Courage Under Fire

by Sharon Dunn

  “I checked the city council website before we came here while I was getting ready. Mr. Liscomb oversees the committee that decides how the law enforcement money gets distributed.”

  “Yeah, I guess I did meet him. Just don’t remember where.” He tugged at his collar, which felt tight. His neck was sweaty. He wanted to get out of the tux and into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. “Honestly, this is not my thing. I’m glad you’re here.”

  She tilted her head, blue eyes shining. “I’m glad I’m here with you.”

  Noah’s heart fluttered. Somehow, he wished he could stay in this moment with Lani gazing at him with such warmth and affection. “We make a good team.”

  “Yes, we work well together.” She laughed. Then her expression darkened, and she took a sip of water, turning to look at a painting.

  He felt the drop in mood. He touched her shoulder, wanting to ask her what she was thinking about.

  She turned to face him, that sad look on her face. Her lips slightly parted.

  “Hey,” he said. “Everything okay?”

  Was she thinking about the stalker or was it something else?

  “I’m fine.” The shadow across her face told a different story. For the next half hour, they talked with other city officials and people of influence. With each interaction, Noah was glad Lani was there to make the conversations go more smoothly. She had a wonderful understanding of art, theater and all the stuff he knew very little about.

  Instruments being played in an adjoining room rose to a crescendo. “Why don’t we go listen to some music?”

  “Sure,” he said. Again, Lani had that faraway look on her face. Something was on her mind.

  He knew better than to press her about what was on her mind. She’d share when she was ready.

  They stepped back out into the hallway.

  She touched his arm. “I think I’ll go find the restroom and then meet you in there.” She pointed toward the room where the musicians were playing.

  “Sounds good.” Noah wandered across the hall just as the violin trilled with intensity. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the effervescent skirt of Lani’s gown disappear around a corner.

  Noah gulped his water and set the glass on a side table where a waiter swooped it up. It felt awkward standing and listening. A woman came up and introduced herself as the mayor’s wife. Noah chatted with her for a moment, wishing Lani with her easy laugh and knowledge of the arts was standing beside him.

  The musicians completed their piece and were well into another when Noah began to wonder what was keeping Lani. Even if there was a line to use the bathroom, she should have been back by now.

  A knot of tension formed at the back of Noah’s neck. He stepped toward the threshold to go in search of her.

  A short man and a woman with a tiny dog in her purse approached him. “Chief Jameson, how good to see you.”

  “Councilman.” He couldn’t remember the guy’s name. “Good to see you too.”

  Noah could feel himself growing restless and worried as the councilman and his wife kept him trapped in conversation about nothing. The knot of tension in his neck got even tighter.

  He waited for a polite moment to excuse himself. Worried, he hurried down the hallway in search of Lani.

  * * *

  Lani watched the warm water from the bathroom faucet spill over her hands. The line for the downstairs bathroom had been long, so she’d slipped upstairs to find one. All the planned activity was on the first floor. Only a few people wandered the hall upstairs.

  She stared at herself in the mirror. Why had Noah’s remark about them working together so well hit her so hard? The truth was she was starting to have feelings for Noah, deep feelings.

  His remark had caused her to envision having a life together. Such as being a support for him at these gala events that he didn’t much like. Somehow when they were together, it ended up being an adventure. She saw them jogging together in the park with Scotty or going to church together. Gripping the countertop, she wiped the pictures from her mind.

  She’d closed her heart off to the possibility that she’d ever meet someone special, but now she felt her heart opening to Noah. And he was not available. He was her boss.

  Lani grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands. She stepped out into the silent hallway. Laughter, music and party chatter floated up from the first floor. She wasn’t ready yet to go back downstairs. She walked down the hallway and stepped toward the window that looked out on the parking lot and the city beyond all lit up like a Christmas tree.

  Footsteps pounded behind her. When she turned to see who it was, no one was there.

  Lani’s pulse drummed in her ears. Her chest squeezed tight with fear. “Hello.” The footsteps had been distinct. Could it be that someone was working late and had slipped into one of the upstairs offices? That was the explanation that made the most sense. This was what the stalker had done to her mind. Even when he wasn’t close, he had power, control even, over her.

  The safety of the crowd was just downstairs. All she had to do was walk to the opposite side of the hallway where the stairs were. Easy-peasy, right? Lani took in a deep breath. She strode past locked office doors. The men’s bathroom was at the end of the hall by the window. So whoever was up here wasn’t in there. Still, she had heard someone.

  She stood before a room not too far from the staircase. The door was ajar, but it was dark inside. She pushed the door open farther and reached a hand inside the room, searching for a light switch. Once the light was on, she eased the door all the way open.

  It was a sort of storage room. Framed photographs and paintings were stacked against the walls. There was a suit of armor and a garment rack where costumes were hung. File cabinets and shelves with labeled bins cluttered the chaotic room.

  She cleared her throat. “Hello.” She reminded herself that the safety of the crowd was just down the stairs. There was a part of her that wanted to overcome her fear. She’d always thought of herself as a strong woman. What kind of officer would she be if she couldn’t face the thing that she was most afraid of? But more than anything she just wanted to catch this guy and put him behind bars.

  While her heart pounded in her chest, she surveyed the room inch by inch. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck.

  A single bumping sound reached her ears before a mass barreled into her and pushed her to the ground. She lay there staring at the ceiling, the wind knocked out of her. The man had on a face mask so she couldn’t see his face. He pinned her to the floor by holding her shoulders down.

  “Now I’ve got you.”

  Terror raged through her.

  “Lani?”

  The voice was Noah’s.

  The attacker lifted his head, alarmed by the voice. He bolted up and ran out of the room.

  She managed to sit up by the time Noah was by her side. She gripped his arm. “It was him.”

  He helped her to her feet. “Did he hurt you?”

  She shook her head. “I’m okay. I think he knew he would be caught if he hung around.” Her head cleared. “I heard his footsteps. There must be a back stairway.” She hurried down the hall to the window she had stared out earlier.

  She spotted a dark figure moving toward a cluster of trees not far from the parking lot.

  Noah dashed toward the stairway. “Maybe we can catch him before he gets to his car.”

  She hurried after him, grateful she’d worn flats not heels. With Noah in the lead, they sprinted across the grounds toward the parking lot.

  “Stay with me.” Noah pulled his gun out.

  “Wouldn’t it be better if we split up to look for him?”

  “Maybe but I don’t want to risk you being hurt or kidnapped.”

  Somewhere in the lot, a car door slammed. The sound seemed to reverberate.

  Lani stepped towar
d Noah. They wove through the lot up one row and down another. All the cars remained dark. A couple holding hands came out of the building and headed toward the parking lot.

  Noah put his gun behind his back, probably so the man and woman wouldn’t be alarmed. They waited while the couple got into their car, pulled out of their space and headed toward the street.

  Just as the couple turned onto the road, tires screeched behind them. Lani whirled around to the blare of two headlights charging at her. Noah pulled his gun as the car zoomed toward them.

  TEN

  Noah wrapped his free arm around Lani and pulled her out of the path of the car. They fell hard on the concrete, his gun dropping to the ground. He rolled off of her, angling his body just in time to see the car turning around to take another shot at them.

  He grabbed Lani’s arm and pulled her to her feet, then guided her in between cars as the stalker’s car barreled toward them. Tires screeched. They came to an open area that led to the next row of cars.

  “Let’s make a run for my car. You go first. I’ll be right behind you.”

  She sprinted out, the skirt of her dress flying behind her. He was at her heels, aware of the sound of the stalker’s car zooming through the lot toward them.

  The headlights were only feet away when Noah swung open the driver’s side door and jumped in. The car whizzed by scraping the side of his vehicle, knocking off the side view mirror so it hung by a single wire. Another second of delay and it would have torn his door off.

  Lani sat in the passenger seat. Her dress was torn. Her hair had shaken loose. She had a dark smear across her cheek. She’d lost her purse in the struggle. She was beautiful still.

  He pulled his phone from his pocket.

  He tossed the phone toward her. “You want to call for backup?” He shifted into Reverse and pulled out of the space. “Let’s give this guy a run for his money.”

  The stalker had turned his car and was circling back around to come up behind them again.

  Lani phoned into the station, gave their location and the situation.

  Noah zoomed up the row. He took a turn so tightly the car seemed to be on two wheels. He could see the stalker’s car moving through the lot as he pressed on the gas. The plan was to come up behind the guy. Without a gun, he had no recourse but to try to disable the car with his own.

  He sped up another row as the stalker turned and headed toward the exit. So the guy knew that he didn’t stand a chance if he stayed in the lot.

  They raced out onto the road. Noah was concerned about leaving his gun behind but there was no time to go look for it. Once they were on the expressway, traffic was heavy enough that keeping up with the car was a challenge. Though he hadn’t lost sight of the stalker’s car, several cars had slipped in between them.

  “If we can just get close enough. I can at least get a read on his license plate,” Lani said. “Everything happened so fast. I didn’t notice the plate when we were in the parking lot.”

  Noah stared straight ahead. “Let’s see what we can do.” He waited for an opening in the next lane and slipped into it, pulling ahead so they were two car lengths behind the stalker.

  Lani shifted in the seat, lifting her head and leaning toward the side window, trying to get a view of the license plate at the odd angle.

  The stalker took the next exit without signaling first. There was no time for Noah to switch lanes before they passed the exit. Noah clenched his jaw. They’d lost him.

  Lani sat back in her seat. “I couldn’t see to get the numbers.” Picking up his phone she quietly called off their backup.

  They drove on in silence for a while longer. The look on her face nearly tore his heart out. “We’ll get him, Lani. Call it in and Forensics can go over where he was hiding.”

  “There’s probably a million fingerprints in that room.” The tightness in her voice revealed her frustration. “His car was generic looking. Maybe there were some cameras that will show the plate number.”

  “Maybe,” she said, not sounding very hopeful.

  A tension-filled silence invaded the car. He’d do anything to make her feel better, lift her spirits. He felt a connection to her that he didn’t quite understand. His mood mirrored hers.

  “Sorry about your dress,” he said. “You looked really beautiful tonight.”

  “Thank you.” She smoothed over her torn skirt. “We have to catch him, Noah. I want my life back. That’s all there is to it.”

  “I should not have let my guard down back at the castle,” he said.

  She let out a heavy breath and massaged her forehead. “It’s not your fault. I should be able to go to the bathroom alone. Right?” She laughed and shook her head. “Okay, it is a little bit funny.”

  He was glad she hadn’t lost her sense of humor.

  Though he still felt the weight of her frustration and fear, the levity was a nice reprieve. “So when does Reed get home?” He liked the idea of spending another hour or two with her even if they just drove around and grabbed a cup of tea somewhere.

  “I’m not sure. I can text him.” She pressed her palm to her forehead. “My purse. I dropped it. Probably when he knocked me over.”

  “We can go back and get it.” He searched the exit signs calculating how to get turned around. It took a good twenty minutes to get turned around and headed back to the castle. “The celebration is probably just breaking up,” he said. Really it didn’t matter to him what they did. He just liked being with her.

  When they arrived, the lot was less full, but the lights were still on inside.

  Noah and Lani searched the lot until they found his gun twenty minutes later.

  By the time they got to the building, the cleanup crew was busy pulling tablecloths off of tables and hauling out bags of trash. The musicians packed up their instruments. Only a few people lingered, caught up in some intense conversation.

  “The upstairs is closed to the public now.” A woman with a clipboard caught them at the base of the stairs. She had small intense eyes and tight lips. “Can I help you?”

  “I dropped my purse upstairs.”

  The expression on the woman’s face indicated that she required more information.

  “I used the upstairs bathroom earlier this evening. I left my purse up there. I think in that storage room,” Lani said. She turned toward Noah, touching the lapel of his coat. “We won’t be but a minute.”

  “That room is locked. I’ll go up with you,” said the woman.

  Lani stepped in behind her and Noah followed.

  Once they were in the upstairs hallway, the woman opened the door for them, flipped on the light and stood back. “This room should have remained locked during the festivities. There are some valuable artifacts in here. It was an oversight on the staff’s part.”

  The woman with the clipboard seemed like an uptight, by-the-rules kind of person.

  Lani stepped across the threshold and stared at the floor. “It’s not here.”

  “I can tell you right now, no purses were turned in to the lost and found,” said the woman with the clipboard.

  Noah stepped in as well and surveyed the area. “It looked like an antique. Maybe it just got picked up.” He stepped toward a rack of costumes, searching.

  “Please don’t touch anything,” said the woman.

  There were several beaded dresses that looked like they were from the 1920s. Lani’s purse was hung up with one of the dresses on the hanger. She reached for the hanger. “I can prove this is mine.” She said to the woman.

  Lani’s deference to the woman indicated that she was having a similar reaction to her. Noah felt like he was back in second grade again with Mrs. Pendleton, the meanest teacher he’d ever known.

  Lani pulled the purse strap off the hanger and put the dress back on the rack. “My phone and my license are in here.” She clipped the p
urse open so the woman could see.

  “All right, then,” said the woman. “I’ve got a great deal to do before we shut off the lights.”

  Noah held out a hand for Lani. He was anxious to get away from the uptight woman with the clipboard.

  Lani stepped toward him but then froze in place. The rosiness faded from her cheeks as she stared straight ahead.

  “What are we waiting for, then?” said the woman.

  Lani shook her head and rushed toward Noah who wrapped his arms around her. “What is it?”

  Lani pointed at a bunch of framed photographs stacked against the wall. Noah followed the line of her gaze.

  The photo of Lani as a dancer lay on the floor. The attacker must have dropped it. She stepped closer to peer at it. A red X had been drawn over her face.

  * * *

  Lani gripped her stomach, feeling suddenly nauseous. Noah wrapped an arm around her.

  The woman, who had struck Lani as a harsh schoolmistress type, seemed to soften. Her voice held a note of tenderness. “You look as though you are going to be sick. Let me get you some water.” After setting her clipboard down, she hurried out of the room. Her heels clicked on the hard surface of the floor.

  Noah snatched up the picture of Lani, holding it by the corner so as not to contaminate it too much. He flipped it over to where letters had been cut out of magazines.

  Lani peered over his shoulder to read.

  Say you love me or else.

  The words sent a chill down her spine. Something about Noah standing close to her made the fear bearable.

  He stared at the front again. “What a mixed message. Find me some sort of bag to put it in. Maybe Forensics can come up with something on it.”

  Lani doubted it. The guy had been super careful so far. “Yes, and I think we better consult a psychologist to try and understand his motive. He’s clearly not a stable human being.”

  The woman returned holding a paper cup. “Here you go, dear.” The woman’s whole demeanor had changed to become much more maternal. “Are you not feeling well?”