The Only Witness

by Laura Scott

  “So, Abby, what do you think?” Paige asked her daughter. “Do you want to draw some more or watch TV?”

  Abby’s answer was to hand her the remote.

  She could hear Miles on the phone with the detective as Paige found yet another children’s movie for Abby to watch. Despite her anxiety, she told herself that it was probably best that the SIM card would be turned over to the police.

  Maybe this nightmare would be over in a couple of days, and she’d be allowed to return home by the weekend. Once their life was back to normal, she’d find a way to tell her daughter that her daddy was with God.

  “Detective Krantz is on her way,” Miles said. “I’m going to talk things over with her before I hand anything over, so it may take a while.”

  “Okay. Maybe you should call one of your brothers, too?”

  He shrugged. “No need.”

  She wanted to argue, but knew it would be useless. When the doorbell rang fifteen minutes later, she instinctively stood up but Miles shooed her away. “I’ll get it.”

  Inexplicably nervous, she stood in front of the sofa, twisting her fingers together. Miles opened the door and a tall blonde stood on the other side, wearing a long black coat over what looked to be a dark-colored jacket and slacks.

  Paige recognized her immediately. “Sasha? What are you doing here?” She stared at the woman she’d seen hanging on her ex-husband’s arm about three weeks ago. When had she become a cop? Had she always been a cop? Even when she was seeing Travis?

  And then she saw the gun in Sasha’s hand, pointing directly at the center of Miles’s chest and knew that they were in terrible trouble.

  FOURTEEN

  The moment he heard Paige say “Sasha” was the same moment he saw the gun and knew that he’d messed up.

  Big time.

  “Back up, Callahan,” Krantz said in a curt tone. “And keep your hands where I can see them.”

  Feeling sick to his stomach at how he’d trusted the wrong person, he held his hands up, palms facing outward as he took one step back, and then another, trying to angle himself so that he was in front of Paige and Abby.

  This was his fault, not theirs, and he prayed for God to keep them both safe.

  “So you’ve been the one behind this all along,” he said, stalling for time. Maybe if he could get Krantz to relax a bit, he could overpower her in an attempt to get her gun, since his was tucked inside the pocket of his black leather jacket, which at the moment seemed as far away as the moon. “Did you kill Jason and Travis?”

  Krantz stepped inside the Parkers’ home and closed the door behind her. He didn’t dare look back at Paige and Abby, but kept his gaze centered on the threat in front of him. She didn’t bother answering his question. “Where’s the information Whitfield sent to you?”

  Miles swallowed hard, knowing that he couldn’t afford to give her the SIM card. It might be the only bargaining chip he had at his disposal.

  And he’d use it to get Paige and Abby to safety, if at all possible.

  “I left it somewhere safe. I guess that’s why you tossed my house, huh?” He made sure that he didn’t so much as glance toward the kitchen, and prayed Paige and Abby wouldn’t, either. “Pretty smart to call in the break-in and then work it as a burglary,” he continued in a conversational tone.

  “Yeah, I’m smarter than you any day of the week. Too bad most men only care about how I look.” Krantz’s expression turned to disgust. “Idiots.”

  “Why are you doing this?” he asked in an attempt to keep her attention on him, in case there was a way Paige and Abby could slip down the hall to safety. “You’re a detective with the police department, why give that up?”

  Lisa Krantz let out a harsh laugh. “Why else? Money. Do you have any idea how important that information is that was sent to you? How much it’s worth?”

  “Come on, Krantz, it can’t be enough to forfeit your pension.”

  She let out the edgy laugh again, and the sound grated on his nerves like fingernails dragging down a chalkboard. “I’ve only been with the force for five years, do you really think I want to give it another twenty? Not hardly. I only joined the PD in the first place so that I could leverage my position in order to get what I really wanted.” She gestured with the gun. “And what I want is what Jason Whitfield sent you. He was brilliant, I’ll give him that, but now the information he created will belong to me.”

  “You? Or the person that hired you?” Miles estimated the distance between them as four feet, maybe five. Too risky to rush her now, but if he lied about where he had the information, he might have a chance. “Who are you working for? Since you divorced Karl Rogers, I’m betting you’re on Aaron Eastham’s payroll.”

  The flicker of surprise in her eyes gave him a sense of satisfaction. “My, my, you have been busy, haven’t you, Callahan? Too bad you’re one of the good guys who actually believe in upholding the law.”

  “Yeah, about that. You need to know that before I called you, I contacted the captain. He knows I’m with you right now.” Miles continued. “Killing us isn’t the answer.”

  “Where’s the information?” Krantz darted a glance around the room, as if it might be out in plain sight. Thankfully he’d decided at the last minute to put it away.

  “I’ll take you to the place where I left it, as long as you let Paige and Abby go.”

  Krantz’s gaze narrowed and he held his breath when she tightened her index finger on the trigger. “Don’t lie to me, Callahan. Do you think I’m stupid? You’ve been on the run since the night we hit Olson’s house. In fact, we almost had you at that last hotel. There’s no way you left the information behind. Get it. Now.”

  He didn’t move, even though his heart sank at the thought of her calling in reinforcements. Actually, he was surprised she’d come without them. Unless they were waiting outside. If so, he couldn’t afford to risk sending Paige out there. “Okay, I tucked the information away somewhere in the kitchen, so it may take me a minute to find it.”

  “Yeah, right.” Krantz took a step toward him, holding her weapon level. “You’re going directly to the spot where you hid the paperwork and if I see you reach for any kind of weapon, I’ll shoot you in the kneecap.”

  “I understand.” He walked backward toward the kitchen area, keeping his gaze focused on Krantz. He didn’t trust her. For all he knew, she might shoot either Paige or Abby just to make a point.

  In fact, he was very much afraid that none of them were going to make it out of here alive.

  * * *

  Paige stayed directly in front of Abby, hoping that if Sasha...or Lisa Krantz—who knew which one was her real name?—didn’t see her little girl, she wouldn’t hurt her.

  She noticed the way Miles stood protectively in front of her, too, but he wasn’t bulletproof. She appreciated the fact that he was stalling for time, but despite what he was telling Krantz, he really hadn’t called his boss or his brothers. No one was coming to their rescue.

  Sooner or later, Krantz would start shooting.

  And by the time the neighbors heard the sound of gunfire and called the police, they’d all be dead.

  Please, Lord, please spare my daughter’s life!

  Paige risked a glance over her shoulder at Abby, who was watching with wide, frightened eyes. Abby must have picked up on the tension between the adults, and for once, Paige was glad that the little girl wasn’t talking.

  “Hide behind the sofa,” she whispered in a voice so soft she couldn’t be sure that Abby could even hear her.

  Her daughter stared at her for a long minute, then eased off the couch and crouched down on the floor. Then she crawled around the edge of the sofa, dragging Ellie with her.

  Paige slowly inched backward, using the sofa cushion as a guide, toward the spot where she’d told Abby to hide.
Maybe, just maybe, she could scoop the child up and make a run for it out the back of the house.

  She didn’t want to leave Miles behind, but at least he had the SIM card to use as leverage. And there was also the possibility that he’d be able to fight Krantz for the gun if she and Abby were someplace safe.

  Taking another minute step back, then another, she finally reached the end of the sofa. She almost smiled when she saw that Abby had made herself as small a target as possible, her body curled around the stuffed animal. Slipping sideways, Paige stood right behind Abby, gauging the pathway leading down the hallway to the bedrooms.

  When Miles agreed to hand over the paperwork and began walking backward toward the kitchen, she froze, her heart thundering in her chest, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. It took every ounce of strength she possessed not to shout No! at the top of her lungs.

  But then she noticed how Krantz’s attention remained focused on Miles, as if she and Abby didn’t exist. Paige released her breath in a soundless sigh.

  But they weren’t out of danger yet, not by a long shot.

  For a moment she stared at the phone, then told herself to forget it. It was located on the kitchen counter, too close to Krantz to be of any use, since both Krantz and Miles were making their way in that same direction.

  Then she remembered the second phone located in the master bedroom. She’d noticed it when she made a quick walk-through of the house.

  A wave of hope and adrenaline washed over her. If she could get to the bedroom and dial 911, they’d have at least a chance of help arriving in time.

  But only if she moved quickly. Miles was still asking questions as he finally reached the middle drawer where he’d stashed the envelope.

  There wasn’t a moment to waste. She picked Abby up and rushed toward the hallway.

  “Stop! Where do you think you’re going?” Krantz demanded.

  “Abby needs the bathroom. Unless you want a mess to clean up?” Paige didn’t stop, but continued down the hall. The master bedroom had its own small bathroom, but she didn’t go in there. Instead she crossed right over to the phone on the nightstand. She picked up the receiver and punched 911.

  The ringing seemed incredibly loud, so she scrambled to find the mute button. When she heard the dispatcher answer, she unmuted the phone enough to whisper, “Send help, we’re being held at gunpoint,” before pushing the mute button again.

  Making sure the phone remained on, she placed the receiver on the floor and kicked it under the bed, where hopefully Krantz wouldn’t notice. Then she swung back toward the bathroom.

  “Get out here!” Krantz yelled, and the way her voice grew louder, Paige knew that she was coming down the hall. She ducked into the bathroom, took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, before pretending to come out, still carrying her daughter, as Krantz pushed Miles into the bedroom.

  “I’m sorry, but she’s only five.” Paige moved over to stand beside Miles, praying that the emergency dispatcher had already put out a call for help. What was the typical response time? Five minutes? Ten? “She’s fine now. We can go back into the kitchen.”

  “Enough stalling!” Krantz’s voice lashed like a whip. “I only need Callahan here to get the paperwork. You and the kid are just added baggage. I can just as easily get rid of you both, right now.”

  Paige’s mouth went desert dry with fear. “I know. I’m sorry.” She couldn’t hide the tremor in her voice. “Please don’t hurt my baby.” She braced herself, wondering if her attempt to get help had only backfired. If Krantz decided to kill them...

  She couldn’t bear to think about it.

  “Listen, you want the papers Jason sent me?” Miles interrupted, drawing Krantz’s attention. “Then let’s get them. Right now.” He stepped forward even though Krantz still blocked the doorway. “I’ll even show you the code he used to give us additional information.”

  “Code?” Krantz lifted her eyebrows in surprise and finally stepped back from the doorway. “Move it. And no more running off to the bathroom without my permission, understand?”

  Paige didn’t breathe normally until they were back in the main area of the house and even then, her knees still shook with the aftermath of what she’d done.

  Miles went into the kitchen and pulled out the middle drawer, then tugged the paperwork out of the envelope.

  “I’ll show you the code.” He flipped through the pages to the area where he’d found the sequence of numbers. Paige tuned him out when he went into great detail explaining how he’d used the vowels to figure out the message.

  A small green light flashing on the phone sitting on the counter, caught her eye.

  It took a minute for her to realize the light was an indicator that the phone was in use.

  Blood drained from her face as the implication hit hard. The phone was right there, in plain sight. What if Krantz saw it? The light would prove that Paige’s little jaunt to the bedroom was nothing more than a ruse to call for help.

  And now that Miles had handed over the paperwork, there was nothing to prevent the detective from killing them all, right here, right now.

  * * *

  A bead of sweat rolled down the center of his spine, but Miles did his best to ignore it. He had no idea why Paige had risked running to the bedroom like that, especially since he’d been doing everything in his power to keep Krantz’s attention focused on him and away from the two of them.

  Time was running out. So far, stalling wasn’t working very well. Only thirteen minutes had passed since Krantz had shown up at the front door. If he talked long enough, he might be able to eke out another five minutes.

  But then what?

  “Hey, what’s with the missing link?” Krantz demanded, with a deep scowl marring her cold yet classically beautiful features. “Travis told me that Jason had figured out the robotic sequence. That he’d completed the design. That’s when we made our move.”

  “So, you were working with Travis?” he asked.

  “Yes. He was riding Jason and told me that Jason had found a way to make it work. But then Travis got greedy. No way was I going to allow him to take more than his fair share, so I had one of my guys grab him. Travis claimed he wouldn’t tell Karl my plan, but I knew he was lying. I took care of him, then realized he’d activated the ChatTime link and the kid and her mother had overheard what happened. Thankfully I had two guys in the area, and I ordered them to tie up the loose ends.” Her smile lacked even one iota of warmth. “Don’t push me, Callahan. I know Whitfield sent you the designs. Explain what this missing link means.”

  Miles spread his hands wide. “Hey, you know as much as I do now. In fact, I’ll be honest, most of the information Jason included in these twelve pages was way over my head. It’s all scientific mumbo jumbo. The missing link is probably in there somewhere.”

  Her scowl deepened. “You didn’t find it?”

  “No. But I’m sure another scientist could figure it out. Maybe you shouldn’t have killed Jason until you knew you had his designs.”

  “We did have them, but the sneak pulled a fast one by only giving us partial designs. I knew he had to have done something with the rest, and of course who else would Whitfield send them to but his best friend and former college roommate, Miles Callahan?”

  He ignored her mocking tone. “I gave you what he sent me, so I don’t know what else you want me to do.” Miles tried not to stare at her weapon, even as he gauged his ability to snatch it out of her grasp.

  Krantz stared at him, then gestured again with the gun. “Fold those together and put them back in the envelope.”

  Placing the papers back in the envelope where the SIM card was still hidden was the last thing he wanted to do, so he didn’t reach for them. “Maybe you should read through them for yourself, make sure you have all the pages.”

  S
he glanced at the paperwork again, for just a fraction of a second, and he used the moment to surge forward, grasping her right wrist and forcing the muzzle of the gun up toward the ceiling.

  Unfortunately, Krantz was a trained cop and stronger than she looked. She brought her knee up to hit him in the lower abdomen and swung at his head with her left hand. He managed to block her fist before she could hit him, but grunted in pain as her knee found its mark.

  “Miles!” Paige screamed.

  “Run! But not out the front, she might have guys out there waiting!” Using his heavier frame to his advantage, he shoved Krantz backward, pinning her against the counter. She brought up her knee again, and he gritted his teeth against the blinding, searing pain.

  A gunshot echoed loudly through the room, momentarily deafening him. He still had his wrist locked around her gun hand so the bullet disappeared into the ceiling.

  There was a loud pounding on the front door, and Miles feared the worst—that anyone who might have been waiting for Krantz outside had heard the gunshots and come to investigate.

  He squeezed his fingers tightly around her wrist in an attempt to get her to drop the gun. Her fierce gaze locked on his and he knew she was trying to hang on long enough for the gunmen to come to her rescue.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Paige edge around Krantz, then bend down to open cupboards. He knew she was likely searching for something heavy enough to use as a weapon.

  “Get out,” he urged. “Take Abby out the back. The gunmen are going to be in here any second.”

  “I’m not leaving you!” Paige pulled out a frying pan and swatted at Krantz. The blow caused her to loosen her grip.

  Miles cranked Lisa’s wrist to the side, prying the weapon from her fingers. The front door burst open and more gunfire echoed through the house.

  “MOMMY!” Abby’s scream was loud enough to shatter glass, and when he risked a glance toward Paige, Krantz broke away from his grip.