Bulletproof Badge

by Angi Morgan

  “I... Maybe you should sit this one out, babe.”

  “No way. I’m safer with you than anywhere else.” And saner. If they lived through this, they could laugh at her going crazy together. “Remember what you said about great stories for the grandchildren?”

  “Yeah,” he spoke on a marathon breath.

  “I’m going to hold you to it, Lieutenant Travis.”

  Kenderly stood at the statue. Content to just hear Garrison’s heavy breathing.

  “Don’t jump,” he said.

  She turned around and there he was. She’d never been so glad to see someone in her life. They hung up, and she ran across the street to him, flying into his arms. Not thinking until afterward about his injuries. They didn’t seem to matter as he held her to his chest and kissed her as if they’d been apart forever.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he whispered before kissing her again.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kenderly was quiet and drifted off with the swaying of the cab. Garrison was a lifetime away from relaxing. He couldn’t think that she’d relaxed as much as she was just plain exhausted. He’d had a restful drug-induced nap, but she’d been awake for twenty-three hours. The past day had been nonstop action.

  If he could think of any place safe, he would have taken the taxi there. He wanted to leave the city with her in his arms and just disappear. As soon as they stepped back on the street, she’d be back in danger again. There just didn’t seem to be a path that would keep them out of the line of fire. He skimmed her bruised cheek with the back of his fingers.

  It made him choke up just thinking about her begging for his life. Choke up worse when she didn’t beg for her own. He hadn’t known many women—other than his sister—who could be this brave.

  The cab dipped into a pothole, waking Kenderly just as they reached the parking lot near the market. Garrison used Jesse’s card to pay, then they took the long way around back. As soon as they turned the corner he saw his bike was still hidden in the alley.

  “I didn’t think it would still be here.”

  “Why not?” Kenderly yawned. “It hasn’t been twelve hours since we left. It only feels like it’s been a week. Just like it seemed an eternity when you were unconscious.”

  Kenderly weaved as she walked, but she was still hanging in there. He held on tight to an amazing woman. He hated the thought of losing her again, realizing his fear would stay with him a good long while. For the first time, he came close to understanding what his mother went through after losing his dad and watching both of her children go into law enforcement.

  He cared deeply for Kenderly. If their relationship could survive starting this way, it might just survive an average day-to-day life without hiccups.

  “How are you going to start that? Didn’t Tenoreno’s men take your keys?”

  “I can pick the storage compartment lock. I have a spare inside. I just need to find a piece of wire. There should be some here in an alley.”

  “Well, while you do, I’m going to sit down over on these steps and rest my eyes for a few seconds.”

  The adrenaline had worn off as evidenced by her falling straight to sleep while resting her head against the brick. Garrison found his wire, picked the lock and obtained the key. Everything was ready to kick-start and go, but he sat on the seat and watched her.

  His mind hadn’t worked past retrieving the flash drive and getting the hell out of Austin. Well, except about staying with Kenderly. That was a given. It had to happen.

  So they’d pick up the flash drive and then... What would happen to Tenoreno?

  Where could they go that they wouldn’t be found? He left the bike and sat next to Kenderly. “I need your help.”

  “Hmm.”

  “We need to access the files and see what state prosecutor hasn’t been purchased. Or find a judge who’s safe to ask for a warrant. Then we can turn over the flash drive and go into hiding until the trial.”

  Libraries and computer stores wouldn’t open for another three hours. There were too many cameras at all-night super stores. So what choice did they have? What were the remaining options?

  “Kenderly, wake up. Where’s a place we could open the files on the flash drive? I don’t want to push our luck hanging around Austin waiting on a library to open up.”

  “Borrow a laptop,” she mumbled before dropping her head on his shoulder.

  “Borrow? From who?”

  “Don’t you have any friends?” she mumbled into his shirt.

  “Not here, but you do. Don’t you, sweetheart?”

  “My friends aren’t awake at this time of day.” She pushed her hair away from her face and stretched an arm to wake up. “Actually, doesn’t your dog walker live across the street from your aunt? Why not email the files from there?”

  “It’ll all be a moot point if the flash drive isn’t in the dang water bottle.”

  “That is so clever of you.” She swatted lightly at his shirt. “I had no idea what you meant when you said it was hidden in the water. I still might be a little loopy, though.”

  Kenderly stood and shook her head. She walked forward a few steps, stretching her neck and then waving her arms. She bent over and touched her toes. Garrison raced forward and swatted her behind. Things were tense. The city of Austin seemed to be trailing them, but he still wanted his hands on her.

  She was working on her last ounce of energy but still had a smile for him.

  He straddled the seat, and she hopped on behind him. He pulled her close, very familiar with the shape of her thighs.

  “Now that I’m awake, remind me why we need to get the flash drive right this minute. You think someone’s watching the house, right? And most of the city is looking for an escaped prisoner—meaning you.”

  He twisted enough to reach one of her hands. He lifted it to his face and brushed his lips across. He swallowed hard, not wanting to tell her the truth, wanting to protect her from it. But if something happened to him, she needed to know what to do.

  “With my confession, Tenoreno brought Company F under serious question. The accusations have brought a halt to all the investigations there. Johnson told me a couple of things that are going to go south real quick if it’s not resolved fast.”

  “I couldn’t believe you made that false confession. I know how much it means for you to be a ranger. You trust those men, and they may never trust you again. Why would you?”

  To save you.

  He couldn’t tell her she was the reason he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

  “Here’s where it becomes our problem. We’ve got nowhere to go. What if we wait, and Tenoreno’s men find the evidence? What if he doesn’t take any chances and just burns the place down?”

  “If he catches us again...” She brushed his hair, skimming his scalp with her nails. “He’s going to kill us this time, isn’t he?”

  He confirmed with a nod. “Finding the flash drive and delivering it to someone who has not been paid off by Tenoreno is the only way we’re going to survive. I think he knows that, too. So his men are going to shoot to kill this go-round.”

  “All right. I’m ready.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’ll have you know this is going to be hell on my hair again. I take no responsibility for what I’ll look like later today.”

  He laughed. “Sweetheart, no one’s going to notice your hair with that awesome shiner you have.”

  He gunned the bike to a start while she said a loud “what” in his ear. They could only take the motorcycle so far before the engine would alert anyone watching the house. Having it after as a means to leave town—that’s why he wanted it close by.

  He pulled up on the sidewalk around the corner from his aunt’s street. He rolled forward until they could see the house. Parked in front of the driveway was a
cop car, cigarette smoke curling from the open window. He pushed them down the sidewalk, back into the access alley behind a privacy fence and under a low overhanging tree.

  “I’ll get the flash drive. You stay with the bike.”

  “Can’t I come with? I haven’t had much luck on my own.”

  He kissed her, loving every second he spent with her in his arms. “I’ll slip around to the back, jump the fence, get the drive and a bottle of water for you. I’ll be back in a shorter time than it takes to make Bear fetch a ball. Easy.”

  “I’m holding you to that.”

  He removed the gun from his waist and checked his ammo. Not much. He had to trust this was going to work without problems.

  * * *

  KENDERLY WATCHED GARRISON jog through the alley. He would be crossing the street midway at the next block to avoid detection. So she knew it would take a few minutes. It was a lot more dangerous than his smile let on.

  All she had to do was wait. Simple. Sure. Just waiting had nearly gotten her killed yesterday.

  The old alley between the houses had tall grass which was wet with the early morning dew. She was afraid to sit, fearing she’d fall asleep as she’d done earlier on the back steps of the market.

  So she waited. Impatiently. She checked the time on Jesse’s phone about every thirty seconds. The bungle of numbers he’d told her for his password were long forgotten or she would have found what media was saying about their escape. She was just putting the phone in her back pocket again when she noticed a car moving at a snail’s pace.

  The motorcycle was back far enough it couldn’t be seen from the street. The car passed, and she ran to the edge of the fence. It pulled through the stop sign and turned the corner. The familiarity of the man behind the wheel was probably her imagination. She hoped she wouldn’t be reacting to all dark sedans with almost black windows that way for the rest of her life.

  She kept leaning on the fence when a large man jogged across the street. She pulled back, hiding. It was Thomas. She was certain of it. The same murderer who’d held a gun to her head and pulled the trigger. She’d made peace with God because she’d thought she was about to die.

  The nightmares about him would come for many, many years.

  Garrison! Shoot to kill.

  The words battled in her heart and mind. She was safe where she was. Garrison could be in and out of the garage before Tenoreno’s man even reached the house. But what about the cop sitting out front?

  She rushed across the yard, pausing at the corner of the house, feeling like a thief. Thomas was slowly sneaking up the sidewalk, acting like a regular person. But he’d never look that way to her. He was a murderer. She couldn’t forget the hatred in his eyes or the delight he took pulling the trigger.

  He would kill again. She was certain of that. She saw him raise the back of his loose black shirt, pulling a silver gun and pointing the long, black barrel toward the sky. He was going to kill the police officer and then Garrison.

  If she watched him kill another person, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. He was almost at the back of the cop car. The sun glinted off the gun as he dropped it behind his thigh.

  “Hey! He’s got a gun!” came out of her mouth before she’d thought through what to do next. Thomas turned toward her.

  The cop’s door flew open, weapon drawn, body ready for a fight. He saw Isabella’s murderer and relaxed, nodding his acknowledgment.

  The fact that they knew each other glued her feet to the driveway she stood on. Thomas was off to his right, running toward the garage. He was soon hidden by a hedge that separated the houses.

  The cop was halfway down the street, heading toward her.

  She turned, running across the wet grass. She slid to her knees when she turned away from the motorcycle. She couldn’t go back there. She couldn’t hide in one of these homes or ask for help. Since the police officer was after her, no one would take her word over his.

  He was on top of her in no time at all. He covered her mouth with his hand and dragged her back to his car. She fought every inch of the way, but had no real strength left. He threw her in the backseat and locked her in a nightmare.

  “Stay inside, ma’am. There’s an armed felon nearby.”

  That would be Garrison. The dirty cop held his gun and pointed toward the house. She didn’t hear anything about backup coming to this address on the police radio. If the cop was dirty, as she suspected, he’d let Thomas murder her.

  From where the officer’s car was parked she could still see him watching the garage from the corner of the house. It seemed such a long time ago that she’d jumped off that porch and into Captain Oaks’s car.

  She couldn’t see Tenoreno’s man. Could barely hear anything outside the car at all.

  She kicked and pounded and cried.

  There was no way she was getting free or out of here alive. No way.

  The officer moved to the yard and into the garage. He came out again, shaking his head. That’s when she noticed that Thomas was near the car. His hand was on the passenger door. She pushed as far to the other side as possible. He would use her to draw out Garrison.

  Her sacrifice would have been worth it if she’d saved someone’s life. But she hadn’t. And now if she was used against Garrison...

  She was a fool.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Dammit!” Garrison shouldn’t have left her alone. Nothing had gone right—almost nothing—so he should have learned his lesson. But he’d left Kenderly on her own again, and there she sat in the back of a dirty cop’s car.

  Why couldn’t they catch a break?

  Tenoreno’s man, Thomas, had gotten to the garage a minute too late. Garrison was clearing the back fence when he’d heard Kenderly’s shout, warning the officer. He didn’t blame her. She had to warn him. Just their luck that he was on Tenoreno’s payroll.

  Pausing in the overgrown hedge between the houses, he watched. Gun in one hand, and in the other was the flash drive still stuck in the water bottle. He couldn’t let Kenderly be threatened or touched again. He’d meant every word he’d said in the van. She was wonderful. And strong. How had she not fallen apart after having a gun to her head?

  Thomas didn’t need permission to shoot today. When he squeezed the trigger this time, a bullet would be firing into Kenderly.

  Where could he stash the water bottle? The neighbor didn’t have a storage building. No woodpile or trash can nearby. The garage was attached to the house and not accessible. Nothing besides a swing set and a couple of kids’ bikes.

  The passenger door was pulled open, Thomas would have Kenderly, yanking her out of the car in seconds. Garrison did the only thing possible, he shoved the water bottle into the thick branches of the hedge and pushed through. He could come back for the evidence. Right now, he needed the gun away from Kenderly.

  But first things first. He aimed his weapon. He was a good shot, but the line of sight wasn’t clear. He could hit Kenderly or... Damn, they actually needed him alive to face the murder charges. He stepped over a bicycle. The image of his aunt’s paper thin walls popped into his head. Thomas or the cop could fire and hit one of the neighbors inside their home.

  He had to keep the fight in his aunt’s yard and somehow not fire his weapon. How was he supposed to keep criminals from shooting? He holstered his gun.

  “This should be a hell of a fight,” he mumbled to himself. Garrison walked quickly and silently along the hedge. But when Thomas latched on to Kenderly’s arm he shouted to get his attention.

  “I sure hope you’re carrying some ID, you son of a bitch. When we’re done, they’re going to need to identify the body. Can you handle someone closer to your size?”

  Thomas stood, his body still blocking the way out of the vehicle for Kenderly. While swinging his weapon ar
ound, Garrison charged the last twenty feet.

  Garrison slid feet first, using Thomas’s ankles like second base. He popped back up, elbowing the gun from his opponent’s thick hands, following it with a left punch to the gut. They danced apart like in a boxing ring, hands up, bodies angled for the first jab.

  Thomas roared, dipped his head and charged like a rhinoceros. He crashed into Garrison, slamming him to the ground. The force took both of them into the neighbor’s front yard.

  If he could just get up... But Thomas trapped him in the wet grass and punched the side of Garrison’s aching head. Garrison punched back, sending two jabs to Thomas’s right kidney.

  There was another punch to his jaw, and Garrison couldn’t get free. He needed Thomas off him, but he couldn’t budge him. He drew back his arm, aiming to hit below the belt—

  Where was she? He saw the cop creeping closer to his squad car, Kenderly leaning from it to get the gun. “Look out.”

  The cop jumped forward, pinning her arm under his shoe just before she reached his weapon. The cop leaned down, and she screamed.

  “Kenderly?” She didn’t answer.

  Garrison shoved with all his might. He had to get to her. Finding strength he didn’t know he still had, he forced Thomas backward. They both scrambled to their feet. Circling. Ready to attack like wrestlers.

  Kenderly was still on the ground. “Get up.” The cop nudged her with his boot. She got slowly to her knees, then grabbed the door to help.

  Garrison tried to fake Thomas out in order to get to Kenderly, but his opponent planted his feet firmly between them.

  The cop tried to lift her with one arm. When that didn’t work, he shoved his weapon under her arm and attempted to help her to stand. Garrison caught his breath trying to determine how to get her out of there. She used the outside of the door to pull herself up.

  Dammit. He couldn’t pull his gun since the cop still had his weapon practically in Kenderly’s face.

  “Give me the gun and the girl,” Thomas growled at the cop.