by Laura Scott
But he managed to hang on to her gun. “Get down!” he shouted to Paige, as he opened fire on the gunmen who’d entered the living room. He hit one of them, sending the guy stumbling backward, but the second man flew forward, landing on his face. After a moment he realized the second gunman had been shot in the back.
His brother Mike edged around the door and Lisa Krantz ran straight for him.
“Look out! Krantz is one of them!”
Mike grabbed her and used Lisa’s momentum to swing her around, planting her firmly up against the wall. Within seconds he’d snapped handcuffs around her wrists and taken a cloth out of his pocket and tied it across her mouth to keep her from screaming for help. Then he looked over at Miles. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Miles took one step toward Paige and Abby, but then his knees buckled and he sank to the floor.
“You’re bleeding!” Paige crawled toward him, bringing Abby with her. The little girl was sobbing and saying “Mommy, Mommy,” over and over again. He wasn’t sure if it was good or not that she’d broken her self-imposed silence.
The last thing he remembered seeing was Paige’s face, streaked with tears, moments before he was engulfed in darkness.
FIFTEEN
“Help! We need an ambulance!” Paige placed the palm of one hand over the wound in Miles’s shoulder in an attempt to slow down the bleeding, while holding on to her daughter with the other.
Poor Abby continued to say “Mommy” over and over again, and she did her best to reassure the little girl. “It’s okay, sweetie, we’re safe now. See? Miles’s brother is here and he’s going to make sure we’re safe.”
Abby gripped her so tightly around the neck that it was difficult to breathe, but Paige couldn’t bring herself to loosen her baby’s hold. The poor kid had been through so much trauma since that very first night when she’d seen her father being attacked through ChatTime. How much more could she take?
Paige didn’t want to find out.
For now, the immediate threat was over. Although looking down at Miles’s ashen features wasn’t at all reassuring. What if he died as a result of his injury? Her heart squeezed painfully at the possibility.
Please, God, please heal Miles from his physical wounds and Abby from her emotional ones. Please?
“Are you all right?” Michael asked, coming down to kneel beside her. He’d taken a clean dishtowel out of one of the drawers and gently moved her hand out of the way so he could use the towel to apply pressure.
“Yes, we’re fine. Did you call for an ambulance?” Paige fought to keep her voice steady. “He’s lost so much blood...”
“Hear the sirens?” Michael flashed a crooked grin, but couldn’t hide the concern in his eyes. “Both the police and the ambulance are pulling up now. He’ll be okay, the Callahans are tough.”
“How did you know to come here?” she asked as she realized Michael was there alone. Now that she thought about it, she found it incredible that both he and Miles had taken down the gunmen and cuffed Krantz without any other backup.
“I have a police scanner. I heard the 911 operator sending out the authorities to this address for a hostage situation.” He glanced up at her with admiration in his eyes. “They said the caller was female. I’m not sure how you managed to get in touch with the emergency dispatcher, but it worked.”
Paige was glad that her effort to get to the phone hadn’t been for naught. If not for Miles’s attempt to stall for time and her ability to make the call, she knew the outcome here could have been very different. “How did you get here before the police?”
“I was closer.” Mike dropped his gaze to his brother. “I only wish I could have gotten here sooner.”
“Me, too.” The blood seeping through the dishtowel made her feel sick to her stomach. But before she could say anything more, two cops burst into the house.
“Lean on this,” Mike instructed, before rising to his feet to face the officers. “I’m Michael Callahan and this is my brother, Detective Miles Callahan. The female detective I have cuffed and gagged is Lisa Krantz and I restrained her when she made a run for it because she’s been holding these people hostage.”
“Are you kidding me?” The officer looked between them incredulously. “She’s a cop.”
“Are we clear?” Two paramedics interrupted the discussion by coming in through the doorway, wheeling a gurney. “We hear there’s an injured officer.”
“Yes, the scene is secure. Please help my brother.” Michael gestured for them to come around into the kitchen where Miles was stretched out on the floor.
Paige didn’t want to leave Miles, but the paramedics edged her out of the way. She stumbled to her feet and joined Michael.
“Detective Krantz held you hostage?” The officer repeated, clearly not ready to buy their story. The way he kept glancing at Krantz was worrisome.
“Yes. I recognized her...she was dating my ex-husband, going by the name of Sasha,” Paige said, hoping she could convince the officers not to let Lisa Krantz go. “I believe she’s been sending gunmen after us for several days now, and unfortunately we trusted her enough to tell her we were here. She held us at gunpoint because she wanted information. Miles fought with her for the gun, and managed to shoot one of the gunmen who came in to rescue her. Mike shot the other one. The Callahans saved us, while Krantz has been the one behind this from the very beginning.”
The officers exchanged a long look. “And who are you?”
“Paige Olson, and this is my daughter Abby. My ex-husband was Travis Olson, but he—” She stopped abruptly, belatedly remembering Abby was listening. She hitched the child higher on her hip, then continued. “He worked at Sci-Tech along with Jason Whitfield. Miles was investigating Jason’s murder when he came to my house to find Travis. Before he could even get to the door, we were under fire from a hidden gunman.”
“I heard about that,” the second officer said. The gold nametag over his pocket read Warner. “Gunshots were fired at a residence, but by the time the police arrived, the woman and child were gone.”
“Miles saved our lives, Officer Warner. More than once. Michael, too.”
“What kind of information was she looking for?” The first officer’s nametag said his name was Yanko. “Do you have it?”
Paige glanced over at Michael, suddenly suspicious of Yanko’s line of questioning. Maybe she was overreacting here, but how did she know if she could trust him?
If Detective Krantz was dirty, others could be, as well.
Michael must have understood her silent plea, because he quickly interjected. “There’s a lot about this case that only Miles understands.”
“We need to get this guy to the hospital, stat,” the paramedic said in a loud voice, drawing their attention to Miles.
Paige whirled around, a hard lump lodging in her throat when she saw that Miles was lying on the gurney, pale and still.
“Go,” Officer Warner said in a commanding tone, stepping out of the way to make room for the gurney.
“Wait! Which hospital?” Paige asked, trailing behind.
“Trinity Medical Center,” one of the paramedics answered, before they whisked Miles out the door.
“I’ll take you,” Michael promised. “Why don’t you wash up a bit while I notify my family, okay?”
She nodded, grimacing at the dark redness staining her hands. She sent up a silent prayer, asking again for God to help heal Miles then turned toward the kitchen, and propped Abby on the edge of the counter while she quickly washed up.
“Hold on, now, you’re not going anywhere until we’re finished taking your statements,” Officer Yanko said in a firm voice.
“Are you placing us under arrest?” Michael asked in a clipped tone.
Yanko flushed. “No, of course not. But we need to un
derstand what happened here.”
“I’ve already explained what happened, as did Mrs. Olson. We’re both happy to cooperate, and will provide you complete statements as soon as we can. Right now, the woman and her child have been through a difficult ordeal. And I’m sure you can give us a few hours to make sure my brother is going to survive his injury.”
After Paige finished washing her hands, she edged closer to the kitchen drawer where the padded envelope still remained. The paperwork was scattered all over the place, but all she really wanted right now was the SIM card.
Both officers were talking to Michael, and since neither one seemed to be paying any attention to her, she quickly slipped the SIM card out of the envelope and tucked it into the front pocket of her jeans.
“Mommy? Where’s Miles?”
Abby’s voice had returned! “Oh, sweetie, it’s so good to hear you talking again. Miles is at the hospital, the doctors there are taking care of his ouchie. We’ll go visit him as soon as we can, okay?”
“Okay.” Abby stuck her thumb back into her mouth and rested her head on Paige’s shoulder. Tears pricked her eyes, and she hoped and prayed that this meant that Abby was on the road to healing from the emotional upheavals they’d been through.
“I love you so much, Abby.” She pressed a kiss to the little girl’s cheek.
“I love you, too, Mommy.”
Paige thought the words spoken by her daughter were the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.
Now, if only she knew what was going on with Miles. Was he doing okay? Had he gone into surgery? She desperately needed to know, and with a pang, she realized she’d failed in her effort to keep from getting emotionally involved with him.
She cared about him. In fact, she was fairly certain she’d fallen in love with him.
Of course, she doubted he felt the same way, since he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in being a father. But at the very least, she needed to know that he would recover from this injury before she went back to her calm, peaceful, yet unbearably lonely life.
* * *
The hospital waiting room was crowded with Callahans. Just about everyone in the family had come except for Marc and Kari, but that was only because Kari was on bed rest due to her blood pressure being elevated. Michael had introduced Paige around, and while Mrs. Callahan and Nan eyed her with curious speculation, they treated her politely and no one questioned why she was there.
Paige stayed close by Michael’s side, mostly because he was the brother she was most comfortable with. Gazing at Miles’s family, the similarities in their facial features clearly showed they were related. Yet, they all looked a little different, too. Mitch had short blond hair, Michael wore his dark brown hair long, sometimes tied back, sometimes not. Yet each of the men seemed the strong, protective type.
Miles had been in surgery since they’d arrived about two hours ago and the waiting, not knowing what was happening, was killing her.
Abby had fallen asleep on her shoulder, so Paige held her close and remained seated so as not to disturb her.
“Your daughter’s adorable.” A woman with shoulder-length curly brown hair dropped into the seat beside her. Maddy Callahan. She and Matthew were twins, and she remembered Miles telling her that Maddy worked in the DA’s office.
“Thank you.” Paige rested her cheek against Abby’s hair, grateful that the little girl was able to get some badly needed rest. “I hope we hear something about Miles soon.”
“Yeah.” Maddy’s expression grew somber. “It wasn’t that long ago that we were right here in this same spot, waiting to hear news about Marc. I’m not sure what it is, but my brothers seem to have a penchant for getting themselves shot while working their cases.”
Paige swallowed hard, wondering if the Callahan family thought Miles’s injury was her fault. She couldn’t deny having some responsibility. “I’m sorry.”
Maddy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Oh, you don’t have to apologize. You and your daughter are the true innocent victims in this mess.” Maddy narrowed her gaze. “It’s that Detective Krantz who’s at fault. Obviously the DA’s office isn’t going to let me work this case because I’m related to the victim, but still, there’s nothing they can do to keep me out of that courtroom when that dirty cop goes before the judge.”
Paige nodded, a little sad to realize she probably wouldn’t see Miles again once she left the hospital. Their time together was over. She needed to focus her energy on rebuilding her life, especially now that Travis was gone.
“So, how well do you know Miles?” Maddy asked in a casual tone.
“I met him for the first time on Monday.” Today was Thursday. Four days. How was it possible that she’d only known Miles for such a short time?
“Ah, well, I’m sure you’ve learned firsthand how Miles tends to be a flirt, but you should know that deep down, he’s really a great guy.”
A flirt? For a nanosecond her ex-husband’s face flashed into her mind, but then she remembered how Miles had talked about Dawn, his college sweetheart, losing her battle with cancer. Yeah, Miles had kissed her, but he’d never been inappropriate with her. And he’d been nothing but kind and caring with Abby.
So what if he had a reputation for being a flirt? He was completely different from Travis.
In so many ways.
“Miles has never flirted with me,” she told Maddy. “But I suspect that was mostly because we’ve been too busy running from gunmen trying to kill us.”
“He hasn’t?” Maddy looked surprised. “Huh. That’s unusual. Personally, I’ve always thought Miles used his flirty approach toward women as an excuse to keep from getting too emotionally involved.”
“I agree. Losing Dawn so young really affected him.”
Now Maddy’s jaw dropped. “He told you about her?”
Paige’s cheeks grew warm as she realized she may have given Miles’s sister the wrong impression about her relationship with Miles. “Well, yes, but only because we were talking about faith and God.”
“Wow.” Maddy looked as if she didn’t know what to say.
Paige tried again. “Miles is a great guy and a good friend. I owe him a lot for saving my life and Abby’s, too.”
“Well, from what Mike tells me, you had a hand in getting ahold of the authorities, so we owe you a heartfelt thank-you, as well.”
Paige didn’t think her contribution was worth that much, but decided to drop the subject. Thankfully, Michael took that moment to cross over to them. “Hey, Maddy, do you think I can have a few minutes alone with Paige?”
“Sure, but keep in mind that Miles saw her first.” Maddy winked at Paige before relinquishing her chair to her brother.
Now it was Paige’s turn to gape like a fish. “Oh, uh, really, I don’t know what she’s talking about...”
“Oh, don’t pay attention to Maddy,” Michael said with a wave of his hand. “She’s always trying to match us up with women, even though she complains bitterly when we give her feedback on her boyfriends.”
Paige could only imagine what it was like for Maddy to grow up with five older brothers. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
Michael lowered his voice, his mood turning more serious. “We’ll have to give our formal statements to the authorities once we hear how Miles is doing. Is there anything you want to tell me? I got the sense back there that you didn’t want to give Officer Warner the details of the information Krantz was looking for.”
“Yes, actually. I want to give you this.” She pulled the tiny SIM card out of her pocket, handing it over with a sense of relief. “Remember the day Miles went to the post office?” When Michael nodded, she gestured to the small card. “The paperwork Jason sent in the padded envelope wasn’t the real secret. We found that in the padding. Whatever information is on that SIM card is what Krantz was after.”<
br />
“Did Miles figure out who she was working for?” He tucked the card into the pocket of his jeans.
She nodded. “Lisa Krantz used to be married to the owner of Sci-Tech, under a different name, but they divorced three years ago. Miles thought she was probably working for Aaron Connor Eastham, the owner of ACE Intel. She also claimed she was doing it for the money.”
“ACE is Sci-Tech’s biggest competitor. I found some interesting facts about how ACE Intel’s net worth dropped from fifty million to less than one million when Sci-Tech opened up.”
Millions? “No wonder she was so anxious to get her hands on that SIM card. If ACE gets the information and takes the technology to market, they stand to make all that money back.”
“Yeah, and then some.” Michael’s expression was grim. “Keep in mind that the company was worth fifty million before they had the technology glitch solved. That amount could easily double, maybe even triple.”
That kind of money was mind-boggling. And so far out of the realm of her day-to-day life that she couldn’t even comprehend it. But at least this explained why Krantz hadn’t hesitated to kill the people who got in her way.
Like Jason. And Travis.
She battled a wave of sadness at the fact Abby would never see her father again.
“I wonder if the information on this card will give us the proof we need to link Krantz to Eastham,” Michael mused.
A chill snaked down her spine. “Even if it doesn’t, they’ll still arrest Aaron Eastham, right?”
“I hope so. Besides, technically this information belongs to Karl Rogers. Jason was working for Rogers when he figured out how to make it all work.”
“Yeah, but Rogers violated his noncompete clause to open up Sci-Tech in the first place.” All of this fighting between the two companies was beginning to give her a headache. “I guess it doesn’t matter to me one way or the other, as long as we’re no longer in danger.”
“Yeah.” Michael’s expression was serious. “When we’re finished here, I think it would be best if I take you and Abby to another motel. Just to be on the safe side.”
