by Sharon Dunn
Her voice took on that soft, distant quality. “He usually follows me into the station in the morning.”
The inflection in her voice suggested weariness, as though the need for protection had taken its toll on her emotionally.
Trevor glanced around. Other than automated sprinklers turning on, he saw no movement anywhere on the quiet street. He sidled closer to Valerie.
She turned toward him, furling her brow. “You don’t need to stand quite so close. I’m a trained officer. I can handle myself.”
He had to remind himself that though her irritation was directed toward him, she was probably more upset about the loss of freedom the death threats had created. “I don’t doubt you can handle yourself.”
She opened the back door of Trevor’s sedan to let Lexi in.
On the drive toward the station, Trevor filled Valerie in on the investigation as she flipped through the file. “We knew that Sagebrush was one of the places Murke had ties to. He lived here during his teen years and has come back several times since. He’s on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, so his picture has been out there. We had an anonymous tip, someone who saw him in a store here in Sagebrush.”
Valerie stared at the photo of Murke on the tablet. “Sometimes people are mistaken about identities.” She flicked through the pages of the file.
“I know that. It makes sense, though, that Murke would come back here,” he said as doubt tapped at the corners of his awareness. Valerie had to find something that would give them a lead. The urgency to catch Murke was stronger than ever.
Valerie looked up from the tablet. Her eyes lit up as they passed a schoolyard just starting to fill with children. She really seemed to gravitate toward kids. Having kids, being married, none of that had ever been on his radar. His father had been a brute of a man, cruel beyond reason. If it hadn’t been for a youth pastor, who had turned his heart toward God, Trevor could have gone down that same road. The way he had it figured, he didn’t want to risk having those patterns of violence emerge in his own life. He was a better help to humanity as a lawman.
“So it’s just you and Bethany?” The question had spilled out. He had to admit, he was curious.
Valerie laced her fingers together and bent her head. “Bethany is my sister’s child. I recently became her guardian when Kathleen died.” Her voice trembled.
Trevor retreated, aware that he had stepped on an emotional land mine. “Well, you seem like a natural mom.”
Her face glowed, and her voice fused with warmth. “Thanks. It’s been an adjustment for both of us.”
He hadn’t counted on the compliment meaning so much to her. He took a quick sideways glance at her. Shorter hair that had escaped the ponytail framed her soft features, and her full mouth curled into a faint smile. Was she still thinking about what he had said?
Valerie looked back down at the tablet. “Murke robbed a pawn shop with a guy named Leroy Seville?”
Trevor’s spirits lifted. “Yeah, do you know him?”
“No, but I know an elderly lady named Linda Seville. I don’t think she ever said anything about a son, but they could be related.”
“It’s worth a shot.” This could be the lead he had hoped for.
She lifted her head and peered through the windshield. “We’re actually pretty close to where she lives. Let’s just go there now. Four blocks up and one over.” She paused. “I know the street, and I’ll remember the house when I see it.”
He caught a whiff of her floral perfume as she leaned closer to him to point through the windshield. He leaned toward her as his stomach tightened.
He pulled to the curb, scanning the area as he got out of the car. “This is the street?” The neighborhood consisted of older homes built close together and several apartment buildings.
She looked at him over the top of the car. “Yep, this is the neighborhood I patrol.” She spoke with affection as she lifted her chin and looked around. “If I remember correctly, I met Linda on a stolen television case.” She studied the line of houses as though she was trying to jar her memory about where Linda Seville lived.
A girl of about seven road by on a bike. “Hey, Officer Salgado.”
A trilling laugh escaped Valerie’s throat. “Hey, Jessie Lynn. I see you found a new chain for your bike.”
The kid was half a block away when she shouted, “Yes, ma’am, I did.”
She turned to face Trevor. “Jessie loves that bike. She always gets a ride in before school.”
Valerie cared about the people here. That much was clear, but sometimes emotions got in the way of the job. He hoped she could keep them in check.
Valerie came around the car and joined Trevor on the sidewalk. She looked up at him, expectation coloring her lovely features. She had a spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and her voice had a soft quality that made him think of lullabies. He shook himself free of the warm, fuzzy feeling he got when she stood close to him. Okay, she was attractive and smelled nice. So what? He had a job to do.
Valerie pointed to a bungalow-style house with flower beds that were overgrown with weeds. “That’s it, right there. Now I remember. It wasn’t a stolen television—it was a missing pet.”
It sounded like Valerie didn’t know Linda Seville all that well. They made their way up the sidewalk. Worry twisted into a hard knot at the base of his stomach. What if this lead didn’t pan out? Would they be back to square one?
As though she had read his mind, Valerie said, “We might be able to get a line on Murke some other way if this turns out to be nothing.”
He appreciated her optimism, but in his mind, there were no second shots. Murke had evaded him since Cory’s death, leaving whatever town he’d drifted into the second he got wind that the Bureau was onto him. The capture needed to be swift before Murke had a chance to run again.
He knocked on the door. Through the sheer curtain, he could see that all the lights had been turned off, and no one stirred inside. He could feel that tightening in his chest. That awful feeling that they’d missed their chance to get the jump on Murke. “Where would this Linda be if she wasn’t at home?” He couldn’t hide the urgency in his voice.
“I don’t know that much about her. She’s not one of the people in the neighborhood who talks to me. I just helped her find her poodle months ago.” She turned and looked at the other houses. “I’m sure we can ask around.”
Trevor tensed. Too much asking around meant a greater chance of Murke getting wind that the Bureau had found him. “I just want this lead to work out.”
She flinched as though he had hit her with his words. “You really want to get this guy, don’t you?”
Trevor softened his tone. She didn’t deserve to be the recipient of the frustration over his long history with Murke. “He shot an agent I was training. Cory was a rookie fresh out of the Academy, and I know rookies make rookie mistakes, but he didn’t deserve to die.”
“I’m sorry about the agent being shot.” An emotion flashed across her face that almost looked like hurt, though he couldn’t figure out why. “I don’t think she’s here.” Valerie turned away and stared up the street.
He’d heard the quiver in her voice. Something he had said had struck a nerve. Women made him crazy sometimes. He was always saying the wrong thing around them and never quite understanding why it had been the wrong thing. Trying to sort it out with her would just make things worse.
Just let it go and do your job.
Trevor scanned the windows of the apartment buildings. No doubt the neighborhood had eyes everywhere. They’d expect to see Officer Salgado around, but would wonder what he was doing here. And then they would start to talk. If Murke was in this neighborhood, how long before word got back to him?
When he turned toward Valerie, she still had her back to him. She let out a soft gasp as her shoulders stiffened and she reached for her gun. He followed the line of her gaze.
Derek Murke sidled up the street holding two plastic bags and a six-pack of beer
.
THREE
“Police, stop.”
Valerie sprinted across the grass and drew her weapon.
Shock registered on Murke’s face. He dropped his groceries and dashed up the alley.
Murke was headed for the warehouses behind the bungalows. Valerie called out to Trevor. “Stay with him. I’ll grab Lexi.”
Trevor had already drawn his handgun. He raced past her down the alley. Murke bolted over a dilapidated fence with Trevor on his heels.
Valerie ran to Trevor’s car and opened the back door for Lexi. With the dog pulling hard on the leash, Valerie circled around the fence. She entered a two-block area containing a series of metal buildings, some still in use and others abandoned. She saw no sign of Murke or Trevor. She took Lexi over to the other side of the fence where Murke had probably landed. Lexi picked up the trail right away.
They jogged past a tire shop that was still operational, but closed at this hour. There was a risk that Lexi had picked up on Trevor’s scent and not Murke’s since both men were running. Following a scent was not a perfect science, but she’d trust Lexi’s nose over searching blindly.
Heart pounding, she took in her surroundings as she ran. The Rottweiler pulled toward a large warehouse. Metal slapped against metal. The sound of a door slamming against the frame or the wind blowing? Valerie followed Lexi into the warehouse through a place in the exterior wall where the corrugated metal had been bent back from the frame.
Once inside, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dimness. The warehouse was a big open area with a balcony all around it. This had been a clothing factory at one time. Pieces of abandoned equipment provided numerous places for Murke to hide. Trevor might have lost sight of him and gone off in the wrong direction.
She studied the stairs leading up to the balcony where the offices used to be. Now they were just gaping holes, the office doors having long since been looted.
Lexi kept her nose to the ground, though her pace slowed.
A creak of floorboards caused Valerie to turn. She waited for another sign of life. If Murke was close, Lexi would have been more excited. Valerie licked her dry lips. Blood whooshed in her ears as she adjusted her grip on the gun. Water dripped somewhere in the building. The steady tap, tap, tap of the droplets hitting metal overtook the leaden silence.
Lexi ran back and forth. The scent had become muddled.
Though Valerie’s hands remained steady, sweat trickled down her back. Someone was in here. She could feel eyes watching her. Lexi stopped sniffing and lifted her head.
Valerie tuned in to the sounds around her as she breathed in the musty air. Lexi’s panting became more pronounced.
Seconds passed. The sense that she was being watched had been with her since the Andrew Garry murder. Was she just imagining it now? She’d give anything to replay the tape of her life and go back to that night—to make different choices. When she’d passed that woman wearing the hooded jacket on the street, something had seemed amiss...but she had ignored her instincts. The next day, Garry’s body had been found by another K-9 unit. By then, the woman had disappeared.
Valerie’s father, a retired detective, had always said that instinct was a cop’s best asset. She had made a stupid rookie mistake and ignored the prickling of the hairs on her neck when that woman had looked at her. Trevor Lewis had no idea that his comment about rookies making mistakes was like a dagger through her chest.
Her life would have been different if she had followed her gut and stopped to engage the woman in conversation. The woman’s guilt might have risen to the surface, and Valerie could have detained her for questioning. She certainly would have gotten a better look at the person who later became their prime suspect.
Another noise jerked Valerie away from her regret and back into the warehouse. The balcony creaked. Was the wind blowing through here strong enough to do that? She examined the balcony segment by segment.
Lexi sniffed the ground and then sneezed.
“He got away.” A voice boomed in her ear.
Though her training kept her from dropping the gun, the voice had startled her. “Agent Lewis, do you always creep up on people like that?”
“Sorry, you were so focused on that balcony, there was no way not to surprise you.” The arch of his eyebrow and slight upturn of his mouth suggested amusement.
Valerie holstered her gun and squared her shoulders, hoping he hadn’t picked up on her loss of composure. She should have heard him coming no matter how closely she was watching the balcony. Tunnel vision while on duty could be deadly. Another stupid rookie mistake. She steadied her voice. “Murke got away?” She pointed to the dog who was working her way to the opposite side of the warehouse. “Lexi picked up on something in here.”
“The dog’s right. He did run through here, but then he doubled back and went out to the street.”
That explained why the scent had become muddled for Lexi.
“I caught up with him on the street.” Frustration was evident in Trevor’s voice. “He got into a car and took off. No way could I catch him. But I know the make and model, and the first two letters on the plate. We’ll post notices out to the locals and the highway patrol. Murke will most likely try to leave town now that he knows we’re on to him.”
She surveyed the warehouse one more time. She had to let go of the idea that the syndicate could be everywhere and was watching her. “Guess we better get back to the station.”
She couldn’t read Trevor’s expression, but his voice softened. “Maybe next time we need to work on not getting separated like that,” he said.
His tone of concern touched her, but she needed to be able to do her job. “Splitting up is standard procedure. Lexi can be a real asset in these situations.”
“Sometimes there are things that are more important than procedure,” he said.
The smolder in his voice made her heart flutter. Was he that worried about her well-being? He barely knew her.
He stepped closer to her, his hand brushing her forearm. “I said I’d protect you. I don’t want to break my promise to McNeal.”
Was that all it was about, keeping his word to an old buddy? She struggled to let go of her disappointment. And then wondered why it had even mattered to her that he had expressed concern for her that seemed to go beyond work requirements. “I have paperwork to catch up on back at the station. I still have to do my regular job.” She headed toward the door of the warehouse, yanking on Lexi’s leash. The dog was reluctant to leave the spot where she’d picked up the scent again. “Come on, Lex.”
Once they were in his car, Valerie directed Trevor to the Sagebrush Police Station, a one-story, red-brick building. She led him around to the back where the K-9 officers had a separate entrance. She could feel his body heat and sense his proximity as he walked behind her. There was no chance of them being separated now.
He was one of those men who seemed to live in a state of heightened alert anyway, and he was taking watching her back seriously. Asking him to hang back a little ways wouldn’t do any good. She’d just have to get used to it for the time being. “I’ve got some reports to complete, and I’ll pull Leroy Seville’s file to see if I can find out anything more. I’m sure I’ll be safe at my desk.”
Trevor took a step back. “Great...I’ll brief the other officers in the station on Murke. Then maybe we can see if we can track down this Linda Seville lady, find out if Murke was staying at her house or just somewhere on that street.” His voice became more intense. “We need to jump on this. Murke is famous for leaving town as soon as he knows we’re closing in on him.”
As she and Lexi passed the other K-9 officers’ desks, a black lab lay by Detective Jackson Worth’s chair while he bent over a report. Titan lifted his head when she passed by but didn’t move. The lab’s job was to stick near Jackson, to watch over him. The devotion of the dogs to their handlers filled her with gratitude. Truth was, she felt safe as long as Lexi stayed close. The dogs remained with the officers m
ost of the time, because having the K-9 as a pet as well as a partner was the best way to ensure unwavering obedience.
Valerie scooted her chair up to her desk and opened up a database that listed Sagebrush felons. Leroy Seville was recently out on parole after five years in jail. Linda Seville was listed as an emergency contact and identified as his great-aunt. They could catch up with Leroy later and see what he knew about Murke. She doubted Murke would go back to Linda’s home.
In the small Sagebrush station, Trevor’s warm bass voice carried across the room as he showed Murke’s picture to the other officers. She tried to focus on her computer screen instead of the joking that seemed to be going on between Trevor and the other officers.
She adjusted her chair for the umpteenth time and leaned closer to the monitor. Trevor hadn’t hidden his ire at getting close to Murke, yet not catching him. Did he blame her for that? It was her own insecurity that made her wonder if he was fishing around for a different officer to assist him.
She could only pick up bits and pieces of the conversation, and yet she had assumed that that was what was going on. Why did she even care? Having to help Trevor took away time from her regular work.
Okay, so he didn’t like rookies. McNeal had paired them up for a reason. It couldn’t just be because it was extra protection for her. Trevor wasn’t going to ditch her for a more experienced officer who didn’t have any connection to the neighborhoods where Murke was likely to be. Valerie chided herself for worrying. Fine with her if he wanted to work with a different officer.
She picked up a pen, making lines on a legal pad so deep they nearly cut through the paper. That caring tone he had used back at the warehouse had messed with her initial impression of him—that he was one of those lawmen who was good at his job but not so good at connecting with people. Maybe there was some chink in his armor. It wasn’t her job to try to find it. The sooner they caught Murke, the sooner Trevor Lewis would be gone.
Pushing all thoughts of the impossibly handsome agent out of her head, she focused on the monitor, opening up a report she needed to complete. The voices around her faded, and all she heard was the tapping of the keys....
