Undercover Hunter

by Rachel Lee

  A radio crackled from the table and Gage picked it up. “Bluebird,” he said.

  “Red is in the nest,” came the response.

  “Eyes on.”

  “Copy.”

  “Okay,” said Gage. “He’s home. Now we wait.”

  Everyone sat around drinking coffee. Apparently they were all too keyed up to think about sleeping, but conversation was almost nonexistent. The plan was in place, the details hashed out as much as they could be. Everyone just wanted to get going.

  Then, at around eleven-thirty, the radio crackled again. “Red left the nest. Going toward town.”

  Gage looked at DeeJay and Cade. “You two better get home and make sure your car is in plain sight in case he’s checking you out.”

  They took off fast. When they reached the house, they darted inside to sit in the darkness. For all the world a house asleep.

  The minutes dragged by on leaden feet.

  At three, the phone rang. It was Gage. “Deployment under way. But I gotta warn you, we don’t know where he went after he left last night. The man I had tailing him slid into a ditch and couldn’t get out. All we know for sure is that our guy got back home an hour later. Something’s going down. Nobody takes a midnight drive on these roads for pleasure. Watch yourselves.”

  A little while later, Cade reached out across the table in the dark and found DeeJay’s hand. She curled her fingers with his and held on tight.

  As her nerves stretched, a kind of clarity came to her. She didn’t want to die today. She wanted the opportunity to get to know Cade better.

  All of a sudden, she wanted all the time in the world, just as her timeline was narrowing to a matter of hours.

  “We’ll be okay,” he said.

  She hoped so. She really hoped so. For the first time in a long time, she wanted a future, one that didn’t depend on her job.

  For some reason she remembered the historic words of Sitting Bull, and paraphrased them. “Today is not a good day to die.”

  Chapter 14

  Cade was driving. DeeJay studied the eastern sky, which showed the first predawn lightening. She figured they were only a mile from the Sweet place. Her stomach, which had been a mess for hours, had settled into a hard, tight knot she was familiar with. It was time to act, and they just had to make sure they did everything right. “Fruit of the poisonous tree,” in legal terminology, could prevent prosecution of Calvin Sweet even if they found bodies on his property. Everything now had to be by the book.

  She suspected the only way they were going to get any further was if he attacked one of them. Up under her jacket she had secured a telescoping baton. Both of them wore shoulder holsters under their parkas.

  “If he wants me, he has to get rid of you,” she said to Cade.

  “I figured that out.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I’d be lying if I denied I’m tense. I feel like a spring that’s been compressed a little too far.”

  “I hear you. Plain view, damn it.”

  “Plain view,” he agreed.

  Then her phone rang and the nightmare truly began. She listened with growing horror, gave only a brief response and then hung up.

  “What?” Cade demanded.

  “That boy Andrew? His mother said he went to bed last night but when she got up this morning to take him on his trip, he was gone. He must have let himself out, because the side door was unlocked.”

  Cade swore inventively. “Okay,” he said as they neared the entrance to Sweet’s ranch. “Not only eyes on, but ears on, as well.”

  Hyperalert, she thought. As if she wouldn’t be anyway. But the knot in her stomach hardened even more. Now they knew where Sweet had gone late last night. Somewhere a boy might be clinging to life. This had shifted from an exercise to get information to one to save a life.

  “Let’s get the bastard,” she said as they bumped their way toward Sweet’s house.

  * * *

  Sweet had evidently heard them coming. He was waiting on his front porch. DeeJay pulled down the zipper on her parka enough to be able to reach her baton or her pistol without revealing either. She saw Cade do the same as soon as he switched off the ignition.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “As ever.”

  They climbed out. DeeJay plastered a smile on her face. The sky was still lightening but not enough yet to take pictures. Calvin came down from the porch, grinning, and shook their hands.

  “Thought you might change your minds,” he said. “Wait here, I’ve got some coffee to take with us.”

  So he wasn’t going to invite them inside. DeeJay wondered how they could get around that. But as she looked past the house, she saw the barn and wondered if that wasn’t the place they really needed to get into. And as far as Calvin knew, they were out here alone, miles from anywhere.

  He wouldn’t be afraid of them if he had a plan to take them down. He also wouldn’t be expecting them to have backup. She wondered how she could provoke him into doing something stupid.

  Glancing at Cade, she suspected his thoughts were following the same path. His face had an almost grim set to it.

  Calvin returned, carrying three insulated bottles in his arms. “Help yourselves,” he said.

  Letting them choose which bottle they took? That would seem to indicate he wasn’t trying to slip them a Mickey, but she didn’t trust it. He could have put a sedative in all three of them and just wouldn’t drink himself. She thanked him as she took a bottle and looked at Cade. He arched a brow and gave an infinitesimal shake of his head.

  So he suspected the same thing.

  When Cade had his bottle, Calvin led them away from the house. “The view is best once the barn is out of the way.”

  “I like your barn,” DeeJay said. “It has character.”

  “It’s old and keeps me busy,” he said. Damn, he sounded so natural. “Drink some coffee. You guys must be having trouble waking at this hour.”

  “It is early,” DeeJay agreed. “So you have to plow a path to your barn? I thought you said you weren’t working this place.”

  “I’m not, but I store a lot of things out there. I never know when I might need something.”

  She felt a moment of horror as Cade unscrewed his coffee bottle and poured some into the plastic cup. Had she misread him?

  But she noted that he barely lifted the cup to his lips. He wasn’t really drinking, but Calvin mistook it and smiled. “Good coffee, huh?”

  “The best,” Cade agreed. “You can make coffee for me anytime.”

  “Have some more. You can have mine if you want. I get up early sometimes, and I’m pretty full of caffeine already.”

  DeeJay moved around until she was on the far side of Calvin, forcing him to turn away from Cade. Behind Calvin she saw Cade dump the coffee and use his boot to cover the stain with a heap of snow. The crunch of his boot in the heavy snow sounded loud to her ears. She spoke quickly to keep Calvin distracted.

  “Calvin,” she said, “let me take pictures of your barn, okay? Really, it’s the kind of charm we need along with the mountains.”

  Calvin looked toward the hulking, weathered structure. “I never thought of it that way before. Sure, go ahead.”

  So she darted forward and pulled out her phone, taking pictures as she moved around. Calvin watched her, but kept glancing at Cade, who appeared to be on his second cup of coffee.

  Then she heard it. A faint cry. The back of her neck prickled with awareness. “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Barn owl,” Calvin answered smoothly, but she saw a change in his face. He hadn’t expected this. Something around his eyes tightened.

  So the boy might well be in the barn and waking up early.

  “A barn owl? Is it in the ba
rn?”

  “It flies in and out.”

  “Can I see it?”

  Calvin froze for an instant. “Maybe in a few minutes. Anyway, when you go in there, it almost always flies out.”

  “Why do you let it in?”

  “Mice,” he said. Some of his smooth veneer was vanishing, and he kept looking at Cade as if he expected something. Finally, he asked, “You feeling okay, Cade?”

  Cade looked fine to DeeJay but then he rocked slightly on his feet. Just a little. “I’m fine,” he answered. “Just tired. I don’t keep rancher’s hours.”

  “Well, have some more coffee,” Calvin said.

  Pushing it just the way he had pushed them to come out here. DeeJay heard the soft cry from the barn again. Her heart began to race. Impossible to tell if it was human and her mind scurried down legal avenues, wondering if that cry would justify her walking into the barn on the imminent danger doctrine. If an officer suspected someone was in danger, they could break down doors if necessary to get to them. But she had a man standing here telling her it was an owl, and she couldn’t be sure.

  “I really want to see that owl,” she said. “Just let me peek.”

  Calvin’s expression was no longer pleasant. His face had stiffened, become hard. “It’s just a damn owl,” he said. “I told you, it’ll fly away the minute I open the door.”

  She looked at the barn, debating her options, then heard a sound from behind her.

  She turned. Cade had dropped his bottle onto the snow.

  “God,” he said, “I’m all thumbs today. You’d better take the photos, DeeJay. I’ll lose my damn phone in the snow.”

  “I got it,” she said. Calvin seemed fixated on Cade, as if expecting something.

  “I’m getting cold,” Cade remarked.

  Calvin immediately opened his own bottle and poured more coffee, then passed it to Cade. Cade reached for it, but let it slip through his fingers to the ground.

  “Is he sick?” Calvin asked. It sounded like a perfectly reasonable question, but DeeJay didn’t believe it for a minute.

  “Why don’t you stay here?” she said to Cade. “Calvin can show me where to take the pictures from, then we’ll get you home.”

  She saw something flare in Cade’s eyes. He didn’t want her walking away with Calvin alone. But she needed this guy to do something untoward, and she needed him to do it fast. If that sound from the barn was the missing kid, time might be of the essence.

  She left her own coffee bottle on the ground near Cade, believing it might turn out to be evidence. Best to keep it away from Calvin, who might be able to get rid of it if things went awry. Then she touched his arm. “Be right back, honey. Drink some more coffee if you need it.”

  Cade simply sat down on the snow, hard, as if his strings had been cut. For the first time she worried that he might have taken a sip of the brew, and there might be enough sedative in just a little amount to seriously affect him.

  But she still had no choice. She had to provoke Calvin in some way. He had to do something that would give her an excuse to react. Until she had cause, she couldn’t go in that barn unless he invited her.

  Unfortunately, Calvin led her around the north side of the barn, out of sight of the team that lay in wait. The sun rode the horizon now, casting a rosy glow over the mountains just west of the ranch. The trees climbing up the mountains still guarded mysterious shadows, but the light, roseate though it was, held an amazing clarity. Holding her phone up, she took some more photos.

  “You were right,” she told Calvin. “This is breathtaking. It’s amazing how fast those mountains just rise up.”

  “Well, we’re in what’s essentially a high valley. The foothills are farther east. It’s kind of like Denver, you know?”

  She nodded. Then, hearing the faint sound from the barn again, before he could stop her she darted over to a dirty window and peered in, using her hand to cup one side of her face. Little light penetrated the interior.

  “Hey,” said Calvin surprisingly mildly. His steps approached, crunching on snow.

  She turned quickly, trying to look apologetic, making sure he couldn’t get close without her knowing. “Can’t see a thing. I hoped I might see the owl. Sorry.”

  That’s when she noticed he had removed a glove. He was carrying something she couldn’t quite see.

  And he kept bearing down on her.

  “Calvin? Is something wrong?”

  He smiled, looking incredibly angelic except for his eyes. Those dark eyes seemed hard as obsidian.

  “Not a thing,” he answered, closing the distance between them.

  She shifted, moving to the side, trying not to get backed up against the wall.

  “You’re special,” he said.

  “Who, me?”

  “You look like my mother, you know. I recognized it the first time I saw you.”

  Her mouth went dry. Still no cause to summon help. She hoped Cade was on his feet again and just around the corner waiting, but she hadn’t heard any sounds of movement. The damn snow made enough noise that surely she would have heard something.

  “Did you hear?” she said, not caring that it was such a non sequitur it might tip him off. She had to provoke him. “Another boy went missing.”

  He just smiled. “He’s special, too, I guess.”

  Still not enough. He was now within arm’s reach. He lifted his ungloved hand and she saw it held a needle.

  She hit numeric button on her phone and dropped it, as she sidestepped yet again and slipped her hand inside her jacket to pull out her baton. With one flip she opened it.

  He stopped. “What’s that for?”

  “A lady never goes anywhere without protection.”

  “I’ll protect you,” he said. “Really. I want to.”

  “Protect me from what?”

  He didn’t answer. She was watching his face, and recognized the moment he had gathered himself enough to spring. The instant he drove that needle toward her neck, she swung the baton and caught him in the upper thigh.

  The needle fell from his hand, but he was past feeling the pain. He charged in. When she tried to swing the baton again, he lowered his shoulder and pushed it away before she could gain any momentum.

  An instant later, he’d head butted her in the stomach and shoved her to the ground. He fell on top of her, and from the corner of her eye she saw the needle, still glistening on the snow. She had to get it before he did.

  Either that or her baton, now lying in the snow on the other side of her. She hadn’t had time to slip the loop over her wrist.

  Damn, the snow was a bad surface, too soft. She couldn’t get enough leverage to push him over as he straddled her. As she fought, he wiggled upward, fending off her fists with his forearms until he knelt on both her arms.

  Trapped. Completely trapped. And he was reaching for the needle now.

  She closed her eyes, summoning reserves of strength she hadn’t needed for a long time. Digging her foot into the snow, she managed to roll. It wasn’t easy but it was enough to put him off balance.

  Then a gunshot sounded clear and loud on the morning air.

  Cade’s voice followed. “Get off her, Sweet, or you’ll be dead in the next five seconds.”

  But something seemed to have blinded him and deadened him. He fought viciously, and DeeJay had to fight back. She knew Cade couldn’t get a clear bead on him while they were this close. The accuracy of a pistol was about six feet anyway.

  She kept pushing and rolling, ignoring the way he pummeled at her arms. He was no trained fighter, but she was. She finally got enough leverage to hit him hard in the side of the head.

  The blow stunned him. He went limp just long enough to let her scramble to her feet and grab her baton. Cade came running up and stood ne
ar him, pistol aimed.

  “Backup is on the way,” he said.

  “I need to get into that barn,” DeeJay said, struggling to keep her balance in the churned-up snow. “You heard it, too?”

  He nodded. “I know what a barn owl sounds like. I heard a human cry of distress.”

  The all-important words.

  “Don’t let him near that needle.” She pointed. She gave one last look at Calvin, who was glaring furiously at her, then trotted to the nearest barn door.

  What she found inside would remain with her forever.

  * * *

  Andrew had been carted off to the hospital in a helicopter, still alive but suffering from an undetermined drug cocktail. He was just coherent enough to say that Calvin had hurt him.

  The entire Sweet ranch had turned into a beehive of activity, with crime-scene techs and more deputies than DeeJay would have believed the county had. The barn, yard and house were roped off to prevent contamination of the scenes.

  Calvin himself sat in the cage of a patrol car, cuffed in the very plastic ties he preferred to use on his victims. DeeJay battled an urge to give him a bit of his own paralytic to see what it was like.

  But under the circumstances, neither she nor Cade could get anywhere close. They had become witnesses, and their work was done. Time to let the locals and their experts take over.

  “Say,” said Cade as they sat in the car waiting to see where they might be needed next. The heat was blasting, but DeeJay still felt cold to the bone.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you like sushi?”

  “Love it.”

  “Well, I know this absolutely great place in Denver. You up for it?”

  For the first time in endless hours, she actually felt like smiling.

  Chapter 15

  A few weeks later, Cade opened the shower door as DeeJay stood beneath the hot spray. At last they had managed to get away, and Cade had gotten them a suite at one of the best hotels in Denver. DeeJay wasn’t used to such luxury, but she was enjoying it.

  “Those bruises are looking better,” he said.