by Julie Miller
Thomas rattled off directions while he dug the kit out of the glove compartment and handed it to her. “Jane?” He wanted a report.
“The bullet is still in her, lodged in her hip. It doesn’t look like it hit the bone or anything vital. But she’ll need X-rays and surgery.” Like dog, like master, they were both going to be limping for a while. Scratching Ruby’s flank with one hand, Jane used her teeth and the other hand to tear open a gauze packet to stanch the bleeding. Ruby licked her fingers, then tried to get at the wound again. “You poor baby.”
“Here’s a treat to distract her,” Thomas offered.
Jane refused the food and asked for a chew toy instead. “I don’t want anything in her stomach, in case she reacts to the anesthesia.”
“Tennis ball.” After handing it to her, Thomas straightened in his seat. Ruby gladly took the ball in her big jowls to chew on. But there was still an occasional whimper as Jane doctored the wound as best she could. She knew Thomas was hurting far worse than he let on, too. “We’re about ten minutes from the vet.”
She concentrated on stemming the bleeding and monitoring the dog’s pulse so she didn’t flash back to the noose and the bullets or that helpless sense of being a devious man’s target. But it was impossible to completely block the bleak inevitability of how she could be hurt—how others could be hurt because of Badge Man and what she knew about him.
“There was only one person in the van when it chased Seamus and me down the highway,” she speculated.
Thomas nodded. “Only one that night at the restaurant, too.”
“This time there were two,” Conor added, taking a turn toward the vet’s office.
Jane remembered the blur of the image she’d seen in that split second before Thomas had knocked her to the ground. “A driver and a passenger.”
“And one of them has a bullet wound.” Thomas pulled his phone from his pocket and called Duff, giving him a bare-bones account of the incident and telling him to notify area hospitals and clinics in case a patient who’s been shot checked in.
By the time he ended the call, Ruby seemed relatively comfortable, content to chew on her ball while Jane finally buckled herself in. “Badge Man was the only person there the night Freddie was killed. Badge Man works alone.”
“Not anymore.”
Conor spun around another corner. “If he’s got a partner now, that changes the profile completely. Makes him unpredictable.”
Jane sank against the seat, keeping a soothing hand on Ruby as the hope drained out of her. She remembered Freddie talking about profiling a suspect. Unpredictable meant dangerous. Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better—if they ever would.
Thomas unfolded the sun visor in front of him and found her gaze in the mirror there. “Hunt’s plan to capture him won’t work.”
Chapter Ten
“We’re doing this by the book,” Thomas concluded. “My book. I train cops to handle this kind of fugitive scenario. It will work. But I need everyone’s help here to make it happen. Thank you.”
The noise level in the living room increased exponentially the moment Thomas stepped away from his imaginary lectern and the individual conversations started. The Watson house was as crowded and busy as any holiday gathering of family and friends. Thomas’s four children and their spouse or significant others, the baby who would soon be Niall’s adopted son, Millie, Seamus, Al, Conor Wildman and Oscar Broz, Levi Hunt and his partner were all here, along with Keir’s partner at KCPD, Hud Kramer, and Olivia’s partner, Jim Parker. They spread out around the living room, entryway, dining room and kitchen—taking notes, asking questions, nodding heads.
Millie had stepped up like the veteran aide-de-camp she was, and put together a giant pot of potato soup and sandwiches for everyone to eat. Mutt and Jeff had shown up with sodas and beers for anyone who wanted a drink. And Ruby wasn’t letting her shaved backside, a handful of stitches or the cone of shame around her neck stop her from accepting bites of meat or a tummy rub from any of their guests.
Only there was little for Thomas to celebrate this evening.
This was a war room. And he was the general.
He’d taken half a dozen ibuprofen in lieu of his muscle relaxers so that he could keep a clear head and get this thing organized. He’d called in every favor anyone had ever owed him to help capture Badge Man, identify the serial killer’s new partner and do whatever was necessary to protect Jane. While the house reverberated with arguments and suggestions, opinions and laughter, his gaze settled on the woman with the honey-brown ponytail who was far too quiet for his liking as she moved around the living room to collect dirty dishes and refill drinks. The moment he’d finished laying out his plan, Jane had pushed to her feet and gone to work at the mundane tasks.
She was locking down her emotional armor. Next thing, she’d be avoiding him completely. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He was done being a victim of the unseen threat targeting his family. He was done seeing the people he cared about hurt by an unknown enemy. He wasn’t about to lose the woman he loved to violence a second time.
He turned away from his friends and family and drifted toward the relative privacy of the foyer stairs. Scrubbing his palm over the stubble lining his jaw, he pondered that last mental vow. The admission that he loved Jane should have worried him more than it did. Falling in love again after all these years should take him aback, make him question the wisdom of his emotions. But all he could feel was a sense of rightness, of everything that was missing from his life finally falling into place.
Of course, there was that whole sucky-timing thing. But the nagging doubts about the difference in their ages or mistaking friendship or gratitude for something deeper had vanished. He loved Jane Boyle. She’d become part of his family long before she’d become part of his heart. He believed she cared about him, and he had every intention of making her presence in his life a permanent thing.
Whenever she was ready to commit to a new relationship.
And he could erase the terror that ruled her life.
And eliminate the threats that tainted his own world.
It probably wasn’t fair to either of them to force a relationship this complicated to happen. But he was a patient man. And he was damn good at his job. If he could get rid of the external conflicts that dictated Jane’s choices, then maybe those internal conflicts could heal and she’d give him a chance. She’d give them a chance.
Before she buried herself too far inside that armor of hers, he wanted to remind her she wasn’t alone in this fight—remind her that this bond between them didn’t only exist in the upstairs hallway in the middle of the night.
Thomas turned toward the kitchen to go to her, but Levi Hunt stepped into his path on his way to the front door. “Agent Hunt. Thank you for listening to my proposal.”
A little making nice between federal and local agencies could never hurt.
Levi’s efforts to be polite were less successful. “I admit that this morning was an epic fail. That whole attack was planned out. There was nothing random about Badge Man making contact with Freddie’s wife.” Why couldn’t the man say Jane’s name? Thomas bristled, but didn’t let it show. If he could hide how badly his leg was hurting, he could hide his irritation with this glory-seeking pissant. “We found no sign of the van, the driver or the man who left that noose for her. But I’m not leaving Kansas City. I’ll back off and let you take the lead on this. For now. Your people better find my unsub, Watson.”
Thomas ignored the thinly veiled warning. “We know KC in a way your people never will. If he’s still here, and I believe he is, we’ll find him. As long as no one goes off script, my plan will work. I’m more than happy to let you make the arrest and take Badge Man out of my city.”
“Keep me posted. You have my number.”
Thomas gladly held
the door for Agent Hunt to exit and rejoin his partner out in their black SUV. But when Thomas shut the door and made a second effort to reach Jane, he was met with a wall of his four grown children.
Niall adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and spoke first. “The lab analyzed the bullet the vet took out of Ruby. It’s a match for the forty-five mil I pulled out of your truck. So we know it’s the same guy.”
Keir nodded. “If we find that gun, we have our shooter.”
Olivia had always been the voice of reason for her three older brothers. “But you won’t have Badge Man. I think Jane’s right—he doesn’t shoot people. He likes the hands-on experience of strangling his victims. She told me one of the things he said the night of her attack, that he gets off on seeing the light go out in his victim’s eyes.” This time, he couldn’t mask the way that knowing Jane had seen and heard such unspeakable violence up close and personal turned his stomach. No wonder she felt she needed to be so tough. Without that kind of strength, she wouldn’t be able to deal with the memories, much less the ongoing threat. Olivia must have read his concern because she slid her arms around his waist and hugged him. “I love you, Dad. We’re with you and Jane all the way on this.”
When she stretched up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, Thomas dipped his head to do the same before she pulled away. “Love you, too. You four mean the world to me.”
“What she said. Only, I’m not kissing you.” Duff squeezed Thomas’s shoulder before pulling back to cross his arms over his big chest. “I’ve got calls out to every hospital and clinic in the metro area. No gunshot wounds have shown up yet.”
Thomas had expected as much. As well-planned as each of the incidents had been, their perps would either have sufficient medical training or access to someone who could treat any injuries without reporting them to the authorities. “I’m thinking the impossible. But it’s the only scenario that fits. The man who’s been after us has teamed up with Badge Man. He’s probably been stalking us right along, keeping tabs on the family ever since Olivia’s wedding. He must have spotted Badge Man following Jane, recognized a fellow pervert and—”
“We’ll get this guy, Dad.” His youngest son, Keir, wasn’t looking so young anymore. “I know Jane means a lot to you. She means a lot to Grandpa. She’s already a part of this family as far as we’re concerned.”
Thomas needed this dose of family support right about now. “So no more Battle-Ax Boyle?”
“No, sir,” they answered in unison.
“And if I wanted to get serious with her, you all would be on board with that?”
“It would be the logical next step since you’re in love with her.” Every head turned at Niall’s matter-of-fact statement. “That’s how Lucy explained it to me. When you’re willing to do anything and everything for another person, when it hurts inside that you might lose her—that’s love.”
Were Thomas’s feelings that obvious?
Duff thumped his middle brother on the shoulder. “Dude, since when did you become an expert on this kind of stuff? Usually we have to explain it to you.”
Niall arched a dark brow above the rim of his glasses. “I’m an intelligent man. I pay attention to details and I learn.” He tapped a finger into the middle of Duff’s chest. “You should try it sometime.”
“You don’t have to give me any coaching with the ladies, Poindexter. You don’t hear any complaints from Melanie, do you?” Duff’s eyes narrowed. “Do you?”
Olivia linked arms with her two oldest brothers and turned them toward the living room, eyeing Keir to lead the way. “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll make sure they stay out of trouble.”
Thomas’s gaze wandered to the family portrait over the mantel that had been taken when his brood were small children and Mary had been alive. He offered Mary a silent prayer, hoping she shared the pride and joy he felt at seeing Duff, Niall, Keir and Olivia happily matched to good, loving partners, and grown into successful adults. He also made a mental note to move the old picture to a less conspicuous spot, or maybe even the attic, so that Jane wouldn’t feel threatened by the life he’d once shared with his late wife.
Al Junkert shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he joined him in the foyer. Turning to stand by Thomas’s side, his friend smiled at the family portrait and nudged his shoulder. “She’d have loved all this activity in her house. Not for the reason we’re gathered here, of course, but she’d have been in all her Irish glory surrounded by family and friends like this.” Al’s hands stayed in his pockets as he faced him. “Tommy boy, I’m getting too old for this kind of thing. Now Millie’s in the kitchen and instead of your kids running around the house, they’re wearing guns and putting their lives on the line.”
“They’re not children anymore, Al. They’re doing their jobs. And they’re good at it. I couldn’t be any prouder of the adults they’ve become.”
Al nodded his agreement. “Mary would be proud of them, too. If this plan of yours works, I’ll be right there beside you and the others to take this guy down.” He pulled his hand from his pocket to shake Thomas’s. “I’d better head out. I had to cancel dinner with Cheryl to be here, but I promised her a late drink.”
“Cheryl? What happened to Renee?”
“Who?”
“The gal from the restaurant. The one you met... Never mind.” Thomas opened the door and sent Al on his way with a grin.
Thomas suppressed the urge to groan in frustration when Mutt and Jeff stopped him before he could reach the kitchen and Jane. For his plan to work, he needed everybody to play their assigned role, so blowing off his air force buddies wasn’t an option. “I appreciate you two stepping in to help. I know this isn’t what you had planned for reunion week.”
“It’s like old times, huh?” Mutt’s tone was a little slurred with the alcohol. “The three of us saving the world again. You taking point. Us following your lead.”
Jeff laughed at the trip down memory lane. “The hair’s a little grayer. Or there’s a little less of it. But it’ll be nice to see some action again.”
Thomas shrugged. “I hope it won’t come to that. My goal is to control everything that happens Saturday night. That gives us plenty of time to coordinate with hotel security and set up the sting. Guide this guy right into our trap.”
“Your fugitive will be the only variable.”
“I hope.”
“Too bad we don’t get to wear our badges again,” said Mutt.
“I want my badge to be the only one our perp sees on Saturday night,” Thomas reminded him. “His focus should be on Jane and me. You two are strictly backup if this goes south.”
“Right. You’re the conquering hero and we’re the second bananas. Like I said, like old times.” Mutt swallowed another drink of beer before raising his bottle in a toast. “For Mary.”
Thomas frowned, wondering how many beers his buddy had had. “You mean, for Jane.”
“Well, sure. I just meant...” Mutt’s dark eyes looked confused, as if he’d forgotten what he’d said. “Slip of the tongue, I guess.”
“Give me that before you put your other foot in your mouth, too.” Shaking his head, Jeff eased the bottle from Mutt’s fingers. “Let’s find you some black coffee.”
Thomas mouthed a silent thanks to Jeff. But before he could connect with Jane, Oscar Broz called him back into the living room. The senior US marshal looked irritated with the whole evening, but then Thomas hadn’t seen the man show any other expression in the two times they’d met.
Broz pulled the cell phone from his ear and hugged it to the lapel of his wrinkled suit jacket. “I’ve been running your scenario over with my colleagues, and I have to tell you I can’t sign off on Jane’s security because no one’s following US marshal regulations anymore.”
“You gave us some leeway when we were running things Agent Hunt’s way�
��dangling Jane out in the open like bait,” Thomas argued.
“Do you know what kind of money it costs to relocate a witness and guarantee her protection?”
“Do you want to tell me how Levi Hunt knew Emily Davis had become Jane Boyle and moved to Kansas City? How Badge Man found out?”
“If he had caught the guy, the Jane Boyle project would be moot. I’d save the service a ton of money.”
Thomas boiled beneath his collar. Broz’s inadvertent confession was evidence enough for him to know how Hunt had gotten Jane’s location and information. Badge Man probably already had Hunt and his unit on his radar. Once the secret was out, he could even have trailed Hunt to KC, straight to Jane.
Thomas leaned in closer to the black-haired man and snagged his wrist to keep him from putting that blasted phone back to his ear. “People are not bottom lines, Broz. When this is over, I’m filing a complaint with your superior. I don’t know what kind of bureaucrat you are, but you don’t meet your budget constraints by risking a woman’s life.”
Broz pulled his arm from Thomas’s grasp. “She was willing to take that risk.”
“I’ll tell you how you can save some money, Oscar,” Conor Wildman intervened in a deceptively lighthearted voice. “I’ve been thinking about quitting WITSEC. Making KC my permanent home. You could deduct my salary from the payroll. Oh, and I’ve got a ton of vacation hours due me. I think I’ll take them this weekend and go wait tables at an air force reunion.”
Broz’s eyes darkened like black marbles. “You and me, outside, Wildman. Now. We need to talk.”
Thomas shook his head. He had to grin. Conor’s smart-assery was just the thing he needed to cool his temper. Giving the young man a grateful salute as he followed his boss out the door, he finally made his way to the kitchen.
But the room was empty. And other than Jane’s scent lingering faintly in the air, there was no sign of her.
He didn’t think she’d do anything as foolhardy as wandering off the premises by herself, so he didn’t panic. Didn’t mean he wasn’t anxious to see her and talk to her and hold her in his arms again. He pulled down a couple of mugs from the kitchen cabinet and poured them each some coffee, adding half-and-half from the fridge to Jane’s the way she liked it. Maybe she’d holed up in her room upstairs or, more likely, had insisted on putting his father through his usual physical therapy, despite the stresses of the day.
