by Misty Evans
And after he showed it to her, he’d have yet another drive to Good Hope to return it to Mindy. He was already exhausted. All she needed was for him to have an accident.
“Why don’t I go with you? I can examine all the evidence and we can discuss the serial killer case in more depth on the way. Then you can drop me back here before going home to sleep.”
“Visiting hours are over, aren’t they? If you need a safe place, you can stay with me.”
“The hospital will make an exception for me and my dad. Once we’re done in Good Hope, you can bring me back here and go home. I’ll stay with Daddy and keep an eye on Momma and Colton.”
“Are you sure, Shelby?” His deep frown only highlighted the dark circles under his eyes. “You’ve been through hell. You need some sleep too. I can bring the glove here. It’s no problem.”
She was still tired, but her little nap had done her good. She was thinking straight again. The truth was finally snapping into place, shifting so she could see the whole picture.
Because that’s what she did. She caught murderers and terrorists and stopped them from hurting others.
She sure as hell wasn’t going to let Colton continue to take the blame for Quan, but she had one more killer to catch, and her confession about what had really happened that night in Baghdad could wait until morning.
“Let’s go,” she said, allowing Theo to help her out of the pew. Once she made it to Nickelback, she kept going, motioning for him to follow.
“Where are we going?” he asked, dialing his phone as he shot daggers at Theo.
“To Good Hope,” Shelby said, sending up one last prayer. “No one blows up my home and gets away with it.”
“For the record, this is a bad idea. You need more than one bodyguard if you’re going to expose yourself outside the hospital.”
Shelby reached out and put a hand on his phone to stop him from doing what she thought he was. “Do not tell Colton. Trust me, I have a plan.”
A few minutes later, she was in the backseat of Theo’s SUV with Daniel next to her. Nickelback rode shotgun.
“Daniel’s a black belt,” she told the other two men, giving the junior pastor a Miss Oklahoma smile. “He knows how to handle himself, don’t you, Daniel?”
None of the men seemed too keen on the situation, but their dissent didn’t bother her. She knew now what she’d learned that day three months ago. It was time for her to start righting her wrongs.
She had a killer to stop.
BEFORE JACK CLAIBORNE’S daddy—Shelby’s granddad—had come along and renamed the town, Good Hope had been called Empty Quiver.
It had contained nothing more than a training site the military had used in the 1940s, the St. Francis Boys’ Home, which later became the Good Hope Children’s Home, and a few scattered farmers.
Empty Quiver was the military code word for the seizure, loss, or theft of a nuclear weapon. Shelby didn’t need two guesses where that had originated or why the military site had quickly and quietly shut down in 1974.
By then, her grandma and grandpa had been looking for a place to rebuild their lives after their first son took his by diving off a pier into the Gulf of Mexico.
Within a few years, her grandfather had become mayor and changed the town’s name. He brought a modest amount of commercial business to the place, revived the school system, including the football team, and worked with locals to build a heritage museum and park, commemorating the native peoples and natural beauty of the area. Soon, the Claiborne Bible College was born.
As Theo left the highway, Shelby saw the welcome sign to Good Hope. This was her town. Her home.
And nobody, especially not a killer, was going to ruin what her family had worked so hard to build.
“The temperature is really dropping.” She rubbed her upper arms. “Swing by my house, Theo. I need to grab a jacket.”
His gaze met hers in the rearview. “The house is a disaster. It’s too dangerous to walk around in there.”
“Well, unless you see an all-night women’s clothing store in the area, that’s what we have to do.”
“Ms. Claiborne…” Nickelback started.
Shelby shut him down. “We’re going to my house. End of discussion.”
Her boss and bodyguard exchanged a look.
That’s right, boys. I’m running the show now.
Daniel patted her hand and Shelby glanced at him. Shadows danced over his face as they drove under the streetlights. “It is getting chilly. Winter’s coming, I guess.”
Winter. Would she live to see another season?
She drew her hand away, rubbing her arms again. “I missed the entire summer. Momma said it was a hot one.”
They continued to talk about the weather and then Daniel’s plans to take over the parish ministry twice a month to free her father up for more traveling engagements.
Theo pulled up at her house a few minutes later.
My poor house.
Good thing her grandparents weren’t around to see this. Crime scene tape flapped in the breeze as light from the moon highlighted the hole on the first floor. A pile of rubble seemed to ooze from the gaping side, spilling onto the driveway. The upper story leaned slightly, part of its foundation gone.
Shelby knew the feeling.
“This is so not a good idea,” Nickelback said.
Good idea or not, she was determined to see her plan through. The clock on the dash read just after three a.m. Her backup would be here shortly. “Daniel, can you help me with my cane?”
Navigating through the debris would be challenging, and it was important the killer believed she was still disabled. Plus, the cane might come in handy if she needed to knock someone out.
Her Glock was upstairs. She doubted she’d be able to get there before the killer revealed himself.
But she did have a small backup in the kitchen. That was the key—to get there.
How was the question. She’d have to go in the back door since the only way to the kitchen through the front required crossing the damaged dining room.
“Just tell me where your jacket is,” Theo said, putting the SUV into park. “I’ll grab it for you.”
“I can’t remember,” she lied, pulling the brain injury card. “I have to look for it.”
Nickelback leaned forward, eyeing the house. “Agent Ingram, you go in, look around, make sure there are no surprises. I’ll keep Shelby here until you give the all-clear.”
Daniel went around to open Shelby’s door as Theo also climbed out and headed to the porch.
Over the seat, Nickelback asked softly, “What are you up to, Agent Claiborne?”
Now she was agent. “Just keep your wits about you and be ready to use that weapon hidden under your coat.”
“We need backup.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo. Help is on the way.”
He snorted and shook his head. “Bells is going to kill me.”
“I’ll protect you.”
Another snort that made her smile.
“I need to get to the kitchen,” she told Nickelback. “We’re going around the far side of the house to the back door, got it? Once we’re inside, we head straight for the kitchen.”
Daniel stood waiting for her to emerge, her cane in hand as his gaze trailed across the street to the empty house.
“You’re the boss,” Nickelback said.
The phone Megadeth had given her buzzed in her back pocket and Shelby pulled it out to see Unknown Caller on her screen.
Beatrice. The woman had not called her back after Shelby had hung up on her in Colton’s room. Unfortunately, now wasn’t a good time to chat.
Theo appeared on the porch and waved.
All clear.
“Remember,” she told Nickelback as she swung her legs out. “Get me to the kitchen.”
“I’d rather haul your ass back to the hospital.”
“Fat chance.”
“Daniel,” she grabbed his hand with one of hers, the ca
ne with the other. “You have to see my grandpa’s fields behind the house. They’re beautiful this time of night.”
He looked surprised but she didn’t give him a chance to argue, tugging him behind her.
Over the grass, along the unharmed side of the house, she passed by the porch.
“Where are you going?” Theo asked.
“Steps are hard for me,” she answered, nodding at the stairs. Nickelback was beside her, scanning the area and looking quite lethal in his all-black attire that blended with the shadows. “The back entrance only has one.”
Her phone buzzed again. Not now, Beatrice.
She pointed to the field, lying frosty and undisturbed under the moon. “See, Daniel? This would be a great place for the church fall festival, don’t you think? You could have hayrack rides and make a maze with pumpkins and cornstalks for the little kids.”
Daniel sounded confused but humored her. “Um, sure, Shelby. I think that’s a fine idea.”
Theo met them at the back door. That was quick. Or maybe she was moving slower than she thought.
“I’ve got it,” she said when all three men reached to help her up the step and into the house. Using her cane, she forced Theo to back up. “No lights?”
He had a flashlight in hand, trying to illuminate her way down the hall. “The blast must have shorted something. None of them are working.”
Shelby’s pulse skipped erratically. Nothing like confronting a serial killer in the dark.
Maybe I’m wrong. Please, Lord, let me be wrong.
“Could you run upstairs and see if you can find a dark blue sweater in my closet?” she asked Theo. “I think that’s where I left it.”
He frowned. “Shelby…”
“I’m fine. Just see if you can find it.”
Nickelback produced a small flashlight as Theo’s reluctant footsteps sounded on the stairs. She made her way toward the dark kitchen, Nickelback leading the way with Daniel following behind.
Her phone buzzed again. Dammit. “Daniel, will you see if you can find me a different pair of shoes? There should be some in the closet under the stairs. You may have to walk past some of the bomb debris, so be careful.”
“You really think it’s safe in here?” he asked.
Air from the dining room hole blew through the house and Shelby felt a real chill. Of course it wasn’t safe. “I just want to grab my ID from the kitchen and then we’ll go. But I really need a fresh pair of shoes.”
He hesitated a moment, then acquiesced, disappearing into the shadows of the hallway once more.
The kitchen was only slightly in shambles and she skirted an upended kitchen chair and the toaster lying on the floor. Broken glass crunched under her feet from the carafe that had been thrown to the ground in the blast.
“What are you really looking for?” Nickelback asked under his breath.
She reached into an overhead cabinet and felt around. “My weapon.”
A buzzing sounded, but it wasn’t her phone this time. Nickelback pulled out his and tapped the screen. “Yeah, boss.”
Where is it? Her fingers touched fragments of the strapping tape she’d attached the gun to the paneling with. Dammit. Had she moved it and forgotten?
Had the killer stolen it?
Shelby headed for the pile of rubble that had once been her dining room, using her cane to knock a piece of ceiling out of the way. Nickelback followed, asking a question of Beatrice and listening as his flashlight skimmed over torn plaster where her wedding photos had once hung.
“She’s right here.” He touched Shelby’s shoulder, stopping her. “My boss needs to speak to you.”
Shelby stepped around her hall table, now lying on its side. “I’m kinda busy here.”
Nickelback grabbed her arm, halting her, and handed her the phone. “Now.”
Tucking the phone between her ear and shoulder, Shelby kept moving. “Ma’am, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really can’t—”
Beatrice’s voice cut her off. “Get out of that house now. Nickelback will take you somewhere safe. Do not go with anyone else. Do you copy?”
Her dining room was a complete disaster, looking even worse in the night shadows. The hole in the wall revealed the driveway, and beyond that, the skeleton of the two destroyed trucks. As Shelby shifted, she saw the house across the street. “Afraid I can’t do that. I have a case to solve.”
Above her, she heard the creak of the stairs. Theo.
“I have the results from the partial fingerprint on that wrapper Colton found,” Beatrice said. “And I’ve found a new connection between Lt. Moore and your current ASAC. You’re in imminent danger, Agent Claiborne. Your case can wait.”
“You got a match on the fingerprint?” Shelby felt a rush of adrenaline, like the warm spike of caffeine in her blood. Was she right? Was the killer here with her?
“If you had answered your phone earlier, I could have warned you. You need to leave now. The fingerprint is a match for—”
“Stop!” Nickelback said to someone behind them. “Put the gun—”
Bam!
The sound reverberated in the hallway, drowning out Beatrice and making Shelby drop to the ground.
On her knees, she whirled, cane in hand. Nickelback was down, his flashlight pointed at the opening to the kitchen. The silhouette of a man, holding a weapon, was illuminated by the back door window.
Daniel?
She heard a voice, but it wasn’t Daniel’s. “What are you doing?”
It came from behind her, from the bottom of the stairs. One so familiar it made her blood run cold.
She heard the cock of a gun as she turned back to face the man now behind her. In the filtered moonlight, she saw a second one pointing at her as well.
Beatrice was yelling from the phone, her voice fierce but far away. The name of the killer echoed in the space as she repeated it.
“You,” Shelby said as she looked into the eyes of the man she’d been hunting. The man who’d stood over her just hours before, ready to take her life.
No glasses.
Theo had tucked his glasses in his front pocket.
Earlier, he’d been wearing contacts. They’d changed his eye color from blue to brown.
No wonder I didn’t recognize him under the mask.
She’d guessed wrong. Either that, or Jaya was right and there were two killers—who at that moment both had her in their sights.
“Tell Colton I love him,” she said to Beatrice, letting the phone fall to the floor.
Then Shelby made a Hail Mary play her dad could be proud of and prepared to meet her Maker.
Chapter Twenty
_____________________
______________________________________________________
“TURN HERE!” COLTON yelled at Zeb.
They took the curve into the subdivision at seventy, throwing Colton against the passenger door but he barely registered the pain.
Shelby.
I have to save her.
From the backseat, Connor handed him a gun. “You might need this.”
Colton took the Sig, gripping the stock hard. Beatrice had called to tell him Shelby wasn’t answering her calls. Then she’d told him about the fingerprint match, the shoes traced to Paris and a very unlikely customer. To top it off, she’d told him what Emit’s TrackMap had found—the relationship it discovered that, with the other evidence, revealed the killer.
The fucking bastard had been in front of him the whole bloody time. Setting up Shelby. Setting up all of them.
Shelby must have figured it out too, even without all the fancy tech. She’d drawn the serial killer away from the hospital and the people she loved, and knowing her, thought she could stop him on her own.
Jon was down. Beatrice had patched them through to Shelby’s open cell phone line, allowing Colton and the others to hear everything going on in his house while their end was muted.
Tell Colton I love him.
She was about to die and those
were her final words.
Fucking A.
“Two more blocks, then the last road,” he told Zeb. “Hurry.”
Zeb was an expert driver and was going as fast as the rental car could handle, but Colton wished he could yank the wheel away and drive himself.
“Who are you really?” he heard Theo say.
Daniel—or whoever he was—answered. “I’ve been many men in my lifetime. The real me is dead and buried.”
Theo snorted. “How did you know it was me?”
“I wasn’t sure until tonight. Until you shot that bodyguard.”
“Wait.” Shelby’s voice was angry. “You did all of this, Theo? You killed those men?”
Did she really not know or was she playing dumb?
“Nice of Daniel, here, to become my scapegoat.” Ingram.
Fucking creep. Assistant In Charge Theo Ingram had played them all.
So had Daniel from the sounds of it, but Colton wasn’t sure exactly how.
Lights from the car behind them flashed in the side mirror. Shelby had known she was flushing out the killer and she’d at least been smart enough to alert Denbe and Jocelyn from her office. They were right behind Zeb’s rental.
“Light,” Connor said, handing Colton a flashlight to clip onto his gun.
And it was his. Connor had somehow retrieved it from the cops when Colton had gone belly up.
Thank God someone had his back.
Connor. Zeb. Jax.
Beatrice.
This was what family did. They had your back, chastised you when you deserved it, and kept your head above water when you couldn’t.
Sweat poured down the back of his neck. He hadn’t had any pain meds in hours. That and the fact his wife was about to be shot made him want to crawl out of his skin.
“Give up, Theo,” Shelby said. “We have your prints.”
Ingram sounded slightly surprised. “On what?”
A wrapper found at the abandoned house. Not exactly conclusive evidence of anything.
Shelby seemed to realize the same thing. “Even if you kill me, Colton will prove you murdered those men and shot me. You won’t get away with this.”
