Born to Die

by Winter Austin

  The smartest move would be to go out the driver’s-side window, except for the freezing river and hypothermia that waited on the other side. But drowning wasn’t the best idea, either. The water was now past her knees and climbing. She searched for her gun, but it must have been tossed in the accident. Popping the console, Cassy pulled the lid up until the items inside fell out, then she reached inside, and located her backup weapon.

  With the water now up to her thighs, she heard Jolie gasp.

  “Stay still,” Cassy commanded.

  Her fear of the truck shifting was becoming a reality as it filled with water.

  “Cassy, how do we get out?”

  “Cover your ears.”

  One shot, and the window exploded out, leaving a huge hole. With the gun butt, Cassy knocked out the rest of the glass. The truck lurched forward, sliding further into the river, right up to the now open window. Water poured in through the gap, filling the truck faster.

  Strapping her weapon in her holster, Cassy held out her hand to Jolie. “We’ve gotta make a swim for it. Hang on to me.”

  “Is the shooter gone?”

  “I don’t know. We can’t stay here all night to wait them out. Let’s go, Jolie.”

  Gripping her hand, Jolie pulled herself over the console. Cassy shuddered as the cold water encased her waist. She wiggled through the window and cried out as the river water enveloped her whole body. Never releasing her hold on Jolie, she floated up alongside the truck and helped Jolie through the window.

  “I can’t breathe,” Jolie said between gasping shudders.

  “Calm down.” Cassy’s teeth chattered.

  Wrapping an arm under Jolie’s arms and bracing her feet on the truck door, Cassy faced the shore and kicked away. She felt sluggish and exhausted, but she had to push through and get out of the river. They weren’t too far, but it felt like miles. She kept going until her feet banged against the riverbed.

  The truck had dislodged the ice, so she had a clear shot to shore. Crawling through the shallow part, she helped Jolie until they were lying on the snow-covered rocks.

  Now they had to hope help was near, or they’d freeze to death.

  “Cassy, I’m sorry for getting us into this,” Jolie struggled to say.

  “Don’t you give up on me,” Cassy gasped out. “I didn’t drag your ass out of there for nothing.”

  There was a loud screeching sound and a whoosh.

  “I think the truck is gone,” Jolie said, her teeth chattering.

  Too bad. Cassy loved that thing.

  Lights bobbed above them. Voices drifted down to them. Male voices.

  “There’s the truck. Cassy!”

  She craned her head and looked up. A silhouette hovered on the roadside. Was that Boyce? Had he come back? Hope surged through her, providing her a rush of warmth.

  “Down here, Boyce,” she croaked.

  A light veered down and landed full on her face. She squinted against the glare.

  “Cassy!”

  Disappointment rolled over her only seconds before she passed out.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The voice message from Liza was short. “Boyce, there’s been an accident.”

  He gave a cursory knock and then barreled into Ulrich’s office. The SAC glared at the intrusion during his meeting with the assistant attorney. Too damn bad. Boyce marched up to the desk and slapped down the papers.

  “You’ll find all the appropriate paperwork filled out for me to cash in my overabundant vacation days. All it needs is your John Hancock.”

  “Excuse me? Why would you want to take vacation time now?”

  “I’m long overdue for a vacation.”

  “We’re in the middle of ending years’ worth of work to charge your mother on multiple federal charges, and now you want to go have some fun in the sun?”

  Boyce scratched the back of his head and shrugged a shoulder. “Pretty much, yeah.”

  He heard the pity in AUSA Danberry’s breathy chuckle, but screw her. She was welcome to sleep with this job. He wouldn’t. She even had the nerve to tsk, shaking her head. “You really don’t care what happens to her, do you?”

  “My mother? No. The caring ship sailed and sank long ago. My heart doesn’t bleed for her, nor does hers bleed for me. I came here to do what you asked, and my job is officially over. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I’m actually going to celebrate Christmas, and not in my office.”

  Ulrich held up Boyce’s leave requests. “You do realize I have every right to refuse your request and not sign the papers?”

  “That’s abundantly clear, but I believe you won’t deny it.”

  “Why is that?”

  “There’s no valid reason to refuse the request. I don’t have any active cases, and I’ve more than done my job as an agent, closing nearly every case that has come across my desk, and let’s not forget the few temporary transfers I’ve made over the past two years. I haven’t taken vacation time since … well, never.” He held Ulrich’s gaze, hoping his meaning was coming through loud and clear: deny this request and Boyce would make himself a nuisance the likes of which Ulrich had never seen before.

  “And what if further assistance is needed with your mother?” Danberry asked.

  Boyce didn’t bother to look at the woman. “Madam Attorney, you have everything you’ll need to execute a warrant on Mother’s business and home. I don’t plan to be here when it happens.”

  “And why is that? Do you not want to see her downfall?”

  Yes, with every fiber of his being … a week ago. But he’d met a blond with a penchant for fine wines and a wild side she kept hidden from all but him, and Liza’s message changed the game. Cassy needed him; he just didn’t know how. He had to get back to Eider. Had to see her for himself.

  “I’m fairly certain ya’ll can handle the proceedings from here without me. I gave you the key, now I’m ready for a break.”

  Ulrich sighed. “Far be it from me to be the peckerhead who denies a good agent his request for time off.” He sorted through the pile of papers, signing where he needed, then held them out. “While you’re off enjoying yourself, you might want to evaluate your next step as an agent. The U.S. Attorney’s office has another big case coming in, and we were considering having you spearhead the operation.”

  Boyce gripped the papers with both hands, blinking at Ulrich. Spearhead? Being team leader of a huge operation opened the door to becoming a special agent in charge. He swallowed hard. It was his long-term career goal, where he wanted to end before retiring.

  “I’ll think about it, if you’d be so kind as to email me the information on the case. Give me a call when you lock my mother up, so I can congratulate you on your success.”

  He noticed the sly smile playing on the attorney’s mouth as he turned to leave. Was that a gleam in her eye?

  “Agent Hunt?” He paused. “I hope whatever is in Iowa is worth missing out on the biggest operation bust in a year.”

  “Madam Attorney, I think it is.”

  • • •

  “Mom, stop it. I’m fine.”

  “Cassandra, you were shot at and have hypothermia after being forced off the road into the river. You’re not fine.”

  Closing her eyes, Cassy counted to five before opening them. Nic gave her a sympathetic smile, hooked her arm around Mom’s, and led her out of the hospital waiting room.

  “Emma, I think we could use some more herbal tea. Do you think you could scrounge some up for us?”

  “Nic, I know what you’re doing—” The door closed, cutting off the rest of Mom’s speech.

  Cassy sagged in the lone comfortable chair in the entire hospital and breathed a sigh of relief. Mom had been riding her ass from the moment Cassy was given the all clear. Technically, she was free to go home, but she’d insisted she wasn’t going anywhere until she knew Jolie’s prognosis. Jolie’s gunshot wound, along with the loss of blood and the unhelpful dip in the freezing river water, had
sent the young woman into shock.

  The sheriff and Cassy’s fellow deputies were combing the area for signs of the shooter. Cassy shivered. There would be no boating or taking a dip in the river in the near future, if ever. That near-death experience might just trump her fear of the woods. Was it her, or was there a pattern starting?

  She peeled her eyes open when the waiting room door whooshed inward. “Did you get her to leave—? Pop?”

  Rigid and looking every bit as uncomfortable as she’d expect, Pop stood in the doorway. He hadn’t been in her room when she’d come to and hadn’t paid her a visit until now. “I … Your mother said you were ... ” He sighed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine.”

  He bowed his head and stood at parade rest with his arms crossed behind his back and his legs hip-width apart. How many times over the years had she seen him stand so before he spoke to her? How many times in her life had this stance been a source of comfort, because it meant Pop was about to bestow some words of wisdom or praise? Cassy’s throat tightened. Pop brought his head up, meeting her gaze, his features slack and pale. Her heart squeezed.

  “Cassy … I can’t continue on as such. When I heard that you were in an accident … my God, I ...”

  She bit her tongue and looked away.

  “You’re my daughter, and I love you.”

  Heat flushed her face. She gripped the armrests and pushed to her feet. “Have you said those words to Nic?”

  A moment of silence passed. “Yes, I have.”

  His admission was like someone removing her bones from her body and leaving her a wobbly mess. Cassy steadied herself and gathered her strength for the conversation she’d never been ready to have.

  “Why? Why would you treat her like a blight on your name for so many years? Why did you put your career above your daughter in a time when she needed you the most? Why, Pop?”

  “Have I ever told you what happened to me when Nic’s mother died?”

  “You never speak of Denise, at least not to me, or about yourself.”

  Stepping out of his parade rest, he moved a few inches closer. “I was a shattered man when I learned Denise had died. I wasn’t there, because the Corps had stationed me in Korea for a special assignment. By the time I returned stateside, Nic was living with her mother’s family. Seeing my daughter, an almost exact copy of her mother, tore me to pieces.” Pop took a few steps more. “Guilt over not being there for either of them turned me into a bitter man. I did the unthinkable. I blamed Nic for my mistakes.”

  Cassy couldn’t bear the weight; she slumped back into the chair.

  “I’m not proud of those years, especially the ones before I met your mother. She’s the one who turned me around. But for Nic … I was a flaming idiot when it came to my daughter. How she put up with me, endured my lashings, and turned into the woman she is, I’ll never know.” Pop lowered his body to Cassy’s level, took her hands in his, and gazed at them. “It’s taken me a few years to undo all the hurt I’ve caused.” He looked up at her. “Don’t turn me away again.”

  Tears slipped down her cheeks, pooling along her jaw before dripping onto her shirt. She sniffed. “You lied,” she whispered.

  “And I’m eternally sorry for that.”

  “I can’t … just … What am I supposed to say?”

  He squeezed her fingers. “That’s your decision.” He brought her hands up and kissed her knuckles. “I do love you, Cassy. And I nearly died last night when I thought I’d lost you.”

  His affection, something completely new about him, unraveled her. She sobbed and fell into his arms. Pop hugged her tight, stroking her hair but saying nothing. She leaned into him, letting her tears soak his dress shirt.

  “I’m sorry, Pop, for … everything,” she said into his neck.

  “You’re a Rivers—we’re a stubborn lot.”

  She choked out a laugh and then sniffed. “I can’t remember the last time you hugged me.”

  “Right before you left for college.”

  She drew back. Pop reached up and rubbed the tears from her cheeks.

  “Where is he?”

  “Where’s who?”

  “This man, Boyce Hunt? I vaguely remember meeting him two years ago. Your sister delights in calling him Agent Asshole.”

  “That’s because he is one.”

  Cassy scowled at Nic. “How long have you been there?”

  “Long enough. Pop, can I have a few minutes with her?”

  He nodded but placed a kiss on Cassy’s forehead first.

  The emotional encounter left her more drained than fighting the hypothermia had. She slumped in the chair. “Did you get an update on Jolie?”

  Nic settled in the chair next to her. “Yes, she’s on the mend. They have her in a room, and her parents are with her. I think Eli mentioned she was blubbering that she was sorry for getting the both of you into trouble.”

  “She has nothing to be sorry about. She didn’t shoot herself, and she certainly didn’t force us into the river.”

  Nic’s brows wrinkled in confusion. “How the hell do you not have some kind of mental breakdown? You’re way too positive to have lived through a demented freak who nearly got you killed, and now this.”

  Cassy chuckled and slapped her sister’s thigh. “Must be good genes.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “I can’t tell you why. I guess I’m just wired differently than you. But I’m not totally without problems. I still hate going into the middle of the woods.” She shivered. “I can’t get over that.”

  “Phew, here I thought they’d replaced you with a robot or something.” Nic took Cassy’s hand and massaged it. “Let’s go home. Jolie is in good hands, and you need sleep.”

  Cassy freed her hand and rose from the chair. “Not yet. Last night, Jolie opened a door that I never considered”—she took Nic’s hands and dragged her to her feet—“and I need my sister to help me hash this out.”

  “Hash what out?”

  “Who’s been robbing the banks and killed Ethan Wallis and the Clydes.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “What are you thinking?”

  Cassy grimaced as she shifted in the seat of the Jeep. The pain meds the doc had given her for her sore ribs were wearing off. She’d slammed into the steering wheel harder than she thought. “I was thinking what Jolie was thinking—that her brother might have involved himself in these robberies that have led to murder.”

  “Why would Ian Murdoch get caught up in something as stupid as that?” Nic asked. “He’s the ex-sheriff’s son.”

  “Why would a reasonably well-brought-up girl join the Marine Corps and become a scout sniper just to piss off her general of a father?”

  “Bite me,” Nic muttered.

  “I’m not saying it was a bad thing, but Ian has motives we’ve got to unbury. Here’s where it doesn’t make sense: How does Kendra Clyde figure in to this?”

  Nic slowed the Jeep at a stop sign. “Start from the top.”

  “Which top?”

  Nic turned onto the street leading out of town. “When did the robberies start?”

  “The first one was mid-August, a little gas station outside of Freeport. The second was three weeks later, near Cornell. We had a big lull between the second and third. The third one happened at a larger gas station outside of Eider.”

  “How many robberies, minus the banks, have happened?”

  “Five.”

  “Damn. And there’s been nothing to give away who’s been doing it?”

  “We figured the robbers have to be young. Jennings was scouting the main social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, and watching for something to pop up on the Internet, but nothing came out. Hamilton was running on an assumption because previous robbers in other states had been stupid enough to taunt the cops on social media, but not so with our problem child. Stumped us all, especially when we went a month with nothing happening.”

  “Until the bank was robbed,” Nic said.
/>   “Exactly. The setup was different from the gas station robberies. This time, it was a big score, and the robbers hurt people.”

  Nic drummed the steering wheel. When she began to analyze, she’d get real quiet, and since she was tapping out what sounded like the Marine Corps anthem, she wasn’t ready to enter her analytical state yet. It was wrong on so many levels to be discussing active cases with a civilian, but Nic had done the same with Cassy during The Priest incident. Con was good; so was Nash and now Jennings. But Nic’s mind worked in a different way than the men’s. Call it woman’s intuition, but when Cassy discussed matters with her sister, they came up with pieces of the puzzle no one else saw.

  And Nic could keep her mouth shut.

  “Okay, what were Agent Asshole’s ideas before he was recalled to Memphis?”

  “I really wish you’d stop calling him that.”

  “Until he proves otherwise, he’ll always be an asshole. He broke my baby sister’s heart.”

  Cassy squiggled lines in the condensation on the passenger-side window. “Be that as it may, there were extenuating circumstances in all of that. I was just too caught up in myself to see the reality.”

  “And what were those extenuating circumstances?”

  Cassy wiped the wetness from her hand on the pair of running pants Nic had brought her to wear at the hospital. “I’m not at liberty to say, because it’s an ongoing federal investigation.”

  “Ms. Prim and Proper always following the rules. Shit, those rules didn’t stop you from getting caught up in an investigation you weren’t authorized to help with.” Nic huffed. “I can’t believe it. You blab just enough to be interesting and then won’t tell me.”

  “I don’t need to broadcast everything I do to you.”

  “You slept with the man after swearing him off for good, and that wasn’t too damn hard to miss.”

  Cassy scowled at her sister. “Can we get back to the matter at hand?”