Devoted Defender

by Rachel Dylan

  “Any word on Gabby?”

  “Nothing yet. But they plan to stay out all night if they have to. There’s only so much ground to cover in Maxwell so they should be able to do it. I also just heard from Kane. He’s trying to get the latest DEA intel on Vaughn’s whereabouts.”

  She shivered just hearing his name. “You know, I want to be at a place where hearing his name doesn’t bother me. But I’m not there yet.”

  He took her hand in his. “You can get there, though. I know you can.”

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about everything you told me about what happened to you in the war.”

  “You have?”

  She nodded. “I’m so in awe of what you were able to do. Given all the pain and strife you went through. But listening to you talk about it all gives me some measure of hope.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad that you can take something from my sorrow. That’s why I feel like we’re more alike than you think. We’ve both had some painful experiences and we can relate to each other because of it.”

  “I look at you, at the burden you had to bear. It was certainly a heavier burden than mine. But here you are giving me the pep talk. I could use some of your strength.”

  “Like I said before, Annie, I couldn’t have done it by myself. The Lord came through for me in a huge way.” He squeezed her hand. “And don’t discount how strong you are. Strength isn’t just about the physical, it’s about the emotional and the spiritual.”

  “I’ve never had anyone tell me that I was strong. I’m not used to hearing it.”

  “Don’t ever underestimate yourself.”

  “Thanks for having faith in me.”

  Caleb’s phone rang and he dropped her hand to pull it out of his phone. “It’s Gabby!”

  He put it on speaker and answered. “Gabby?”

  “Caleb, thank God you answered.”

  “What’s wrong? Where are you? We’ve been trying to contact you.”

  “I need you to come help me, please. I hurt my ankle and I can’t walk. If you don’t get here quickly, Silva’s men will find me. Please come quickly.”

  “Mac and Gabe are in Maxwell trying to find you right now. What’s the address? I’ll send them and they’ll be right there.”

  “No. I’m not in Maxwell. I’m in Atlanta.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a long story and I don’t have time to explain. The address is 778 Murphy Street. Please hurry.”

  There were some voices in the background before the line went dead.

  **

  Annie looked at him. “We need to go now. Gabby’s hurt and we’re so much closer than Mac and Gabe.”

  He paused for a moment. He couldn’t leave Annie alone. That was too risky. But he also didn’t like the idea of taking her directly into the lion’s den. But his baby sister needed him. She had begged him to help. Which made him think something was off, because come to think of it, he didn’t think he had ever heard his sister beg for help in his entire life.

  So he had to go save Gabby and get her out of there. But he also had to keep Annie safe. He looked over at Annie. And once again this woman amazed him. She was willing to put her own life in danger to try to save Gabby.

  “You’re right. Let’s go.” He grabbed his bag of supplies that Kane had gotten him and double-checked his sidearm. He wasn’t quite sure how this was all going to go down but there was no time now to try to sketch out a fully developed plan. He’d just have to wing it as he went.

  They got into the SUV they were currently driving that Gabe had provided him. He put the street address in the GPS and hit the gas.

  “We can do this,” Annie said. “Gabby’s going to be all right. Like you said, she’s one tough person.”

  Once again Annie was showing no fear. “You’re becoming too good at this, you know that?”

  “Just taking it all one step at a time.” She paused. “What’s our plan when we get there?”

  That was the million dollar question. “A lot will depend on what is actually at this address.”

  “Why do you think she ended up somewhere in Atlanta investigating instead of Maxwell?”

  “Maybe she got a different lead. Gabby is relentless. If she found new information that she thought would bring her closer to getting rock solid evidence against Silva, then she would act on it. She’s not going to back down from a challenge.”

  “Even it if were dangerous.”

  “Yes. Even if.” And that’s what he feared the most—that Gabby had stepped right into the danger zone. And now his baby sister was hurt and calling him for help. He could only pray that they got there fast enough as he accelerated even further.

  Annie pointed to the GPS. “Looks like we’re just a couple minutes out. We’re headed into an industrial district of town.”

  “Yeah. I’m going to park a little bit away because I have no idea what the situation will be at the actual address.”

  “Okay. That sounds like a good idea.”

  She might be saying that now, but he had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the other part of his plan that he was currently developing on the fly. When he saw that he was a few blocks away, he stopped the car in front of a carpet company.

  He reached into the back and grabbed his bag. Then he pulled a gun out of the bag. “Annie, I need you to listen to me closely.”

  “All right. I’m listening.”

  His eyes locked onto hers. “I’m going to need you to stay here in the car while I go inside.”

  She shook her head. “No way. I’m going in with you. It’ll be better if there are two of us. I can help you. I promise.”

  “No. It’s far too dangerous. I don’t know what I’m going to be facing. And since Gabby is hurt, I’ll have to probably carry her out of there, and I won’t be able to protect you both at the same time.”

  She bit her bottom lip but didn’t say anything.

  “I need you to get in the driver’s seat when I get out. If you feel threatened in any way, by anyone, no matter who they are, I want you drive away.”

  “All right.”

  “Can you promise me that you can do that?”

  “Yes. I understand.”

  “And one more thing. I know you’re not big on guns, but I’m leaving this Glock here with you.” He placed the gun in the center console. “I turned the safety off. So all you need to do is point and shoot. You’ve done it before. You can do it again. But only if you have to. It’s just an extra level of precaution. The first option is just to drive away. You got it?”

  “Yes. I’ll wait here and if there’s anything suspicious. I’ll drive away. I can loop back around if need be and pick you up.”

  “I’ll be as fast as I can. I’ve texted Mac and Gabe, but their ETA is forty five minutes.”

  “Just go. Don’t waste any more time with me. I promise I’ll be fine here. Go get Gabby. She needs you now.”

  Without thinking, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  **

  Caleb jogged the few blocks up to the address that Gabby had told him. When he reached the destination, he looked up to see a large two story building under construction. Gabby was somewhere in there and he intended to find her.

  But he needed to be as quiet as possible in his search. Which was a little difficult given all the random debris scattered throughout on the ground. He’d clear the building room by room until he located where she was hiding.

  He had to get in and find out what was going on. He entered one of the doors on the side that was open. The building wasn’t fully constructed yet. It appeared that full lighting panels hadn’t been installed throughout the building as it was still a work in progress. But a lamp in the corner provided a little light in the room. Other large pockets were completely dark. He didn’t see any signs of activity. Could it be that Silva’s men had already checked the building and left? Or worse, what if he was too late and they’d taken Gabby.

&n
bsp; He had to be careful of his footing because he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that all the flooring was solid. The last thing he needed to do was fall through the building and break a leg. There was too much riding on this.

  Quickly he took the staircase by the door he entered to check out the second floor. He didn’t hear a sound as he made his way room to room. “Gabby,” he whispered. No response. And if Silva’s men were present they were hiding and silent which didn’t seem right to him. In fact, everything about this situation felt wrong. It seemed like he was the only living thing in the building. But there was no way he was leaving that building without checking every single room.

  By the time he’d cleared all the upstairs rooms, his pulse was racing. Because his gut was telling him that something was terribly wrong.

  **

  Annie sat on high alert in the SUV. She kept her hands on the wheel and her eyes peeled. But for the past few minutes, there had been nothing. No activity whatsoever. It was like a dead zone. And at this time of night, there wasn’t anyone around. It was so quiet in the car she could hear her own breathing—which only added to her anxiety.

  She debated taking the gun out of the console just in case she needed to access it quickly. But then she realized that the last thing in the world she wanted to do was to shoot another human being ever again. While she had no doubt she did the right thing in self defense when she shot Damon, it still weighed heavily on her. Because she had permanently injured another human. And that in and of itself hurt her heart.

  She let out a breath and slightly lessened her grip on the wheel. It didn’t appear that there were any threats out there in the night. She sat as patiently as she could watching the minutes tick by. Two, then five, then ten. Still no sign of anyone else or of Caleb. Her mind started rushing to worst case scenarios. What if Gabby was seriously injured?

  When she looked at the clock again, she saw that it had only been fifteen minutes since Caleb had left. She needed to be more patient. These things take time and he would’ve been very cautious, especially because of Gabby’s injuries.

  Some movement on her left side caught her eye. She turned and looked out the car window down the street. Two men were walking in her direction, but on the opposite side of the street. Just as they were about to walk under one of the street lamps, she gasped. No, it couldn’t be. But with each step she became more certain.

  As one of the two faces came into clear view, she recognized it as a face she’d never forget. Damon Vaughn was right there. It had to be him. He was walking with a severe limp. And he was with another man. She squinted as they kept walking past where she was parked and in the direction of the building where Gabby was supposed to be at.

  Was the other man Tim Silva? She’d seen a picture of him and it could’ve been him. Regardless, this wasn’t good. The two of them were headed to where Caleb was, and he had no idea they were coming.

  What should she do? She knew she wasn’t a trained law enforcement officer. All of this was so out of her element. But she did have a gun. And right now, she couldn’t leave Caleb and Gabby there like sitting ducks for Damon and Silva to take them out.

  Lord, please protect Caleb and Gabby. I’ll do all I can to help. Be with me as I try.

  She took the gun, opened up the door and headed out into the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  Caleb was over half way done clearing the building and no sign of anyone. His phone buzzed and he looked down to see a text message from Mac.

  Get out of there now. It’s a trap! Gabby’s not there. Abort!

  Immediately he feared that the building might blow. He didn’t waste any time as he made his way back through the maze of construction equipment on the first floor, toward the side exit.

  But that’s when he heard deep male voices approaching. There’s no way he could get out that door now. He’d backtrack and hunker down.

  He strained to listen to the voices as they got closer.

  “He has to be here somewhere,” one man said quietly. “Ramsey ensured me that he’d come here looking for her. He’s come through for us so far over the past two years. We have no reason to doubt him now.”

  What in the world? Then it hit him. Mike Ramsey—his own deputy police chief was the law enforcement mole. It wasn’t FBI. It was Mike this whole time.

  And by going to Mike, he had unwittingly put Gabby in harm’s way. Where was she now? Did Mike hurt her? Anger surged through Caleb, but quickly he had to summon up all of his battlefield discipline and focus on the current threat.

  “He’s here somewhere. He wouldn’t leave baby sister behind,” the other man said. “Ramsey made sure that Gabby made the call to her brother to ensure that he would come riding in on his white horse to the rescue. We may have beaten him here. Let’s check things out first to be on the safe side. If it’s all clear, then we’ll just wait for him to arrive and take him out.”

  He pulled his phone out and shot a quick text to Mac. Because Mac needed to know about the two men that were in this building now searching for him. At least he had the element of surprise. They didn’t know that he knew they were there.

  “Once we’re done with him, then we can take care of Annie once and for all,” one of them said.

  No matter what, he couldn’t allow that to happen. He wasn’t concerned for his own safety or for that matter his own life. But he couldn’t allow Annie to be harmed. He was so glad that she was in the safety of the car. He had his gun ready. He’d make a move when he needed to. But first he had to see how they were going to play it.

  “You check downstairs and I’ll check upstairs,” the one guy said. “I’m glad we decided to take care of this personally instead of sending any of our guys. We can’t afford any screw-ups this time. We need to deal with this problem once and for all. Then we can get on with our expansion plans. No more pesky roadblocks.”

  Ah, Caleb thought. Could it be that the two men in the building right now weren’t Silva’s hired thugs but were actually Silva and Vaughn? This was the perfect opportunity to arrest them both. He knew Mac was still about fifteen minutes out. Could he hold his ground until backup arrived? That was the best plan. He had to evade these guys but still keep them there so they could be arrested and tried for their crimes. The last thing he needed was a two against one shoot out.

  He heard the footsteps above his head as one of the two men was going through the upstairs. He crouched down behind a stack of two by fours in a large closet on the ground floor.

  “Well isn’t this a surprise,” the man on the first floor of the building said.

  What was he talking about? Caleb leaned in and focused on what was being said.

  “I’m not afraid of you, Damon.”

  Caleb felt like he was kicked in the gut at the sound of Annie’s voice. Why in the world had she come into the building? This changed everything. He couldn’t hide anymore. He had to go save Annie from this madman. He wouldn’t let him attack her for a second time in her life.

  **

  Annie was putting on a brave face, but inside she was scared to death as she faced down Damon Vaughn. The man whose violent attack had changed her entire life. One lamp in the corner of the room provided enough light to see exactly who she was facing. Dark brown evil eyes that she would never forget. This was the man who had changed everything for her.

  Damon took a step and grimaced. An all too familiar reminder of what she did to him.

  “Where’s your cop friend? He can’t be too far away. I can’t imagine that he’d leave you alone with the wolves on the prowl.” He gave her a sinister grin that rocked her to the core.

  “I don’t know where he is,” she answered. Although she prayed he would come soon. She had the gun in her right hand, protected by the dark shadows so that he couldn’t see it. She could try to shoot him right now. But he hadn’t done anything yet. And what if she missed? In her head, she started to play out the various scenarios. What was the best course of action? Lord, please help me.<
br />
  “The cop doesn’t even matter at this moment. This is even better than I could’ve imagined.”

  “What do you mean?” The longer she kept him talking, the better, because she knew that Caleb couldn’t be too far away, could he? What if she’d missed him on the way to the building? What if he had taken a different route? Unlikely. She had to just stay focused on staying alive.

  “What’s going on down here?” Silva walked down the stairs and into the dimly lit room.

  “You’re just in time,” Damon said. “I’m sorry, Tim.”

  “Sorry for what?” Silva asked him as he walked closer.

  Damon raised his gun in the air, and pulled the trigger. A loud gunshot pierced through the night as the bullet struck Silva in the head.

  She stood stunned as Tim Silva dropped to the ground. Damon had just killed his cousin. But why? She had no idea what he was doing next, but he had just shown that he was capable of murder.

  Then Damon turned to her. “You’re next but a clean gunshot to the head is way too nice of a death for you, little Annie.”

  A surge of fear shot through her as she remembered how he used to call her that name a decade ago. “What are you going to do to me?”

  “Make you pay for what you did to me. Did you think I would forget? I have to live like this every single day because of you.” He motioned toward his right leg. “Imagine how surprised and happy I was when I found out that the thorn in Silva’s side was a woman named Annie Thomas from Florida. It didn’t take much investigating at all to find out that it was you.”

  “I had no idea he was your cousin.”

  “You have no idea how long I’ve thought about seeing you again. With every step I take, every painful step, I think of the day that I will get my revenge. And it looks like that day is today.”

  “Why did you kill Silva?”

  “Because it was time for me to be in charge. He had his time. He was being unreasonable about the future plans and it was becoming too cumbersome to deal with him. He was more of a liability than an asset. Just like you. And this now with you here, it provides me with the perfect way to get rid of him. The murder will be pinned on you. But you’ll also be dead so you don’t have to worry about that.”