by Jeff Carson
Luke’s smile matched his, though she tried to hide it. She laughed deep and put a beer to her lips. As she tipped it back she saw Wolf.
“Hey. There you are. I like that new haircut, by the way.”
He nodded. “Thanks.”
“You want a beer?” Edwin asked, holding one up.
“Yeah, sure.”
He took the bottle and sat on the couch.
He pulled on the loaned socks, watching the way Edwin bumped into Luke when he could, and the way she froze in response.
Wolf sipped the beer, welcoming the warmth of the alcohol. He tipped the bottle back and downed it. When he lowered it, Luke was standing in front of him.
“Thirsty?” she asked.
He put the bottle on the coffee table and sat back.
“I heard you called home,” she said.
He sat upright to burp.
“What did she say?”
“She’s fine. I told her we’re going to figure this out, and I’ll be home the minute I can.”
Luke sat next to him and pressed her knee into his.
He pulled his leg away and scooted forward.
She eyed the space between them. “Everything okay?”
“I could use another beer.”
She looked at him hard, then nodded. “Sure. I’ll get you one.”
“Here you go.” Edwin appeared with another bottle and took the empty.
“Thanks.” Wolf sipped and watched him go back into the kitchen. “He’s a good guy.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
They sat in silence, watching Edwin set food on a dining table perched next to a bank of windows.
“You want to talk?” she asked.
“You remember anything new?”
She shook her head.
“Not much more to go over, then.” He sipped his beer.
Edwin turned to them. “Dinner’s ready whenever you two are.”
Wolf stood and walked over. He chose the single setting on the far side and sat.
“This looks great.”
“Herb-encrusted salmon,” Edwin said. “Learned the recipe up in Alaska.”
Luke sat down and jabbed a forkful.
Wolf took a bite and thought he’d never tasted a better-cooked fish, other than his father’s breaded rainbow trout. “This is amazing.”
“Thanks.”
They ate in silence, listening to the raindrops on the windows and the jazz in the speakers.
Once they’d cleared their plates, Luke wiped her mouth and put the napkin on the table.
“Listen, Edwin. Would you mind giving us a ride up to Everett tomorrow morning?”
Wolf eyed her.
“Yeah. When?”
“Six.”
Edwin raised his eyebrows but otherwise didn’t flinch. “Sure.”
Luke pushed back from the table. “What is it? Eleven fifteen? I’m so tired. I need to go to bed. I shouldn’t have had that beer.”
Wolf and Edwin looked at each other. Her eyelids were at half-mast and her posture sagged.
“I have the one bed.” Edwin stood and clutched Luke’s arm. “You can …”
Wolf smiled. “You two take the bed. I don’t think my fiancée would like me sleeping with you, Edwin.”
Edwin laughed.
Wolf watched them shuffle down the hall, then cleared the table.
Edwin came out a few minutes later with a stack of blankets and put them on the couch. “Level with me, here.” Edwin folded his arms. “Is she okay?”
Wolf met his glare and considered the question. “Yeah.”
Edwin nodded and turned away.
“Edwin.”
“Yes?”
“Thanks.”
“Sure, no problem. Let me know if I can do anything else for you.”
Wolf smiled and watched him go.
He stretched out on the longest of the leather couches, and pulled warm, heavy blankets over him. The sound of Lauren’s voice echoed in his brain as he sank into unconsciousness.
I love you, David.
Chapter 29
Wolf climbed out of the back seat of Edwin’s Jeep Rubicon and stepped onto the damp sidewalk. “Thank you, Edwin.”
“You got it.”
Wolf looked up at the Snohomish County FBI building and sucked in a breath of air. It smelled like the ocean mixed with the lumberyard north of Cave Creek, back home.
Luke climbed out of the front seat and shut the door. She looked less than rested.
Wolf had spent five minutes trying to wake her that morning, wondering if she’d slipped back into a coma, but she’d finally come around of her own accord.
“You all right?” he asked.
“You wanna ask me that again?” Her glare said she was fine. “Let’s go.”
Wolf followed her to a wide rotating door and pushed in behind her.
They walked on a terrazzo floor inlaid with the FBI seal toward a half-moon reception desk.
A woman behind the counter widened her eyes and hung up the phone. “Kristen! Holy shit, there you are!”
Luke held up her hands. “Easy.”
“Don’t tell me easy. They’re all out there looking for you.” The woman walked away from the desk and appeared out of a door in the felt-covered wall. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Luke took the woman’s hug and stepped back. “Is Earnshaw here?”
“No. He’s out with everyone else at Discovery Park.”
“But he’s okay?”
“Yeah.” The woman looked down at Luke’s civilian jeans and sweater and then eyed Wolf. “What’s going on? Who’s this?”
“This is David. David, this is Shantel. My nosy friend at the reception desk.”
Shantel raised her eyebrows. “This is David Wolf?”
Luke made for the doors. “Can you please open this? I don’t have my card.”
Shantel went to the door and pressed a card to the reader.
The door clicked and Luke pushed it open. Shantel held it while Wolf passed though, smiling like she knew something he didn’t.
He followed Luke through a circular interior room lined with glass. On the other side of the windows, suit-clad agents sat at rows of desks.
“This way.” She led him to a cubicle in one corner.
The squad room looked relatively deserted to Wolf.
A man by the window noticed them and almost spat out his coffee at the sight of Luke. He set down his mug and jogged over.
“Luke!”
She ducked inside and sat at her desk.
“Luke!” The man’s gut bounced with every step as he cut through the desks like a running back. He slipped past Wolf and stopped at the entrance. “What are you doing here?”
She swiveled around. “Hey, Grossnickel.”
“Have you talked to Earnshaw?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you kidding? There’re a lot of agents out there looking for you right now. You Wolf?”
Wolf nodded.
“They’re looking for you, too.”
Wolf eyed Luke.
“What did you hear about Staten?” Luke asked.
Grossnickel frowned. “About him disappearing?”
“Yeah.”
“What about it?”
“What happened to him?”
Grossnickel put his hands on his hips. “I heard he was with you guys. And after the attack, he disappeared.”
“Disappeared? Like how?”
“I don’t know. He’s gone, and so is his vehicle.”
“Have they tracked his commander unit?” she asked.
Grossnickel raised his eyebrows. “Tried to, but it’s been shut off.”
“Are you guys talking about his dash-mounted computer?”
Grossnickel nodded.
“It’s been completely shut off?” she asked. “I didn’t know those things could go completely offline.”
“Easy enough. Rip out the hard-wiring, take a screwdriver to the bac
k and remove the battery.”
“Yeah, easy enough.”
Grossnickel shrugged. “A couple bullets would do the trick, too. Maybe one of those Chung Do assholes shot it. I don’t know.”
“So those guys were Chung Do for sure?” she asked.
“There’s three of ’em dead on the beach. Have those shitty tattoos on their arms.”
Luke picked up her phone. “Can you let us have a moment, please?”
Grossnickel straightened. “You better talk to Earnshaw. He’s gonna be pissed if—”
“Grossnickel.” She waved the desk phone receiver in the air. “I’m calling him right now.”
“Right. Okay, fine. You need anything, I’ll be over here.” He nodded at Wolf and walked away.
She put the phone to her ear. “Sir, it’s me, Luke.”
She pulled the phone away from her ear and rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir. We’re fine … we were split off … I was injured and Detective Wolf took me to safety … we were already gone … I’m calling you now, aren’t I? Yes, sir … Grossnickel can take us.”
She hung up. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“You heard Grossnickel. The party’s at Discovery Beach.”
Chapter 30
“Holy cow! There you two are!” SSA Earnshaw rushed toward Wolf, Luke, and Grossnickel.
Wolf eyed the ground, noting the evidence tents that had been erected where a few dozen spent shell casings littered the wet asphalt.
The entrance road had been packed with flashing vehicles from all manner of agencies and it had taken them a full hour to get from Everett to the Seattle park.
Two news helicopters jockeyed for position overhead.
Inland from the beach, where the night before Wolf had seen the blurred shapes shooting at them, three white forensic tents had been erected. He looked to the hill where he and Luke had left Staten’s unconscious body and saw no activity.
“Where the hell have you guys been? I thought you’d been kidnapped.” Earnshaw walked up and put a hand on Luke, then backed away and studied her gray sweater and jeans under Nackley’s loaned jacket. “You changed?”
She nodded.
“Where? Your apartment?”
“We stayed at a friend’s.”
Earnshaw eyed Grossnickel. “Thanks for driving them here, Grossnickel.”
“No problem.”
“That will be all.”
Grossnickel’s face dropped and he walked away.
“Where did you stay?”
“What happened to Staten?” Wolf asked.
Earnshaw pointed a finger at him. “I called your boss. We were calling your phone.”
“Battery died.”
“Explain yourselves.”
They gave him a watered-down version of their adventure, mentioned no names.
“Now what happened to Staten?” Wolf asked again.
Earnshaw glared, his eyes like slits. “He’s gone.”
“Where did he go?”
Earnshaw shook his head. “We don’t know. GPS isn’t pinging. His cell’s not pinging. You two were gone. So was he. They must have taken him. And his vehicle. He was with you two, wasn’t he? You tell me what happened.”
Wolf eyed the parking lot. Earnshaw’s vehicle had moved.
“And you didn’t see last night?” Wolf asked. “I saw you and Nackley on the beach. He was parked right here.”
“Nackley and I ended up running down the beach after one of them.” Earnshaw became animated. “Way down past the bluffs. The guy went up into the trees, and we went after him. But …” He shrugged. “We came back, looked for you guys. The local PD showed up.”
“We went up that gulley.” Luke pointed.
“Well, we got three of them,” Earnshaw said.
“I knocked out Staten last night.” Luke flicked a self-conscious glance at Wolf.
Earnshaw turned to her. “What?”
“With a rock.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I remembered—he was there.”
“He was where?”
Luke relayed the story of how she’d woke up in the trunk and seen Staten and Swain.
Earnshaw stared into nothing. “My God. And you’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
A pair of special agents strode toward them. “Luke! She’s here.”
Earnshaw turned. “Yeah. Quinley, Umbrose, this is Detective Wolf.”
Wolf shook hands with the two men.
“Sir, we need to confiscate your weapon,” said Quinley, addressing Wolf.
He hesitated and looked at Earnshaw. “That’s fine as long as you issue me another one.”
“Give it to him,” Earnshaw said. “I’ll take care of it.”
Wolf pulled his Glock from his paddle holster and handed it over.
Quinley took it between a rubber-gloved forefinger and thumb and put it inside an evidence bag.
Wolf felt like he’d been stripped of his pants and underwear.
“Special Agent Luke?” Quinley turned to her.
“I’m not carrying, and I wasn’t last night.”
Quinley looked at Earnshaw, who nodded.
“Okay. And I’ll need an official statement from you two. Who wants to go first?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Earnshaw said.
“Sir?”
“I said I’ll take care of it. We’re talking, thank you, gentlemen.”
Quinley seemed affronted, but not enough to argue, and he nodded and walked away with his fellow agent toward the beach.
Earnshaw waited until they were out of earshot and turned to Luke. “Tell me again you’re certain Swain and Staten put you in that trunk.”
“I’m certain, sir.”
“You’d been hit in the head.”
Her eyes hardened. “I know what I remember.”
Nackley came toward them from the beach path. He looked relatively unscathed except for a scratch on his chin.
“I heard you were on your way back,” he said. “We thought those assholes had taken you.”
Luke and Wolf waited patiently while Earnshaw relayed their story one more time.
“Jesus.” Nackley stared at Luke. “You’re sure? Staten was there when the trunk opened?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure. Ask me again, and I’ll show you how sure I am.”
Wolf pulled out his cell, remembered it was still dead, and put it back in his pocket.
“Detective Wolf needs to use your phone.” Luke stretched out her hand. “Sir, please. It’s his wedding day.”
Earnshaw unlocked his phone and gave it to Wolf. “Take your time.”
“And I need a weapon,” Wolf said. “And so does Special Agent Luke.”
“You don’t need one,” Luke said.
“What are you talking about? With what happened last night, there’s no way you and I are walking around unarmed.”
“You’re getting on that phone and telling Lauren you’re on your way home.”
“No,” Wolf said. “I already talked to her last night. It’s okay. I’m staying until this is done.”
Luke took the phone and thrust it at him. “Jesus, Wolf. Come on. I just figured out Swain and Staten are behind this, and look at them. They’re running.”
“Why was Staten here last night?” Wolf asked. “With them?”
“With us?” Earnshaw stepped forward. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying it’s suspicious that Staten was with you two last night.”
“We’d just learned of a witness who’d seen his partner’s death. Why wouldn’t I tell him to meet us here?”
Wolf had no reply.
“Wolf.” Luke grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside. “Please, for the love of that little girl, please call Lauren and tell her you’re on your way home. Tell her you’re chartering a private jet out of Boeing Field, and you’ll be home by lunch. Tell her to get your tux out, draw a bath, and have the s
having cream ready, because you need to get that thing off.”
A familiar fire lit her eyes.
“This is a Swain and Staten manhunt, right, sir?” She raised her voice.
Earnshaw broke off his conversation with Nackley. “What’s that?”
“I said this is a manhunt for Swain and Staten, correct?”
“Far as I see it, those two have some explaining to do.” Earnshaw curled his upper lip. “And they’ll explain it to the barrel of my gun.”
“Sir!” Nackley raised his cell in the air. “We have a trace on Staten.”
“Where?”
Nackley put the phone to his ear, then lowered it. “Within two miles of where they found Swain’s vehicle. It just switched on.”
Earnshaw nodded. “Looks like our manhunt just ended. Now, are we moving or what?”
“Detective Wolf is not coming with us,” she said. “He’s going to charter a private jet out of Boeing Field. We can postpone his statement until later, correct, sir?”
Earnshaw rubbed a hand over his face, considering.
“I’ll remind you he’s getting married at three thirty this afternoon, Mountain time. We can take his statement later, right? Sir?”
Earnshaw nodded. “We’ll drop him at the airport on the way out. Let’s go.” He walked away.
Luke turned to Wolf and gripped both his forearms. “Please, don’t take this the wrong way, but I really don’t want you here anymore. I’m fine now. I came to you for help, and you’ve given it. It’s over. Get on that phone and tell your fiancée you’re coming home.”
Wolf checked his watch. It was just past seven in the morning, eight at home. He pictured Lauren and Ella walking down the aisle, Ella showering people with flower petals, and a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.
“Here. You can call her on the way to the airport.”
He took the phone.
Chapter 31
“Not that I don’t appreciate your including me, Patty, but I’m just a bit hungover at the moment.”
Rachette ignored the look from his partner and stared out at the Chautauqua River snaking past the passenger window.
The frothing waters, swelled by the recent rains, made his stomach queasy.
