Bear Claw Lawman

by Jessica Andersen

  Focus, she told herself. Deal with it. There were dozens of cops just a short distance away. Cops who would be dead in a few minutes if she didn’t act fast.

  She had to find a way to slow him down and alert the others, warn them. But how?

  Think!

  * * *

  JENN WAS LATE FOR THE MEETING, which wasn’t like her.

  Nick checked his watch for the fifth time in the past few minutes, and glanced over when the door swung open. It was Jack Williams and a couple of other detectives, looking serious and steadfast. Jack shot Nick a look on his way in, sending him a nod, as if to say, We’re on it, buddy. We’re not going to let anything happen to her.

  Which he appreciated. He just hoped to hell it was all going to work the way they were hoping. He had seen too many ops go bad over the years, though, and the memories had a hard churn knotting deep in his gut.

  “Where is she?” he muttered, earning himself a speculative look from Tucker.

  The other man hadn’t pried, but he was no dummy, either. He had undoubtedly more or less guessed what was going on between Nick and Jenn, but had only said, “I hope you know what you’re doing, and you’re not just falling back on the familiar stuff because it’s, well, familiar.” He had grimaced with some not-quite-comfortable memory. “Ask me how I know.”

  And the thing was, Tucker might’ve been the original rolling stone back a few years ago, moving cities and departments every few years, always off in search of the next cool scene, the next group of friends…but these days he looked happier than ever, content and settled with Alyssa and their baby girl.

  Just because a radical change had worked for him, though, didn’t mean it would work the same for everyone. Especially not a guy who had already tried the home-and-hearth thing, and failed spectacularly.

  Now, though, Tucker didn’t press the point. He just glanced at his own watch, then at the door. “Want me to ask Alyssa to check on her?” Implying that she would probably want to see one of her friends right now, not him.

  Which might be the case, but he’d be damned if he went back to keeping his safe, careful distance from her. “No. I’ll go.”

  Tucker shot him a look. “No offense, but I don’t think that’s the best idea. I can’t have two of my key people distracted right now.”

  Under any other circumstance, with any other key personnel, Nick would’ve agreed flat-out. Now, though, with Jenn, he shook his head as a new, deep-seated heat kindled in his chest. “You’re damn right I’m distracted. But staying away from her isn’t going to fix that.”

  What the hell was he doing? Tucker was right, he had fallen back on old, familiar patterns when things had gotten uncomfortable, without really asking himself whether it was what he wanted. He had just assumed it was, because that was the way he’d lived his life for so long now, alone and adrift. But if that was what he wanted, why was he so miserable now? Why wasn’t he counting the hours until he could get out of there?

  Because he didn’t want to leave, that was why. He wanted to stick around and work things out with Jenn, damn it. Even if it made things really uncomfortable.

  Even if it meant changing some of the things he’d considered inviolate for so long. Because somehow those things suddenly seemed a whole lot less important than the woman who had made love to him last night and then burned his bacon that morning, reaching for a new sense of independence, of strength.

  Tucker had been watching him, making him wonder what was showing on his face. But the other man said only, “Going after her?”

  “You’re damn right I’m going after her.” Nick rose even as a few more cops trickled in for the meeting.

  Hurrying now, he headed for the lab and stopped dead when he saw the empty stairwell. Spinning back, he stuck his head in the reception area and demanded, “Where’s the lab guard?”

  Kelsey frowned. “Becks? He was there a minute ago.” She rose. “Did he bring Jenn into the meeting?”

  “No. He didn’t.” Senses going on sudden high alert, Nick pounded down the stairs. “Jenn? Jenny, darn it, answer me. Are you down here?”

  Silence.

  His pulse thudded sickly in his veins as he reversed back up the stairs, suddenly very certain that the Investor had made his move and taken the bait, only they hadn’t been ready for him. Damn!

  Just as he hit the main floor, there was a sudden screech-thud from the direction of the interrogation rooms, followed by a man’s muffled shout.

  Amber erupted from underneath the front desk. Scrabbling on the polished floor, the dog still made it to the door ahead of Nick. She snuffled for a moment at the door, going suddenly tense and edgy. And then, to his horror, she stiffened and alerted, not just of an intruder, but with the characteristic chuff that said she’d scented explosives!

  “Amber!” Kelsey had made it to the end of the hall on one crutch, and now her eyes were wide and shocked.

  “Stay back,” Nick ordered, keeping his voice low and edging away from the door. “And call her off. Then I want you to tell Tucker what just happened, and then get the rest of the building cleared.”

  “What are you—”

  “I’m staying right here.” He didn’t know what exactly was going on, but he could guess all too horribly who was on the other side of that door.

  The Investor…and Jenn. And a bomb.

  God. How could this have happened? They were in the damned department! How had the bastard waltzed right in and taken over like this? Taken a hostage like this?

  Kelsey must have seen from his expression that there was no point in arguing, because she called Amber and the two of them disappeared around the corner.

  Which left Nick to ease back down the hallway, straining to hear another noise that might tell him what they were dealing with. He missed a step at the sight of a pale red boot smear on the floor. He didn’t know if it was the guard’s blood or Jenn’s, but the sight sparked new fury inside him.

  It was as if everything he’d done up to this point, everything he had learned, suddenly coalesced into this one moment, this one crucially important op.

  He had to get to Jenn, had to save her. Had to tell her he’d been wrong and convince her to give him another chance, to give them another chance.

  He reached the door, laid a hand on the panel and took a breath, trying to settle his fury enough to think, to focus.

  He didn’t dare make a mistake. This was too important.

  “I know you’re out there.” The voice was muffled by the door, but the tone sent a chill down Nick’s spine, warning him that he was dealing with a very dangerous man…and one who had suddenly found himself cornered, making him exponentially more vicious.

  Raising his voice, aware that he was about to play the single most important role of his life, he said, “I’m here. The others will be here in a minute. So why don’t you and me talk about getting you out of there safely?” He went with Good Cop and added a touch of Conspirator.

  He only hoped to God it worked.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Struggling to breathe around her gag in the wake of the Investor’s vicious blow to her face, Jenn whimpered softly and tried to hold down the panic. She had made enough noise to attract attention, but she was afraid of what she might have gotten herself into in the process.

  He was furious, muttering to himself and pacing, tapping his temple with the barrel of a .38 pistol he’d produced from the pocket of his uniform pants. She didn’t know if he’d taken it from the guard, along with the standard-issue Taser, or if he’d carried it in with him.

  At the thought, her mind seemed to kick back into gear, analyzing the evidence at hand and coming up with far more questions than answers. How had he gotten in? How had he gotten the jump on the guard? Did he have someone on the inside of the P.D. helping him?

  The idea put a new, sick twist in her gut. She hated the thought of a conspiracy inside the task force, hated that Bear Claw could be tainted like that. More, she hated lying here, helpless
, knowing that Nick stood on the other side of the door, only a thin panel away from her captor’s weapon, with no information on what he was facing inside the small room.

  But what could she do? How could she tell him without endangering them both?

  “Hello?” Nick called. “I’m still here, waiting on you. What can we do to get everybody out of this in one piece?”

  “Not going to happen,” the Investor muttered, still pacing, still tapping away with his gun. “None of you are going to make it out of this. I am, though. I have to.”

  He kept glancing at the duffel, pacing toward it and away, but always coming back to it with a determination that terrified Jenn.

  Don’t do it, she wanted to say. Please don’t do it.

  He didn’t want to kill himself, that much was clear. But he wanted to do maximum damage on his way out of Bear Claw…and she and Nick were directly in the line of fire.

  Suddenly, all the things that had happened over the past two days—seeing Nick hurt, reliving things at the hospital, the two of them picking a fight this morning because it was easier than figuring out how to make it work—all of that seemed so much less important than it had. Now, lying there, helpless and impotent while Nick risked his life to keep the Investor talking, none of the little things mattered nearly so much as the big picture. And in the big picture, she and Nick worked together. They belonged together.

  Somehow.

  Given that, it seemed all too fitting that she was back in Interrogation Three, where things had started to fall apart in the first place.

  Why had she made it all or nothing with her ultimatum that morning? Why hadn’t she tried to find some sort of compromise, one that made each of them squirm, but didn’t mean he had to abandon the work that was so important to him that he’d given up a big chunk of his life to it?

  Was there any wonder he’d turned her down? On the one hand, she was fighting for her career, and on the other, she was asking him to give his up.

  How had she not seen that? How had she not recognized it?

  I’m sorry, Nick. The words stayed in her head, though, not even making it out as a moan, because at that moment, the Investor barked a vicious curse and strode to the door, which he’d jammed shut with a metal brace.

  Pressing his palm to the panel, he said, “I want a helicopter and a pilot in the parking lot in fifteen minutes. Fully fueled, with parachutes.” Under his breath, he added, “Damn good thing I’m the only one left. Nobody left to squeal when I take off with you, and light this place up on my way out.”

  Jenn’s pulse kicked. There wasn’t an inside man in the task force, after all…but he was planning on taking her with him and setting off the bomb. She couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t let it happen. But how could she stop him?

  “I can get you a helicopter, have you flown wherever you want,” Nick said. “But I’ll need a show of good faith. Give me one of the hostages.”

  “There is only one.”

  Jenn made a low, broken noise around the gag, imagining what Nick must be thinking, what he must be feeling. And also at the confirmation that the guard was dead. She had been hoping against hope he was unconscious, or maybe playing possum.

  She was lying next to a dead man. Bile threatened to rise, but she fought it back, refusing to give in to the weakness. Not now, when she needed to be strong.

  “I need something,” Nick pressed, voice rough with emotion.

  Her captor flicked a glance at her, then crossed the room in a few short strides and crouched down beside her.

  Jenn didn’t let herself flinch back, but that was about all she could manage.

  “Go ahead.” He jerked down her gag. “Say something. Not,” he said quickly, “anything about what’s in here.” He leaned in close, pinning her with his killer’s eyes. “You don’t want to make me mad, do you?”

  She shook her head mutely, unable to speak at first. But then, knowing Nick would be frantic out there, needing to know she was okay, she moistened her lips and said brokenly, “Nick? Nick, it’s me.”

  “Jenny.” The word was an explosion of pent-up breath, of feeling.

  She wanted to tell him that she was okay, that she was sorry for pushing him like she had that morning, that she wished she could go back and say something different, something that offered a middle ground. There was no time for that, though. He needed intel, not love words.

  “Remember Terry?” she said, hoping against hope that he would understand. “This is nothing like that. None of those lies.” He’s working alone. You can trust the others.

  Would he get that? Would it matter to whatever they were planning?

  “That’s enough!” Her captor shoved her with a booted

  foot, then knelt and pulled up roughly on her gag, wrenching it back into place with enough force to make her jaw ache and bring tears to her eyes.

  “Okay,” Nick said through the door. “Okay, you’ve got her. I believe you. I want her out of there safely…so how about you tell me what you want?” There was a pause before he said, lower and with a threatening edge, “Trust me, you’re better off dealing with me than anybody else you’re going to get around here. I’m not a local. All I care about is getting the hostage out of there safely.”

  The Investor shot a baleful look back at her. “Your boyfriend thinks I’m an idiot. He thinks I don’t know who and what he is, why he’s in town.”

  But he was listening, Jenn thought. He was talking. That had to be good, right? Her heart drummed against her ribs and that sick churn stayed put in her stomach, though, because talking was one thing, getting out was another.

  Then, just at the very edge of her hearing, she heard a faint buzzing hum coming from over near the guard’s body. It sounded like…a drill! The surveillance techs were breaking through, getting eyes into the room.

  But just as she realized what was going on, the machine noise changed, growing suddenly louder as the bit hit what sounded like a layer of metal.

  The Investor’s head whipped up and around.

  Jenn coughed wretchedly around the gag, making as much noise as she could. She ran out of oxygen quickly, though, and doubled over, close to panic as her head spun. But she kept coughing, kept masking the sound of the drill.

  “What’s going on in there?” Nick said sharply. “What are you doing to her? No hostage, no deal. Period.”

  “She’s fine.”

  “Okay, I’m going to take your word on that. I’m also talking to my people about the chopper. But…listen. What should I call you?”

  The Investor hesitated, then turned his attention back to the door and snarled, “You don’t need to call me anything.” Then, nudging her roughly, he said, “Shut the hell up. I’m not taking off the gag. And if you don’t stop, you’re going to wish you had.”

  At that ominous threat, Jenn wheezed to silence, face burning with fear and exertion. But now she could see the tip of a fiber-optic camera nudging through a small hole near the floor.

  They were going to break through and try to rescue her. More, they would know that there was a bomb in the room, and that the Investor had a gun.

  Relief rushed through her, along with a sudden feeling that she wasn’t alone anymore. There would be no flash-bangs or gas. The cops would have to break through and take him by force, and he would know that. He would be ready.

  Well, so will I, Jenn thought with a sudden burst of determination that had her tugging sharply at her hands, first one way, then the other. And one of them gave!

  Heart racing now, she yanked and then twisted. Her wrist scraped painfully against the table leg, but it worked! Her hand slid free, easing the singing pain in her arm and shoulder and sending her pulse into the stratosphere. She had done it!

  The Investor was over by the duffel now, staring down at the bomb and tapping the gun against his temple, making her badly afraid that he was going to arm the device and try to shoot his way out, thinking the explosion would give him the distraction he needed to get
away.

  It might work, but she wouldn’t live through it. And she was determined to live.

  Breathing shallowly now, afraid that he would notice what was going on, she started working on her other wrist, hoping against hope that she would be in time. And, more, that she would get a chance to tell Nick that she would find a way to live with the danger, because she knew now that she didn’t want to live without him in her life, one way or another.

  * * *

  “THE HELICOPTER IS ON its way,” Nick said, pitching his voice to carry through the door. “It’ll be here in ten minutes. We need to talk about getting you out to the parking lot.”

  His hands were sweating where they held one of the monitors that showed the scene inside the interrogation room. Keep him talking, he reminded himself. Keep him with you.

  He didn’t like the way the Investor was focusing on the bomb now, or the rapid pacing or the way he kept wagging that gun. He might’ve been cool, calm and collected in the outside world, when he’d had the former mayor on his payroll and a militia at his beck and call, but now, alone and cornered inside the police department, he was rapidly coming unhinged. And that would make him unpredictable, and exponentially more dangerous than he’d been before.

  Now, he whirled to glare at the door. “We’re both coming out. Me and the hostage. I’ll let her go when I’m sure I’m out, and that you’re not following.”

  Only he wouldn’t let her go, Nick knew. He might not need to kill her to keep her from being a witness—his face was no mystery now, though they still hadn’t come up with an ID, despite facial recognition software and the federal databases. The techs were working on it, though. Even given that, though, even if he got onto the helicopter and felt safe, he wasn’t going to let Jenn go. Not alive, anyway.

  Worse, they couldn’t go in after him. Not with the bomb sitting right there, and the techs unable to guarantee that it wouldn’t go off if they breached. In fact, they were pretty sure that it would go off if they blasted through the door or walls to get into the room, and suspected the Investor had a dead man’s switch on him somewhere, primed to blow the whole building if he hit it.