by Lisa Harris
And it was their job to guarantee he didn’t.
Nikki caught movement in her peripheral vision a fraction of a second before she felt the impact of a fist against her ribs from behind. The attack knocked the air out of her lungs and sent her radio flying. She’d barely had time to catch her breath when he came at her again, but this time she managed to shift her body out of the way. She swung around and slammed the barrel of the deputy’s gun against her attacker’s head.
There were two of them. Sent, no doubt, to ambush them and ensure they didn’t make it to the plane. Both over six feet and at least two hundred pounds each, they’d clearly been trained to fight. Her mind switched gears instantly as Jack took on the other man and she managed to block another punch. She’d been trained in hand-to-hand combat, but there were other factors that were going to determine how this ended. Stamina. Momentum. Speed.
God, I don’t know if my exhausted body can do this.
She felt another fist slam into her ribs and groaned at the sharp pain that shot through her body.
“Nikki …”
But Jack couldn’t help her now. He had his own battle to fight. And she was no match for the heavyweight Russell had sent to stop her. The only way she was going to win this was by using his own force to pull him to the ground. And even that was a long shot.
Her attacker proved her doubts real as he slammed her onto the ground, straddled his legs on either side of her, then aimed his weapon at her head. Nikki looked up into the barrel of the gun, caught the gleam in his eye as he got ready to pull the trigger.
Not today, God … not today …
She heard the gunfire as his body collapsed on top of her.
“Nikki?” Jack grabbed the loaded gun, then shoved her attacker’s body off her.
But she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. She looked down. Blood was smeared across her chest. Thick and warm. She sucked in a lungful of air, but couldn’t feel any pain from the bullet.
“Nikki?” Jack was hovering beside her. “You’re okay.”
“I don’t understand.” Fear wrapped around her along with confusion over what had just happened. He’d stood over her with a loaded weapon and pulled the trigger. She should be dead.
“I shot him. You’re fine.”
Her mind struggled with the facts. Jack had shot him. She was okay.
“That means a second later …” She looked up at him, still lying on her back, her heart racing with adrenaline, as what happened started to come into focus.
A second later …
A second later she would have been dead.
“Don’t even go there,” Jack said.
He grabbed her wrists and slowly helped her stand up. Her legs were shaking, and she couldn’t catch her breath.
“Are you okay?”
“I … I can’t breathe.”
“Bend over and breathe in slowly.”
She did what he said, then looked at where the man was lying with bloodstains across his chest. His blood. Not hers. He was dead. She wasn’t.
“He’s dead, Nikki. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“And the other one?”
“Alive, but he won’t be walking out of here.”
“We still need to get Russell.” A sharp pain shot through her rib cage as she stood up.
“You almost got killed just now,” Jack said. “Which proves just how determined Russell is at stopping us. We should wait for backup.”
“We can’t.” Nikki started toward the plane. “Backup could be too late.”
28
12:38 a.m.
Nikki ignored the sharp spike of pain that rippled across her rib cage. Tomorrow she’d deal with the physical consequences of the past couple days, but not now. Instead she kept her focus on the uneven ground in front of her. The moon was now only partially hidden behind the clouds, giving them some light to see where they were going, yet hopefully enough cover to keep them safe. Frank Pope had told them there had been two men with Russell when he grabbed Lily. But they couldn’t be certain there hadn’t been others waiting with the plane.
Her phone vibrated in her jacket pocket. She pulled it out and answered it.
“What have you got, Gwen?” she asked, still managing to keep up with Jack.
“I got through to the pilot on his radio,” Gwen said. “His name’s Captain Hammond, and he does charter flying for private jets.”
“And?” Nikki prodded, ducking under the low branch of a tree.
“I convinced him he had two choices. Spend the next twenty to thirty years in prison, or do what I said. He suddenly decided there was a mechanical problem he’d overlooked during his preflight inspection. He’s running a diagnostic now, but let me warn you. Russell isn’t happy about the delay.”
“That’s no surprise,” Nikki said, stepping over a large rock lying across her path as they approached the southwest corner of the airstrip. “We’re almost to the plane now.”
“Be careful, Nikki. This guy’s ruthless and isn’t going to let anything stop him.”
Nikki’s hand went automatically to her rib cage. Tell me about it. “We’ll be careful. I promise.”
“What did she say?” Jack asked as soon as she’d hung up.
Nikki dropped her phone back into her pocket. “Our pilot’s cooperating. He delayed the flight due to a mechanical issue.”
“Is Russell buying it?”
“I don’t know, but all we need is enough time to get there and arrest him.”
The sound of the engine grew louder as they approached the landing strip through the cover of trees. Seconds later she caught sight of the plane’s silhouette as they stepped onto the edge of a long strip. She pulled out her weapon, quickly assessing the scene. A strip of solar lights lit the airstrip. Russell stood next to the plane yelling at the pilot to get back in and take off. Apparently he had no plans of waiting for the hit men he’d just sent out.
“Brian Russell … TBI,” Nikki shouted above the roar of the engines, aiming at his chest as she walked toward him.
Russell hesitated, then pulled a Glock from a hip holster and pointed it at her.
“Put your weapon down and your hands in the air,” Jack said.
“Captain Hammond,” Nikki said, addressing the pilot. “I want you to go shut down the engines. This plane isn’t going anywhere right now.”
“Don’t listen to her, Captain Hammond,” Russell said, shifting his weapon toward the pilot. “We’re going back to our original plan. You and I are going to get on that plane right now and take off.”
The pilot wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “I-I told you there was a problem. I need to run a diagnostic—”
“What did they threaten you with, Hammond?” Russell asked. “Ten … twenty years in prison?”
Hammond hesitated. Clearly Russell was used to being the boss. Even with the white handkerchief wrapped tightly around his arm where he’d been clipped, he looked the part in his black jeans, button-down dress shirt, and vest. Casual and yet completely in control. He was the kind of man who was used to giving out orders and who paid people to do his dirty work, ensuring he never got his own hands dirty in the process. But there was one problem. His control over the situation was beginning to crumble. She could see it in the deep crease in his brow and the tension in his jaw. He wasn’t going to be able to charm himself out of this situation.
Russell’s gaze swung back at her and Jack. “Let us go, or I will shoot him,” Russell said.
“Not going to happen,” Jack said. “We’ve got two weapons pointed at you. You can’t take all three of us down, which means you’ll go down no matter what you choose. It’s over.”
“Where’s Lily?” Nikki asked.
“Forget it. You’re not going to take her.”
“It’s too late for that,” Nikki said. “You’re under arrest for the murders of Kim Parks, Justin Peters, Erika Hamilton, and Deputy Banks, and that doesn’t include money laundering and a long list of ot
her crimes that will soon be added by the FBI.”
“You can’t prove I was involved in any of that.” Russell glanced behind them, as if he was still convinced that his henchmen were coming. “And this isn’t over. Not yet.”
“Your men aren’t coming.” Nikki said. “We took them down.”
“No.” He tugged at his collar with his free hand. “I have it all arranged. I have a plane … passports. It’s the only way to raise my daughter. You have to let me go.”
“You know we can’t do that,” Nikki said.
“You don’t understand.” She caught the desperation in his voice as his Glock—still pointing at the pilot—shook in his hands. “Erika was trying to take Lily away from me.”
“Erika was her mother.”
“And I’m Lily’s father. When Erika came to me and told me she was pregnant, I promised to take care of them. But now … she wouldn’t even let me see Lily.”
“Is that why you killed Erika?”
“No. You’re … you’re not listening to me. She was trying to get me put in jail so they’d take Lily away from me. She didn’t want me to see her, and I don’t even know why. Erika loved me.”
“If that’s true, then why did she tell the Feds she would testify against you?” Jack asked.
“Because someone has been spreading lies about me. They scared her and made her decide she needed to get full custody. She knew if I ended up in jail I couldn’t fight her. But I couldn’t let that happen. Lily is my daughter. I know what it’s like to grow up without a father. I couldn’t let that happen to her.”
“And so you did everything you could to stop Erika, including killing Kim and Justin to stop them from talking.”
“Of course not.”
“We have evidence, Mr. Russell, of your involvement with Petran,” Nikki said, stretching the truth. If they didn’t have what the Feds needed yet, they’d have it soon. “Erika found out what you were involved in and decided to turn over the evidence to the FBI.”
“They told me she was going to be the principal witness at my trial. How could she do that to me? I would have married her—”
“But instead you had her killed.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Russell shouted.
She watched the realization of what he’d confessed register on his face. The cocky playboy look vanished, replaced by pure fear.
“Mr. Russell, put the gun down now,” Jack said. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Erika—”
“No! I’m not going to end up spending the rest of my life in prison while Lily gets raised by strangers.” He hesitated, then turned his gun and pressed it against his temple. “All I wanted was to be able to raise Lily as her father. And then Erika … she tried to take all of that away from me.”
Nikki felt her heart rate rise as she realized what he was about to do. “Don’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“The DA is going to want your testimony against Petran, and if you cooperate—”
“They’ll what? Drop my sentence from life to thirty years? Will that really make a difference? If I lose Lily … I’ve already lost everything.”
“Brian, don’t—”
The gunshot ripped across the windblown airstrip.
Nikki turned away as his lifeless body slumped to the ground. Brian Russell was dead, but his decision wasn’t only going to affect the FBI’s case. It was going to affect Lily.
She started for the plane as three backup vehicles finally showed up on the scene.
“Get his body off the airstrip,” she shouted at Jack. “I’m going to see if Lily’s here.”
Nikki stepped onto the plane, praying that Lily was on board, but praying just as hard that if she was there, she hadn’t seen what just happened. The little girl had already gone through so much. And now to see her father kill himself …
God, Lily needs your protection right now.
She glanced into the cockpit, then started down the row of leather seats. Movement from the back of the plane caught her attention. Big brown eyes stared back at her as Lily peeked her head around the edge of one of the aisle seats. Nikki walked to the back of the plane to where Lily sat, her seat belt fastened tightly across her lap. Brown hair pulled up into pigtails, a pair of jeans, a T-shirt with a cat and a pink sweater … Four years old was too young to have to deal with what had just happened on that airstrip.
“You must be Lily,” Nikki said, crouching down next to her seat.
The little girl nodded.
“I’m Special Agent Nikki Boyd. Which is just a fancy name that means I’m a police officer. I help take care of people.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I’ve been looking for you. I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
Lily’s brow wrinkled as if she wasn’t sure what she should do. “My daddy told me to stay here. No matter what happened.”
Nikki let out a short sigh of relief. If she’d been sitting here the entire time, she wouldn’t have seen anything. “I’m sure your daddy was wanting to make sure you were safe.”
“He said we were going on an adventure and that Mommy would come later. But then he started shouting at the pilot …” Lily pressed her hands against her ears as if she could suppress the memory by blocking out the noise.
Nikki tried to swallow the lump in her throat. How do you tell a little girl that her father and mother were dead? That there was no adventure ahead? And that her entire life had just changed forever?
“Lily?” She waited a few seconds until Lily dropped her hands back into her lap. “How would you like to go see the Popes? Maybe stay with them for a while.”
“Instead of Daddy?”
“Yes.”
The little girl’s brows puckered into a frown. “Is he mad at me?”
“Your daddy?” Nikki asked. “No. Of course not. Why?”
“Mommy sent me to stay with Nana and Pappy, but then one of Daddy’s friends took me to the car while he yelled at them. I don’t know why he was so mad.”
Nikki hesitated. “No one is mad at you, sweetie. Not your mommy. Not your daddy. And not your aunt or uncle.”
“Everything’s clear,” Jack shouted up the open stairway.
“Does that mean we can leave?” Lily asked.
“Yes, it does.”
“And Daddy?”
Nikki started to unfasten Lily’s seat belt, then hesitated. Lily deserved to find out about her mother and father from someone she knew. Not from a complete stranger. “I’m sorry, Lily, but you can’t see him right now. And there is one other thing. There are some police officers outside the airplane, but I don’t want you to be afraid, okay? They’re just there to make sure everyone is safe.”
Lily nodded, then reached up and grabbed Nikki’s hand. “Will you go with me to Nana’s?”
“Of course. If that’s what you want.”
A minute later, Jack opened the back door to one of the deputy’s cars. “Have you ever ridden in a police car before?” he asked Lily.
Lily shook her head and yawned.
“I’ll sit back here with you, while one of the sheriff’s deputies drives us to your aunt and uncle’s,” Nikki said.
“Like a chauffeur?” Lily asked, climbing into the car.
“How do you know about chauffeurs?” Nikki asked, scooting in beside her.
“Daddy has one back in Houston,” Lily said matter-of-factly. “He drives me to the park sometimes.”
“Then yes. Just like a chauffeur,” Nikki said, then addressed the deputy who’d just slipped into the driver’s seat. “I need you to take me and Lady Lily to the Pope cabin.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the deputy said.
Lily giggled, then snuggled up against Nikki with a big yawn. By the time they arrived ten minutes later, she was sound asleep.
Nikki carried the sleeping girl out of the vehicle and up the steps to the Popes’ cabin.
Mr. and Mrs. Pope met them at the door.
�
�You found her,” Mr. Pope said.
“Yes, and she’s fine,” Nikki said. “Just exhausted. She fell asleep on the way here.”
“That’s fine. Let her keep sleeping,” Mrs. Pope said, her voice catching as Nikki laid Lily on the couch. “I can’t believe you found her. Poor girl’s been through such an ordeal.”
“I’m surprised that the two of you are still here and not at the hospital,” Jack said.
“Told you Frank was stubborn. He refused to go see a doctor until we knew Lily was safe.” She gave her husband a warm smile, then sat down next to Lily. “Though I don’t blame him. I’ve ’bout worn a hole in the carpet here wondering what was happening out there.”
“She’s safe now, Mrs. Pope,” Nikki said.
“Please … call us Frank and Helen.”
“Where’d you find her?” Frank asked.
“At the second airstrip you told us about. Russell was about to leave for Venezuela with her,” Jack said. “Sheriff’s department found forged passports and IDs on the plane.”
“And Brian? Please tell me you arrested him.”
Nikki glanced at Jack. “When faced with life in prison, he … he shot himself.”
Helen covered her mouth. “And Lily?”
“I’m fairly certain she didn’t see anything, though she knows her father was upset about something.”
Helen dropped her hand to her lap. “Does she know he’s gone?”
Nikki shook her head. “I didn’t feel like we should be the ones to tell her.”
“We’ll find a way.” Helen bit her lip. “She’s young and will eventually bounce back, but I just wish none of this had ever happened. Erika’s gone, Lily’s an orphan … The whole situation just breaks my heart.”
“We’re still waiting for the go-ahead,” Nikki said, “but we’re working on getting special permission for Lily to stay with you until things are worked out officially.”
“We’d like that,” Frank said. “Erika told us that she named us as Lily’s guardians in her will, in case anything ever happened to her.”
