Special Agent

by Valerie Hansen

  Did hugs count? she wondered. Nope. Not the kind they had shared so far. He’d simply been comforting her after a crisis. When she’d tried to hug him at the park he’d acted almost embarrassed and had backed away. That was not a good sign. Not good at all. Now, if he had kissed her...

  Imagining his kiss made her tremble, made her stomach flutter like butterflies feasting on the bright yellow wild mustard flowers so prevalent on the rolling hills around South Fork.

  Someone touched her arm, snapping her from her reverie. She looked around, expecting to see the deputy who was coming to watch over her. A hard metal object poked her in the ribs at the same instant.

  “Don’t make a sound,” Kyle warned, sneering. “You and I are going for a little walk. If you make a fuss and I start shooting, who knows how many kids might get hurt.”

  She couldn’t move, couldn’t take a step, until he gave her arm a jerk. Where was Max? Where was the deputy who was supposed to be there with her?

  Katerina found her balance and her voice. “All right. Stay calm. I’ll go with you.”

  “Knew you were a smart girl.” He signaled with a toss of his head. “This way.”

  Eyes wide, she desperately cast around for any kind of help that wouldn’t cause her abductor to panic and pull the trigger. There was no one except innocent, clueless civilians, so she didn’t dare call out or try to escape his painful grasp.

  An incoherent prayer for deliverance formed in her mind. No rescuer appeared. She staggered, tripped, tried to think far enough beyond the moment to know what to do.

  One thing was certain.

  Survival was totally up to her.

  FOURTEEN

  Max had rendezvoused with several deputies when they got another call. Earpiece receivers kept him from eavesdropping but the grave looks on their faces told him plenty.

  “You’re sure?” one of them replied before turning to Max to report, “Reynolds is on scene. There’s no sign of the Garwood woman where you said she’d be.”

  “Tell him to look again. She’s wearing a pink shirt.”

  “Sorry, Agent West.”

  Every nerve in his body was firing. “All right. You men keep searching for the runner in the black T-shirt. I lost him in that alley over there. I’m going back for Katerina. She can’t have strayed far.”

  Time was his enemy, Max concluded as he wheeled and took off with Opal at his side. Had it been long enough since he’d lost sight of Kyle for the man to have doubled back? He doubted it, but this wasn’t his town so maybe there was a shortcut.

  “Opal, heel.” He shouted over the noise of the celebrants, assuming a runner’s pace. If only she were a tracking dog like Harper’s German shepherd he’d be able to send her to find Katerina. Some K-9s were cross-trained if they showed aptitude but he hadn’t seen the need for adding to his dog’s repertoire until now.

  The partners crossed Main at the corner by Park. Anxiety had sapped some of the stamina he needed to continue. Max paused in the spot where he’d last seen Katerina and scanned the crowd, looking for the right color hair and her neon pink T-shirt. It was like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack, only he was looking for one special lady in a sea of moving, shifting bodies, many of whom were tall enough to hide her.

  “Katerina!”

  He turned the opposite direction, cupped a hand around his mouth and shouted again. “Katerina! Where are you?”

  Opal had been straining at her leash since they’d reached the familiar corner. Now, she yipped.

  Max checked her body language and started to ignore her until he saw the rapid wag of her tail. Dressed to work, she was not usually that amiable. “Katerina?” he repeated.

  The eager dog pulled harder, actually scratching at the pavement with her front paws. He took one last look around, then heeded to his canine partner.

  “All right, Opal. That’s as good a direction to go as any.” He keyed his mic. “This is West. I’m headed south on Park. No sign of the Garwood woman yet but my dog is pulling me this way so I’m going to take a chance.”

  “Copy,” someone radioed back. “We’re converging on your location. Deputy Reynolds has already found a couple of folks who think they saw Katerina leaving.”

  “Was she alone?” Max’s throat tightened.

  “Nobody was sure. Proceed with caution.”

  As if they had to tell him! Caution was ingrained in any bomb-detecting specialist. Except that he had already broken protocol by racing around as if he and Opal were two ants crossing hot pavement.

  All the time his feet and brain were racing he was searching the distance, praying he’d get a glimpse of Katerina.

  Over there? Max’s hope jumped, then crashed. It wasn’t her. There? No. Same color clothing but wrong wearer. He had to force himself to inhale and exhale instead of holding his breath every time he thought he saw her.

  Opal’s nose was to the ground now. Max knew she’d never had actual practice as a tracking dog but apparently her instinct to find her new friend was strong enough to carry her, at least this far.

  Rather than give any commands and possibly confuse the dog, he let her run as fast as she could go with him on the other end of her leash. Clearly, she could have outdistanced him without effort but Max had to hold on or he might lose her, too.

  His legs ached and there was a painful stitch in his side. Nevertheless he pressed on. They crossed the main picnic area, then skirted the restrooms. Beyond lay an overflow parking lot where many of the floats and other participants had gathered after the parade.

  Opal suddenly pulled to the side, nearly tripping Max. He spun to follow. And saw Bertrand Garwood’s classic Packard.

  No, no! Not that. Max’s heart fell. Opal was headed straight for the same car she’d alerted on before. If she was after that odd odor instead of following Katerina’s trail, he’d wasted precious time.

  The ranch foreman was no longer behind the wheel but the mayor was once again polishing chrome. “Did you see her?” Max shouted. “Have you seen Katerina?”

  Garwood paused and scowled. “No. Why?”

  “I think she’s been kidnapped.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no real crime in this town.” His wrinkled deepened. “At least there wasn’t until her boyfriend showed up.”

  Max was in no mood to argue. Expecting Opal to stop to sniff the car’s trunk, he was astonished to see her put her nose to the ground again and take off.

  “Wait a minute,” he called to Garwood. “She went past here. Are you sure you didn’t see her?”

  “I told you I didn’t.”

  “Where’s your foreman? McCabe.”

  “Filling his gut, I imagine. Check the food tables.”

  Holding a straining Opal in check, Max radioed his position to the deputies and suggested exactly that. If one of them could locate McCabe, he might be able to tell them more.

  “I’m going to follow my K-9 until she finds Katerina or loses the trail,” Max said, knowing Garwood was eavesdropping and a little surprised at his interest.

  The older man stood back, reached into his pocket and fisted a keychain. “You can borrow my car if you promise to take good care of it.”

  Well, well. “Thanks, but I need to be on the ground with the dog,” Max told him. “If you decide to cruise around and look for her, give us plenty of space. I don’t want anything to disturb the scent trail.”

  He didn’t glance back to see what Katerina’s father was doing after that. All he cared about was giving Opal the best chance to succeed. When all this was over and they were back in Billings, he was going to suggest she be trained in tracking people as well as detecting explosives. That would work as long as he was able to tell her exactly which job he wanted her to do at any given time.

  Right
now, all he wanted was Katerina. The nagging notion of losing her, for whatever reason, ate at him until his physical pain and fatigue became secondary.

  A shuddering breath filled his lungs. This could not be happening. He’d vowed to look after her and had failed. It didn’t matter that he’d thought a deputy was taking over for him. He should have waited with her until the other guard arrived.

  Opal barked once. Max faltered, tripped and almost fell. With a mighty lunge the dog ripped the end of the long lead from his hand and began to run like a greyhound chasing a rabbit.

  “Opal! Stop! Heel!”

  Those commands made her seem to go even faster. Max was both livid and distressed. In all the years they had been working partners, Opal had never failed to come when called. Never. If he lost her it would be his fault. Just as it was his fault he’d lost Katerina.

  Instead of slowing him down, the weight of his emotional burdens gave Max his second wind. Without a dog to handle he was free to run at his top speed, arms pumping, knees lifting higher as he pounded through the park.

  Drying ground and dead grass made it harder to pick out Opal’s coat coloring in the distance but her dark vest stood out. So did the bright white FBI printed on the side. Max saw her slow, circle, then take off again. This time she was giving voice like a hunting hound who was about to tree its prey.

  Max interpreted the signs and pressed on until he thought his legs would buckle. Adrenaline fueled his mad dash.

  Thoughts of Katerina kept him going.

  * * *

  There was no doubt in Katerina’s mind that Kyle would shoot her if she tried to flee. Fear kept her from thinking logically until he had forced her through the park and tried to push her into his waiting car at the far edge of an overflow parking lot. That snapped her out of it enough to try to reason with him.

  “Look, don’t you suppose that if I knew where Vern had hidden the diamonds I’d have already gotten them?”

  “Maybe you did.”

  She could tell he was confused. Good. Anything that gave her an edge was a plus. “If I had, do you think I’d still be slinging hash at a diner?”

  “You might, if you were smart.”

  “If I was really smart, I’d have figured out that Vern was a crook long before he got me into so much trouble.”

  “Yeah, well.” The wiry man gestured with the pistol. “Get in. We’re goin’ for a ride and you’re gonna show me where those rocks are, or else.”

  “Are you listening to me?” Anger began to bolster her courage and she raised her voice. “I have nothing left. No home, barely any personal belongings, nothing. I do not know anything about any diamonds and I never did. Vern wouldn’t have trusted me with that information because he knew I was too honest. That was why I was such a good cover for him. People trusted me. And with good reason.”

  “Well, we don’t trust you.”

  Katerina’s eyebrows arched. “We? Who’s we? I thought you were the one who’s been stalking me.”

  “I was. I am.” Looking agitated, he raked his fingers through his rumpled, oily hair. “Are you gonna get in this car or do I have to shoot you?”

  “You can’t be that dumb.”

  “Hey, show some respect,” Kyle snapped.

  “Look,” she said, speaking slowly and choosing her words with care, “if you shoot me and I do happen to know where Vern hid anything, you’re up the creek without a paddle. Who else can you ask? Who else was close enough to him to know his secrets?”

  “Okay, we’ll split it. If you’re as broke as you say, you can use some cash.”

  Katerina sighed. If she agreed to a split to stall for time until someone could rescue her, she’d be digging her own grave because Kyle would then be sure she knew too much. If she refused, he might soon decide she was useless. Either way, she lost.

  Father, I could use some help here, she prayed. I’ve always tried to do the right thing, to be a good Christian, but I can’t see any way out of this.

  One thing was certain. She was not getting into that car. No, sirree.

  A blur of color entered the edge of her vision. It was moving so fast it was airborne before she could react. Fortunately, the same was true of her kidnapper.

  Opal hit him so hard in the chest he fell backward and thumped his head on the ground. The gun went flying. Stunned, Katerina stood there gaping. The dog was growling and drooling on Kyle’s face. His eyeballs looked as though they were about to pop out of their sockets, and he was thrashing and pushing at her to escape.

  Katerina frantically looked for Max. He wasn’t in sight. Therefore, she had two choices. She could either try to grab the gun, back Opal and hope Max arrived very soon, or she could run away to save herself, hoping the valiant dog would follow. Given her recent belief that her life was about to end abruptly, she opted for flight.

  “Opal, come!” she screeched, rounding the parked car and heading into a grove of live oaks for cover. She didn’t dare look back.

  Her last call was, “Opal-l-l-l!

  She heard a single gunshot. Her heart sank. Grasping the broad, rough trunk of one of the ancient trees, she peeked around just in time to see Kyle’s car speed off.

  “No, no, no. Not Opal.” Katerina was bereft.

  She slid to the ground beneath the tree and began to weep. In seconds, a warm, rough tongue was drying her cheeks. “Opal! Oh, baby!”

  A quick once-over showed no injuries. Katerina’s tears turned to those of pure joy. She hugged the brown-and-white K-9 close, buried her face against its shoulder, and began to sob away all the tension and fear. “Thank you, Jesus.”

  * * *

  Max saw the whole thing. Opal downed Katerina’s kidnapper but the guy was far from out of the fight. The dog held him as best she could without biting the way an apprehension specialist would. Katerina bolted. The perp wiggled loose. Reached his gun. Raised it.

  After that, details blurred and overlapped. Opal and Katerina were both running. The man aimed and fired. Katerina ducked behind a tree but whether she was hit or not was unknown. The same went for Opal. She looked as if she’d stumbled or made a dive for cover. Or been shot.

  Max drew his own gun on the run. “Federal agent. Drop your weapon.”

  Instead, the perp burned rubber in his escape.

  “Katerina!” It was more of a gasp than a shout and all Max could manage for the moment.

  No one answered. His heart was already at the breaking point. He fought to stay on his feet. Imagination was his worst enemy. In his mind he visualized another terrible loss. Another failure. This couldn’t have happened, yet it had.

  Lungs ready to burst, head pounding, he once again bellowed, “Katerina! Opal!” in a voice that was breaking despite his efforts to sound forceful and in command.

  “Max? Over here!”

  His head snapped around. He could manage a few more steps even if they used his last shred of strength.

  And then he saw her. She was hurrying toward him, apparently unhurt, and Opal was at her side.

  Max used every ounce of self-control to try to keep his reactions in check. He failed. In seconds, he had engulfed Katerina in a smothering embrace. His tears dampened her silky hair. The shuddering of her whole body told him that she, too, was weeping.

  And so he held her like that, thanking the God he had once turned his back on and feeling so much abject relief he could hardly process the sensations.

  There was joy, of course, but so much more. Peace. Assuredness. Rightness. And above all, a sense of loving and being loved that Max had never dreamed could be so strong. So absolute. So perfect.

  Even as deputies began to surround them and ask about the gunshot that had brought them running, Max held tightly to Katerina and felt faithful Opal leaning against his legs, acting possessive and sharing the
precious moment.

  If he’d had his way, he and Katerina would never have parted.

  FIFTEEN

  Debriefing seemed to take forever. Katerina couldn’t help yawning. She and Max were seated side by side on a weathered wooden bench at the edge of the picnic area while the sheriff interrogated her.

  “I told you. I don’t know who Kyle is other than he used to be a friend of Vern Kowalski’s,” she said, sighing wearily because she was sick and tired of answering the same questions over and over. “I don’t know his last name, where he lives or who he hangs out with. I only met him one time before he came to the diner and threatened me. If he hadn’t reminded me who he was then, I wouldn’t have remembered him at all.”

  “I think we’re done here,” Max stated. “I’m going to take Ms. Garwood back to her hotel. If you have further questions you can phone me and I’ll contact her.”

  Tate scowled. “Just a second here, Agent West, this is my jurisdiction.”

  Max stood, pulling Katerina up with him as he took her arm. “Agreed. But this witness is mine. I’m putting her into protective custody.”

  She could tell the deputies were waiting to see which authority would prevail. No doubt it would be her special agent. Truth to tell, she didn’t care who won as long as she got to take a shower and change clothes to rid herself of any traces of Kyle’s disgusting touch.

  The sheriff backed off. “Okay. Take her to the hotel. I’ve already put out a BOLO for the car you described. If and when we find it I may need you for a positive ID.”

  “Our pleasure,” Max said brusquely.

  Katerina leaned his way ever so slightly. Our, he had said. Our pleasure, as in “the two of us.” Her heart warmed and she might have commented if she had not been too bone-weary to think straight.