the fingers of the law pointing? Stoddard or Markham? Did the police even connect the dots?
"Here you go." She passed over the files and stood. "If you need anything else, let me know."
They walked to the door together. Stan half turned. "Any idea when you'll be opening the business back up?"
A heaviness settled in her chest, knowing she gave the business to Notus. "I'm thinking of selling out, Stan. With Rachel missing and Dad gone...I'm looking at my options."
Stan squeezed her arm. "If there's anything Greens Bond can do, business-wise and personal, let me know."
"Thanks, Stan. I appreciate the offer." She opened the door.
Instead of going to her car like she'd promised Chuck she would do, she threw the lock and pulled out her phone. She still had ten minutes until Chuck got off work. He was going to lecture her for not sticking by Stan. That was the condition of him letting her come to Bail Bonds. She had to wait for Stan to show up and leave when he left.
A shiver ran down her spine. In ten minutes, she could be back at Chuck's house.
She took the keys out of her pocket and opened the front door. Locking it behind her, she hurried to her car. Chuck wouldn't even find out she'd stepped away from the plan if she hurried.
Shoving the key in the car, she looked over her shoulder to pull out into traffic and found a car beside her, blocking her from leaving.
"Come on, move." She looked at the dash, checking the time. If her suspicions were right, she could finally help find her sister.
A knock at the car window startled her. She grabbed for the door and swung her hand out to push the lock at the same time recognition came. Mr. Markham stood on the other side of the window. Though she'd never seen him in person, she remembered the dark eyes and shifty expression from the photo Chuck had shown her before going to the casino for their fake date, which seemed so long ago.
Mr. Markham motioned for her to roll down the window. She slid her right hand down the side of her purse between the driver and passenger seat and wrapped her fingers around the handle of her pistol. With her thumb, she managed to undo the concealed pouch.
Only when she was properly armed, she pressed the button to lower her window two inches. Whatever he had to say, he could say it at a safe distance. She wasn't going to let him put his hand in the car or on her.
"Yes?" she said, pretending not to know who he was or how dangerous he could be.
"Could you step out of the car and talk to me for a minute?" Mr. Markham leaned down closer to the partially opened window. "Please?"
"The office is closed. If you have business with Bail Bonds, you'll have to come back when we're open." She moved to put up the window, and Mr. Markham shoved his fingers in the gap, stopping the mechanism from working. "Step away from the car, or I'll call the police."
"I don't think you will." He looked straight at her. "Not if you want to see your sister again."
"What do you know about Rachel?" Her fingers tightened around the pistol. "Where is she?"
"Cabo, but you already know that." He straightened, looked into the street, and motioned for her to step out of the car.
Because he knew about her sister. Because she needed to know what he had to say. Because she couldn't go on without Rachel beside her, she stepped out of the car and followed Mr. Markham to the sidewalk.
"I'm not going inside with you." She held her purse in front of her, her hand holding the pistol hidden behind the bag. Because she wasn't careless, she wasn't going to allow him to harm her. "Now, what do you know about my sister?"
"She's with a man named Stoddard. A man who I believe we'd both like to find and bring back to the states." He straightened the lapels of his suit. "The people you have looking for them have been unsuccessful."
"You don't know that," she said.
"What I know is a loving sister, such as yourself, wouldn't want her only family member to be hurt. You can go there and—"
"Do you know where she is in Cabo?" Erikka almost let go of the pistol as the adrenaline rush hit her. If Mr. Markham had information on where to find Rachel, she'd hop on a plane tonight.
"No, but I have money to get you there." Mr. Markham reached for her.
She stepped back. "Not interested."
"I want Stoddard." He followed her to the curb.
She stepped down onto the street and walked to the driver's side of her car. "So do the police."
He grabbed her elbow. "I need him before the police get to him."
She jerked her arm and failed at breaking from his grasp. Pulling the pistol from the hidden pouch of her purse, she aimed the barrel at him while keeping the weapon out of view of traffic flowing behind her. "Let go."
Mr. Markham released her. "You're going to regret not working with me."
She dropped her purse at her feet without taking her eye off him, reached into her pocket while keeping the pistol trained on him. Many times, she'd had to call 911 while working with criminals. Desperate men and women were often unpredictable and dangerous. She could blindly call for help without taking her eye off Mr. Markham.
Mr. Markham's gaze dropped to her hands. "What are you doing?"
Knowing she wouldn't be able to speak to the dispatcher, s
he tapped the speaker button. "I want to know where you believe I could find Rachel?"
"You'll go?"
The adrenaline coming off Mr. Markham broke through his high-class suit and extreme control. According to Stan, Mr. Markham's ass was on the line. He was looking at hard prison time if found guilty. A man about to lose his freedom made mistakes, and she counted on him hanging himself.
"I'll need more information. What direction do I go once I arrive in Cabo? Where do I look for my sister?" Her fingers holding the pistol tired and cramped.
"There are men there who I can contact to help you," said Mr. Markham.
"If I find her, how do you expect me to hand Stoddard over to you?" She pressed her elbow against her side. In thirty seconds, she'd need to let her hand drop and relieve her cramped muscles.
"The men who will help you—"
"I'm not stupid." She stepped back, kicking her purse out of the way, and put her hand on the door handle, ready to jump in the car and drive away. Everything in her purse was replaceable. "The men you say will help me can do your dirty work for you. You don't need me."
"I do." Mr. Markham advanced toward her.
Her arm lowered. She couldn't hold the position any longer. "Then, start talking."
"I need—"
In the distance, sirens cut through the traffic noise. She gritted her teeth trying to recall all the information she'd got out of him. It wasn't enough to find Rachel, and it probably wasn't enough to have the cops pick him up for violating the restrictions of his bond while waiting for his court date.
"You've made a big mistake. One that will probably get you and your sister killed," said Mr. Markham quietly, eyeing the street and stepping backward until he hit the sidewalk.
He walked away. The perfect picture of a successful businessman with all the confidence that he wouldn't be caught.
Erikka picked up her purse, slipped her pistol into the concealed weapon department, and waited by her car for the police to arrive. Putting her phone to her ear, she said, "This is Erikka Levenson. A man named Teegan Markham just threatened to kill my sister and me. Are the police in route?"
While she waited, she thought of what Chuck was going to say when she finally made it back to his house, and he found out what she'd done. She inhaled deeply. It wasn't going to be pretty.
Chapter 22
The white cloud of smoke from Chuck's cigar circled his head. He puffed again needing to check himself. The anger that'd manifested overhearing what went down at St. John's Bail Bonds by someone other than Erikka had pushed him into a corner, and he wanted to come out swinging.
Wayne blocked the front door of Chuck's house. Glen sat on the railing on the porch, close enough to stop Chuck if he tried to go inside. How incredibly stupid could Erikka be?
The door opened, and Erikka peeked her head out. He pointed his cigar at her as his muscles bunched throughout his body. "Get inside."
The door closed, shutting her from his sight. His lungs failed to fill with air, and he took another puff from the stogie. He craved the struggle to keep breathing because it distracted him from the facts that'd been thrown at him tonight. It gave him something else to concentrate on besides wanting to go in the house and beat Erikka's ass for the danger she put herself into today when she'd opened her fucking car door and met with Markham.
"He's in police custody," said Wayne, reminding him the danger surrounding Erikka was over, for now.
"I told her to stick with Stan. There should've been no point when she went out that she was alone or could be caught alone. All she had to do was get in her car," he said, taking another puff before stubbing the cigar out in the sand-filled coffee can underneath the railing. "She fucking never called me. I had to hear it second-hand from Gomez."
He'd come home to an empty house expecting Erikka to be back from her errand and had instantly felt the tension of not having her near him when Gomez called and informed him that she was at the police station filing a report and they'd arrested Teegan Markham for threatening her. Every fear surrounding her exploded inside him.
He could've lost her.
"She's hurting," said Glen.
"You don't think I know that?" He rubbed his hand over his head. "Maybe now she'll think twice about putting herself in danger."
Glen whistled low. "You're being an asshole, bro."
He growled, frustrated having anyone's input at the moment. There was no point in this whole missing person case where fairness was his priority. Keeping Erikka safe, finding her sister, putting lives back together again was the whole point of why Notus agreed to search for Rachel.
Then, it had turned into more. Erikka's struggle became his, and he'd do anything to make sure nobody and nothing touched her.
If Markham weren't sitting in a jail cell at the moment, he'd find and kill him. There was nobody who could stop him. Not Erikka, not Notus.
"Did Gomez tell you what new charges are being pressed against Markham?" asked Wayne.
"Harassment," muttered Chuck. "Nothing overheard on the 911 call could be construed as a crime. The only thing sticking is Erikka's statement that she feared for her life and felt like she needed to pull a weapon out to protect herself. Per some law, Markham's bondsman has arrest authority, and because Erikka is well known and liked between the different businesses, Markham's bondsman delivered the bond to the P.D., and a warrant was put out for his arrest. They picked him up thirty minutes later."
"That has nothing to do with furthering the case against him for illegal gambling." Glen slid off the porch rail and stood. "What are the chances of the judge making these two different cases and he gets out on another bond?"
"Slim, because of the loyalty Erikka has from the other Bondsman in the community." Chuck shook his head. "I don't think the police know the bigger picture yet. Hell, I don't know where he fits in on the Stoddard case or how Rachel got tied into it."
"Maybe Erikka does." Wayne looked at the house and back at Chuck. "Talk to her."
He wanted more than anything to go inside and be with her. Though he couldn't trust himself. She'd scared the hell out of him.
"I'm going to head over to Thad's house. He's checking up on the message that was left about Rich." Glen took his riding gloves out of his pocket and slipped them on his hands.
"What message?" Chuck strained to concentrate. "I didn't hear anything."
"Listened to the call while we were waiting outside the station for you to get done with Erikka." Wayne hooked his hands under his armpits. "Kurt from Bantorus MC out of Idaho mentioned there was a John Doe found in his area. He wanted to talk to us because what was left of the guy, he had a leather vest on."
Chuck closed his eyes an extra beat. "Left of him?"
"Set on fire and dumped." Wayne's gaze hardened. "They can't read any of the patches because of the damage. The sheriff has him in the morgue until he can be identified."
Two months ago, they'd notified every territorial motorcycle club in the Northwest and Inner Northwest to be on the lookout for a lost Notus member. Chuck gritted his teeth. "It's not him. It can't be Rich."
"We don't know," said Glen. "We'll need to check it out."
He refused to believe Rich was dead. Closer than brothers at one time, he would've felt or known if Rich was in trouble.
"Let's not jump ahead of ourselves. We've checked John Doe's before." Wayne walked off the porch and turned back to Chuck. "It was never him. Let's keep our heads about this lead. In the meantime, go talk to your woman and find out all you can about where we're sitting. Something has got to break soon."
He waited out on the porch until Glen and Wayne rode away, then rubbed his face, knowing he needed to go inside and deal with Erikka. He'd failed her.
His decision to let her go meet a work associate had been wrong. She could've waited an hour until he had a chance to go with her after work. His decision to take Thalia's murder out on Rich had also been wrong. If he hadn't fought him, blamed him, Rich would still be here
with them and riding with Notus Motorcycle Club.
He'd made too many mistakes in his lifetime.
He opened the door and stepped inside, spotting Erikka instantly in the dining room looking out the sliding glass doors into the backyard. His chest tightened at the way she stood alone. He should be with her, not dealing with his fucking anger.
Walking toward her, he let his feelings go. He wouldn't let her suffer alone again.
He wrapped his arms around her and brought her back to his chest, inhaling her sweet scent, assuring himself that she was okay. She was here. She belonged to him.
"You scared the hell out of me, love," he whispered in her ear. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
She turned and lifted her arms to his neck, pulling him down and kissing him. "I know. I'm sorry, I put you through that. At the time, all I could think about was finding out more information."
"I could've done that for you." He smoothed the hair back from her face. "I need to do that for you."
Her gaze softened. "But, you weren't there."
"I should've been."
She closed her eyes and then looked at him. "Stan Voltner mentioned Mr. Markham's arrest to me when I met him at Bail Bonds. He said Markham had been bonded for half a million dollars. Apparently, Stan has a client that talks and he'd mentioned Tony Stoddard was set up by Markham and his crew. When I heard that, my mind was racing. Not once has Lieutenant Gomez mentioned anything about illegal gambling surrounding Stoddard. His charges revolved around stolen money from the casino. The casino versus Stoddard. From the start, Mr. Markham has been after Stoddard. Why? That's something we haven't understood, and Markham was never brought up regarding Rachel missing with the police. I didn't even point fingers at him when his men harassed and threatened me or broke into Bail Bonds."
"Keep talking." He let go of Erikka and concentrated on where she was going with the story.
