The tremor settled in her stomach. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“And?”
“And I’ll talk Nick into returning to Denver.”
“And if he refuses, you’ll arrest his ass and drag him back?”
She hesitated. Yesterday, putting Nick and his son through that kind of trauma felt cruel and unnecessary. After the time they’d spent together today, it felt like a betrayal. “We’ve crossed state lines.”
“Find a way to make it work, Melissa. Raymond is a witness. He is in danger. Do your job.”
She nodded into the phone as if Seth could see her. Her job had shaped her life, made it possible for her to become who she wanted to be. Seth was right. She’d do her job and things would work out. Nick and Jason would be safe. They would find Jimmy’s killers. Justice would win in the end. “Okay. I’ll bring him back. We’ll leave tomorrow. Now tell me what’s going on.”
“Gayle Rodgers was working with our office.”
Melissa felt cold. Informants and witnesses worked with the district attorney’s office every day. But the way Seth had tried to hold the information back, the way he’d built up to the revelation, she knew she wasn’t going to like this. “Working with us how? Why?”
“It was about Jimmy.”
“What do you mean, it was about Jimmy? What was about Jimmy?”
“He’s been involved in some… things. Things we were looking into.”
“What are you saying?”
“Jimmy Bernard was being investigated for taking bribes from the Latin Devils.”
The name of José Sanchez’s gang shuddered through her like a physical force.
“I’m sorry, Melissa. Gayle Rodgers was one of our informants.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I wouldn’t make up something like this. You know that. I liked Jimmy. The idea of this hurts me as much as it hurts you, but the law is the law. We can’t just turn our backs because we like someone. And cops have to be subject to the law the same as everyone else.”
She leaned forward and rubbed her forehead. This was ridiculous. An outrageous lie. “Gayle Rodgers worked in a private law office. How would she even know Jimmy, let alone have anything to inform about?”
Silence answered on the other end.
“Seth?”
“We’ll talk about that when you get here.”
“Just tell me.”
“We’re still investigating. I’ll fill you in on what we know when you get back to Denver.”
“Investigating…” She closed her eyes. It was her job to further investigate the case against Sanchez, to shore up the weak spots. Although they had two pieces of physical evidence that tied him to the crime, both his fingerprints on the murder weapon—a heavy, brass statuette—and the victim’s personal belongings in his possession, the case was weak when it came to motive. The court didn’t require a motive for a conviction, but juries tended to like knowing why the crime was committed.
“You think Sanchez killed Gayle to protect the gang’s arrangement with Jimmy?”
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean, maybe? You can’t be thinking Jimmy killed Gayle to keep her quiet.” The words sounded so preposterous she had to stifle a giggle. She felt like she was teetering on the edge of a stress-fueled laughing jag.
“We’re looking into ever possibility, Melissa. Following the evidence.”
“You’re not kidding.” She’d known he wasn’t, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d still held out hope that all this was some kind of tasteless joke.
“I don’t want to believe it, either. That’s why we’re being thorough, even now.”
Even now that Jimmy was dead, he meant. “And who killed Jimmy?”
“He arrested Sanchez. Their deal was that he look the other way.”
“The Latin Devils.” And if the Devils killed Jimmy… “You think the gang is after Nick.”
“Now you understand why I’m worried about keeping him safe?”
She understood. The gang had a reputation for brutality against anyone who crossed them. They might just follow Nick out of Denver to get rid of an eyewitness. But the rest? Seth’s suspicions about Jimmy? No way. Not for a second. “You’ll show me the case against Jimmy in detail when I get back?”
“If it’s what you want.”
“It is.” She wouldn’t believe Jimmy Bernard was dirty. She never would, no matter what the evidence. But if she could get a look at what they had against him, she could work on taking their case apart brick by brick.
She could clear Jimmy’s name and give him the justice he deserved.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE SKY OUTSIDE WAS DARK and Nick and Jason had already eaten a small supper and helped the ranch hands feed the horses by the time Melissa emerged from her room, his satellite phone in hand. “We need to go back to Denver.”
Nick was afraid she’d say that. “You know my answer.”
“Things have changed.”
“How?”
She glanced in Jason’s direction.
A Hot Wheels car in each hand, he made motor sounds with his lips, alternately driving the cars on their tracks and over the table’s edge.
“How have things changed?” Nick repeated.
“It seems she was an informant.” Melissa hadn’t specified who the she referred to, but she didn’t have to.
“That’s a new twist. For the D.A.’s office?” Nick asked.
“Seth says they were looking into police corruption. My office… it was investigating Jimmy.”
She’d stated the name with little emotion, but Nick wasn’t fooled. He’d seen how broken up she’d been when Detective Barnard died. He’d sensed there was more between them than the fact that they worked together on a case here and there. “I’m sorry.”
She waved his words away, but instead of continuing, she turned her head to the side.
Was she crying? It appeared so. He didn’t want to pry into something so painful. And he wouldn’t—if his and his son’s lives weren’t connected to this—but as it was, he needed to know. “This Jimmy, he was special to you, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.” She kept her face turned to the side and tilted her chin toward the ceiling, as if using gravity to keep the tears from breaking free.
“A lover?” His voice hung in the air, awkward and inappropriate even to his own ears. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not my business. It’s just—”
“We weren’t lovers. Nothing like that. Jimmy was more like the father I never had.”
Nick had no reason to feel relieved, but he did all the same. He nodded in what he hoped was an understanding way. “I’m doubly sorry, then.”
“Thanks.” She dropped her gaze to the contents of the box. “Jimmy’s the reason I got into police work.”
A cop. She’d originally been a cop. He couldn’t say he was surprised. The way she’d handled the shooting on the street and took out the car that was gunning for them on the mountain road seemed like the work of a cop. “How did you end up with the district attorney’s office?”
She looked away from him, as if she was uncomfortable talking about herself. Or at least uncomfortable with his question. “There were more opportunities for advancement working for the county, at least at that time, so I switched.”
Ambition. Another uncomfortable parallel with Gayle. This attraction of his… he really was replaying the past. At least now that he recognized it, he could steer clear. “Sorry. About all this. But what does it have to do with us returning to Denver?”
“Jimmy… He wasn’t dirty. And I’m going to prove it.”
“I’ll drive you to Jackson for that rental car.”
She turned back and looked him in the eye. “You have to go with me. Jason, too. I’m sorry.”
“Seems we’re all sorry. But I’m one up on you, because I’m good and confused, too. Did the authorities find the car in the ravine?”
“Yes.”
“And
the men who were shooting at us? Are they dead?”
“Yes.”
“Then my role in this is over.”
“There were only two bodies in the car.”
“You know that for sure?”
She held up her fingers, in case he needed to count. “And the shooters belong to a gang. A dangerous gang.”
“If they’re dangerous, why would I want to go back to Denver?”
“I can protect you.”
“You’re protecting me here.”
“I need to go back. For Jimmy. And I need you to come with me.”
“You bring me back and you get what? A promotion?”
“Seth agreed to give me a look at the case against Jimmy.”
Loyalty, not ambition. Way to be an ass, Raymond.
“I’ll take you to Jackson. That’s all I can do.”
“No fighting.” Jason’s small voice hit Nick like a horse kick to the gut.
Jason had been so young when he and Gayle had last been together. He couldn’t remember all the arguing, could he? Or had he been exposed to arguing since? Not that it mattered. Although his argument with Melissa was different than the ones he’d had with Gayle over… everything… was he replaying the discord just as he was replaying the attraction?
Melissa knelt to Jason’s height. “No more fighting. We promise.”
Jason burrowed his face into her shoulder, his free hand finding her hair and tangling it in his fingers.
Nick reached out a hand and awkwardly patted his son on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, Buddy. We won’t fight anymore.”
“No, no, no.” Jason pulled back from Nick’s touch. “I hate you! I want to go home!”
Nick knew little kids had tantrums, especially ones who had been through as much emotional upheaval as Jason in the past few days. The child psychologist at the hospital had warned him about just this thing. But somehow his son’s screams stunned the will right out of him.
“I think someone is tired. How about a story?”
“No, no, no!”
Nick nodded to Melissa. “I think you’d better read it tonight.”
“Don’t want to take your own riding advice?”
“Focus on what I want? I want Jason to feel at home and happy. Tonight, I think you have a better shot at making that happen.”
Melissa mouthed the word sorry, then focused on Jason. “What story should we read?”
“Thomas. I want Thomas.” Jason grabbed Melissa’s hand and pulled her toward his bedroom.
Nick watched them go, his arms hanging useless by his sides. It was stupid to feel rejected by an overtired four-year-old. He knew that. But that’s how he felt all the same. It was as if Gayle had been right all along.
Nick started picking up Gayle’s papers and putting them back in the box. By the time Melissa returned, Gayle’s things were packed and waiting beside the door. “Jason?”
“Asleep before Sir Topham Hat’s first lecture about confusion and delay.”
“Was that a comment about me?”
“It’s part of the story, but now that you mention it…”
“Listen, Melissa, I have to do what’s right for Jason. He’s more important than anything that is playing out in Denver.”
A dog that belonged to one of the ranch hands started barking out near the barn.
“What’s going on?”
“Hell if I know. Something’s got Elliot’s dog riled. Just hope it’s not a grizzly nosing around for garbage or horse feed.”
“They do that?”
“Gotta fatten up for hibernation.”
The dog’s barking grew more alarmed.
Melissa moved to the window. “The pickups that were parked out there are gone.”
“Yeah, Elliot said he and the guys were going in to town.” Nick reached under the lamp’s shade, switched off the light, then joined her. He split the blinds with his fingers and peered outside.
At first all he saw was darkness, save the glow of a nearly full moon. The barn hulked in the distance, locked up tight, the yard light shining over a vacant yard. He could see the big trash Dumpster, safely surrounded by tall grizzly fence. Horses stirred in the corral, none showing the fear a bear would inspire. “It looks like the dog is just—”
Something stirred closer to the house, on the other side of his pickup. He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the difference between movement and shadow.
“Do you see that?” Melissa whispered from just behind his shoulder. She unsnapped her holster.
Slowly Nick’s eyes adjusted to the dim light. He could make out the silhouette of a man crouching behind the truck. Something shifted in the sagebrush beyond the corner of the house. Another man. And this one…
His throat went dry. “Melissa, go get Jason. Do it now.”
______
Melissa drew her weapon. “I’m the one with the gun, Nick.”
“And Jason won’t come with me. Not quietly.”
He had a point. “Do you have any weapons in the house? Rifles? Shotguns?”
“One of each. But that guy. It looks like he has…”
“An assault rifle. I saw.” And if Melissa thought about it too much, she would start to feel rattled. Weak. “A handgun isn’t much against one of those.”
“I’ll get the long guns.”
“And your sat phone. We need to call 911.”
“It’s a big county. Sheriff will take a half hour to get here, maybe longer.”
Just one reason Melissa would rather be in Denver. “Okay, get the guns. I have Jason.”
She started across the den. She could hear the thunk of Nick’s strides behind her, veering off to the master bedroom. Melissa slipped into Jason’s room. Moonlight glowed from the window above his bed.
She knelt down and eyed the tiny lump under the covers. “Jason? Buddy? Time to wake up.” She peeled back the comforter to reveal the little guy, fingers twirling in his hair, thumb securely in his mouth. A tightening sensation gripped the base of her throat.
Swallowing hard, she slipped her hands underneath the sleeping boy and gathered him toward her. He reached for her neck, and she held him tight against her chest. A thick blanket lay on the bed. She grabbed it and wrapped it around him. Pushing to her feet, she scurried from the room.
Nick was already back at the window, a rifle in one hand, shotgun in the other. “There only seems to be the two of them.”
At least that was good news. “Call the sheriff?”
“For what good it will do. I don’t want the two of you around when they decide to make their move.”
“It seems like it would be safer in here than outside.”
He gave his head an abrupt shake. “Not once the fire starts.”
“Fire?”
“One is toting around a gas can. One guess as to what he intends to use it for.”
That changed a lot of things. She shifted her grip on Jason, getting ready to hand him off to Nick.
He gave his head a shake. “Take him out the back. Make for the barn.”
“When they start the fire, they’ll be looking for us to run. Provide them a little target practice.”
“That’s why the two of you need to be gone before the fire starts.”
“Me?” She couldn’t have heard him right. “It’s my job to protect you. You’ll take Jason. I’ll distract them.”
“I know how to shoot. Spent most of my life with a rifle in hand.”
“And this is my job.”
Nick paused for a moment, then turned away from her. “I’ll grab you a coat. It’s cold out there.”
“Didn’t you hear anything I said?”
“I know the lay of the ranch in the dark. You don’t. Even if you can hold them off and get out before they manage to burn down the house, you aren’t going to know where to go. Are you?”
She hated not having an answer.
“That’s why you’re taking Jason and getting out of here now. Through the kitchen. Back door. Befo
re things get crazy.”
Melissa took the coat from Nick’s hand. Adjusting Jason from side to side, she slipped into the sleeves and pulled it tight around her. “I go to the barn. Then what?”
“Throw a saddle on Bernie.”
Bernie? It took her a second to connect the name with the horse Jason had been riding this afternoon. “I had my first lesson in saddling a horse just a few hours ago. This is a bad idea.”
“You can do it.”
“Once I have the horse saddled, then what?”
“Don’t wait. Ride straight past the pen where we were this afternoon. Follow the path. There’s a cabin a few miles out, near the waterfall. We use it for overnight trips into the mountains. I’ll meet you there.”
And if you don’t show? Melissa didn’t say it, but the thought ran through her mind all the same.
“Wait till I get off a round to make your move.” Nick offered her the shotgun.
Melissa holstered her pistol.
Nick leaned forward as if taking one last look at the son he’d searched for all these years. Straightening, he spun on his heel and bounded up the steps with his rifle.
Melissa watched him go, maybe for the last time. Then holding the boy against her shoulder and her weapon in one hand, she found her way through the kitchen and slipped out the back door to wait for the first crack of gunfire.
CHAPTER EIGHT
NICK CREPT ACROSS THE HARDWOOD floor of one of the second-floor guest rooms. Reaching the window, he slid up the sash, staying low so he couldn’t be seen from below. He’d tried to convince Melissa he had this plan in hand, but in reality, he was far from sure it would work.
He squinted into the darkness. The men he’d seen from downstairs had moved closer to the house. From this vantage point, he could see that one had an assault rifle slung over his shoulder and both carried gas cans. They sidled along the front, closing in on the porch.
Too late.
Even now, he couldn’t get a clear shot. Once they were under the porch overhang, he wouldn’t be able to see them at all.
Time to make his move. He just hoped Melissa was ready to run.
Nick slipped the barrel of his rifle through the open space between window frame and sash. He looked through the sight, picking up the men’s movement in the darkness. At this angle, a hit would be miraculous. But at least he could send them scurrying for cover.
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