Silent Night Standoff

by Susan Sleeman

  “Hey, don’t sound so disappointed. At least we now know he owns a weapon that fires a 7.62 mm like the casing we found at the office.”

  “Plus the HK G3 is a military issue weapon, but neither of those points give us any evidence to bring him in.”

  “What we need is an actual slug he fired today.” Skyler peered down the long lane. “The only way we’ll get one is if the owner shuts down and lets us retrieve the bullets in the traps. Even then, we’d be hard-pressed to prove a recovered slug came from his rifle.”

  “True, it won’t hold up in a court of law, but at least it’d give us the probable cause for a warrant to search his house.” Logan gestured toward the door. “Let’s go talk to the owner.”

  “But what can you tell him to make him comply?”

  “It’ll have to be the truth.”

  “Then he’ll know you lied to him before.”

  “Can’t be helped,” he said and led the way back to the retail area.

  The proprietor looked up. “Don’t tell me she picked it up that quickly.”

  Logan explained the true reason for the visit and apologized for misleading him. “I’d like to gather the slugs at the end of lane five.”

  The old man crossed his arms. “I won’t betray a fellow vet for any reason. You want the slugs? Bring me a warrant. Maybe I’ll still have them by the time you do.”

  “You’d destroy evidence?” Logan clenched his jaw.

  He smirked. “Didn’t say I’d destroy anything. Just saying I hope we haven’t cleaned out the traps like we do on a regular basis.”

  Logan thought about ignoring the man. Ignoring legalities and rushing back inside to grab the slugs, but that wouldn’t help the investigation at all.

  “Let’s go,” Logan said to Skyler. When they got to the door, he reached out to stop her. “Let me check things out first.”

  She remained inside and he stepped into the brisk wind. The gray skies mimicked his mood perfectly. He made his way across the front of the building and past parked cars. Each shadow, each dark space brought to mind pictures of Zac as Skyler’s stalker. Him hunkering down in the woods by the parking lot. Training his gun on her. Squeezing the trigger. The bullet whizzing through the air. Piercing Skyler’s body. Her falling to the ground.

  Logan could hardly breathe for thinking about it, and he suddenly knew how much she mattered to him. That she’d once again changed his life for the better. Stepping away from her after they put her stalker behind bars would be even more difficult now than it had been the first time.

  * * *

  Thankful to be home after a long day, Skyler unlocked the front door as Logan stood watch. All afternoon, they’d both been silently engrossed in their own thoughts while they completed record searches on Nicole. Now, Skyler’s mind was on the call she’d just received from Jake.

  The paint sample on Darcie’s car confirmed the red Jeep was a 1997 model. After updating the vehicle alerts, Jake had assigned a team to run all Jeeps fitting the added criteria, hoping it would lead to a registration record with an address for Nicole or Marty.

  After striking out at the firing range, Skyler was thankful for the progress, but she was also exhausted from poring over Nicole’s financial records and needed a break from it all.

  She set her purse on the table. “I’m going to make a pot of tea. Would you like some?”

  Logan snorted. “Tea, are you kidding?”

  She hadn’t forgotten he didn’t like tea. She was simply trying to lighten the mood. It clearly hadn’t worked, so she set off for the kitchen.

  “Stop!” Logan jumped forward and jerked her back by the elbow.

  “Hey, I got it. You don’t want tea. No need to react like a crazy man.” She tried to slip her arm free, but he held tight. Frowning, she peered up at him. His face had hardened into granite and his eyes narrowed into slits as he continued to grip her arm.

  A cold knot of fear tightened her stomach. “What’s wrong?”

  He drew her toward the door. “There’s a trip wire strung across the entryway.”

  “A bomb?” she squeaked out as she spun to get a look at this wire for herself.

  Silvery thin, it was strung tautly from wall to wall about a foot from the floor. Less than three feet from where she’d just stepped.

  Only three feet from death. Her death.

  NINETEEN

  A tangled rush of relief and rage threatened to take Logan down. But he wouldn’t let that happen. Not now when Skyler needed him to stay vigilant. The trip wire could be a ruse to get her out in the open for another sniper attack. He couldn’t let that happen.

  He phoned Jake. Then, after making a careful sweep of the surroundings, he hurried her inside the coffee shop across the street. He completed a quick threat assessment before seating her as far from the window as possible. He forced her to drink some water and alternated his focus between the door and Skyler, watching for any symptoms of shock.

  She stared out the large window, not uttering a word. When the FRS command truck pulled to a stop out front, she bolted from the coffee shop. He rushed after her and remained at her side until they reached the truck, and the squad came charging out the back.

  Brady and Archer immediately cordoned off the area, while Cash started setting up the robot. Jake barked orders to evacuate the area over his microphone to patrol officers whose cars were screaming onto the scene. Darcie did what she did best, enveloping Skyler in a quick hug.

  “Oh, sweetie,” she said, then led her up the steps into the truck.

  As much as Logan wanted to be with Skyler at this time, he needed to pace and couldn’t abide the truck’s confined space, so he updated Cash on the street.

  “Give me a minute to deploy the robot and we’ll soon know if we’re dealing with a bomb.” Cash worked quickly, yet carefully, while Logan stormed back and forth, his mind filled with the close call. Filled with visions of an explosion and the world going black.

  Cash moved the robot onto the street. “Okay, that’s it from here. Time to send this bad boy inside and watch on the monitors.” He headed for the truck.

  Despite Logan’s distaste at the prospect of the claustrophobic space ahead of him, he had to see what the trip wire connected to. He followed Cash into the truck. Cash dropped into a chair and maneuvered the controls, sending the robot into the firehouse.

  The space seemed airless as Logan took a spot behind Cash. Jake joined him, his face ashen. Darcie and Skyler huddled on the bench. Darcie spoke soothingly to Skyler, and she seemed to be regaining some color in her face.

  Never had he felt so helpless. So out of control.

  He heard Cash take a deep breath and hold it. Apprehension gripping Logan, he swung his gaze from Skyler back to the monitor to see the robot rolling up to the trip wire. Cash changed the robot’s direction to follow the nearly invisible wire, then bent forward and squinted into the monitor, his finger hovering over the controls and stopping the robot.

  He sat back and let out a slow whistle. “It’s a rudimentary bomb, but there’s enough C-4 here to do some serious damage. Anyone within the blast radius wouldn’t have made it out.”

  “Oh, no... If Logan... Oh, no.” Skyler panted as if she couldn’t catch her breath.

  Darcie drew her closer.

  Logan understood her feelings. Felt them to his soul. If not for that brief sun break, the rays glinting on the wire, they’d be...

  “Rudimentary means you take care of it yourself without a squad, right?” Jake asked, tension obvious in his voice.

  Cash nodded. “But we should increase the evacuation area just to be safe.”

  “I’ll get the uniforms to expand the perimeter,” Jake said and started talking in his microphone.

  Looking fiercely focused and controlled, Cash donned
a drab green suit with a rigid ballistic panel covered in flame-resistant Nomex and body-protecting Kevlar. He opened a tool kit and evaluated every item. Checking and double-checking. His slow, precise movements were fitting for a bomb expert, his concentration unparalleled.

  Cautious was the word that came to Logan’s mind. A control freak. The opposite of the daredevil Skyler had made Cash out to be.

  He snapped the case closed. Before he stepped out the door, Skyler jumped up and grabbed him in a hug. “Be careful, Cash.”

  “Don’t worry, squirt. This is a piece of cake,” he said, extricating himself as if the hug embarrassed him.

  He exited the van, then lumbered across the street and into the firehouse. They all watched on the monitors as he bent over bricks of C-4. The tension reminded Logan of the bank standoff. Except this time, Cash was the one at risk. Skyler was safe.

  Something Logan kept thanking God for. He hadn’t prayed in a long time, but the bomb had affected him deeply.

  A sudden cheer went up in the truck, and Logan swung his head to look at the monitor, catching Cash’s thumbs-up.

  “He disabled it.” Tears of relief rolled down Skyler’s face.

  “Is it safe to go inside now?” Darcie asked.

  “Not until Cash sweeps the entire building,” Jake replied.

  Skyler jumped up and hugged her team members. She paused by Logan and looked as if she might hug him, too, then moved on.

  He was an outsider. Once again an outsider.

  Not just with her and the squad, but with everyone. He was alone, looking in at others as they lived in the present while he could only think about the future.

  Sure, he was part of a team that worked well together and accomplished goals. But it ended there. He wasn’t part of their personal lives and they weren’t part of his. They weren’t there for him. Didn’t rally around in times of stress and strife as this squad did with Skyler. This squad brought joy and happiness to each other every day and made life much richer.

  His phone rang. Thankful for the interruption to his thoughts, he stepped outside to answer Johnson’s call.

  “You can rule Zac out,” he said excitedly. “I felt bad about losing him so I went to talk to him and his wife answered the door. She gave me alibis for each time Deputy Brennan was attacked. I’ve checked them out. They’re solid.”

  “You’re certain.”

  “Yes, but even if I wasn’t, she handed over his rifles. I had them tested and ballistic reports say they’re not a match for the shooting at the sheriff’s office.”

  Despite Johnson’s initiative, Logan couldn’t praise the guy. Visiting Zac was a rogue move and Johnson’s actions could’ve caused dire consequences to the investigation if Zac had been the attacker.

  “I’ll have a written report on your desk before the day is out,” Johnson added.

  “See that you do.” Logan let his tone convey a word of warning. As Johnson hung up, Logan heard the guy sigh.

  Maybe Logan had been too hard on Johnson. Going rogue or not, he’d eliminated Zac as a suspect and they wouldn’t be wasting valuable resources. They couldn’t afford to be shorthanded when they still hadn’t discovered Nicole’s address, the significance of the ring or even the makeup connection in Hollywood. Now they had a bomb to deal with, too.

  He turned back to the truck to see the squad members pouring out.

  Jake, his usual tight expression on his face, stopped by Logan. “It’s clear to go inside. We’ll be looking at the suspects to see who has experience with explosives. I assume you’ll be joining us.”

  Logan nodded and trailed the team across the road to the firehouse. Inside the foyer, Skyler’s feet stuttered to a stop near the trip wire location, her hand flying to her chest. Cash had removed the wire, but she appeared frozen in place. She’d held it together so far, but the incident had impacted her. Deeply.

  Logan’s heart broke for her, and he needed to be closer to show his support. He made his way through the group and stopped behind her. He laid both his hands on her shoulders and drew her back against him. That earned him a raised eyebrow from the squad, but he chose to ignore them and focus on Skyler. He hoped she’d feel his warmth. Feel how much he cared about her. Feel his strength of will to protect her.

  “I think we could all benefit from sitting down,” Darcie suggested. “C’mon, honey. Let’s go to the family room.” She took Skyler’s arm.

  Logan suspected Darcie was more interested in getting Skyler away from him than sitting down, but he couldn’t prove it.

  “Wait,” Brady said, rushing inside with a box in his hand. “We shouldn’t even be in here, but at the very least we need to don booties so we don’t mess up this crime scene.”

  They each grabbed a pair, and Logan was shocked that he’d required the reminder. He’d been so filled with concern for Skyler that protocol hadn’t even crossed his mind. But he still wasn’t going to stop them from entering their sanctuary after such a terrible shock.

  They went into the family room, their booties whispering over the polished concrete. Still too anxious to sit, Logan stood as close to Skyler as possible, ready to help her if she needed him, while the others sat.

  “Before we get started,” he said. “We can scratch Zac off the suspect list.” He recounted his conversation with Johnson. “That leaves Marty and Roger.”

  “Okay.” Jake’s brows creased as he looked at Cash. “Our first step is to figure out if either one of them has experience with bombs.”

  Cash jerked the quick release tabs on his suit and shrugged out of the top. “Anyone with basic demolitions experience could’ve built this one.”

  “Could this strengthen our theory of a military connection?” Skyler asked.

  Cash nodded. “There’s no better place to learn demolitions than in the military. But this might not have been the work of an expert. Most anyone who served would know about this type of booby trap.”

  “Couldn’t someone also have found plans online?” Logan asked.

  “Of course.”

  Jake planted his hands on his waist. “So what you’re saying is this doesn’t really narrow down our suspect list at all?”

  “Didn’t say that,” Cash snapped. The event had clearly taken a toll on him, too. “Whoever set this trap needed a source for the C-4. With C-4 pretty much limited to the U.S. military and some government entities, a nonmilitary suspect could only get the C-4 illegally. If the suspect is a military demolitions expert, it would be easy for him not to have used everything he was issued for maneuvers or training and have a cache on hand.”

  “Dude, you’re totally confusing me,” Archer said. “So we are looking for a demo expert then?”

  “Not necessarily,” Cash replied. “Could just be someone who knows an expert willing to share their supply of C-4.”

  “So it could be Marty or not.” Skyler sounded beaten.

  Archer sat forward. “We may not know much about Marty, but we do know Roger Felder is former military. It would help to know if he has demo experience giving him easy access to C-4.”

  Skyler jumped up. “His file’s in my bag on the hall table. Let me grab it.”

  Logan really wasn’t eager for another suspect vying for their attention, but if Roger had demo experience, it would make him a prime suspect and they couldn’t ignore him.

  Skyler rushed back into the room, and shoved the open folder at Cash. “Roger was a combat engineer, whatever that means.”

  Brady and Cash both pulled in hasty breaths, and the room went still.

  “What?” Skyler’s gaze shot between the two men.

  “Means he not only has experience,” Brady offered, “but it was his job to blow things up. He’s a viable suspect of the highest order.”

  “Wasn’t he hospitalized for some sort of mental br
eakdown?” Archer asked.

  Skyler nodded. “But he was released a few weeks ago.”

  Jake met Logan’s gaze. “I got a call back on one of my leads this afternoon. Roger was diagnosed with schizophrenia.”

  Before Logan could really process the implications of a mental illness being thrown in the mix, his phone rang with a call from Wagner.

  “I have to take this. It’s my office.” Logan stepped toward the foyer, but an insane need to keep Skyler in view nagged at him, so he stayed close enough to keep an eye on her.

  He lowered his voice and answered.

  “The L.A. office called,” Wagner said. “They’ve talked to the manager at Nicole’s last address. As the Hills said, she didn’t leave a forwarding address, but mail suddenly stopped coming. The manager thinks she forwarded it through the post office. I’ve already got a subpoena in the works for post office records. If she moved in with Marty, this’ll give us Marty’s address. From there we should be able to learn his full name.”

  Logan’s optimism made an appearance again. “Be sure you call me the minute they come through with the request.” He disconnected and returned to the group.

  “I’ll go see Roger first thing in the morning,” Cash was saying.

  Skyler jutted out her chin and straightened the collar of her blouse as if straightening out her thoughts, too. “I’m coming with you.”

  “That’s not a good idea,” Logan jumped in. “He sounds far too unstable for you to risk it. I’ll go with Cash.”

  She crossed her arms. “I’ll be fine. Roger wouldn’t have been released if he wasn’t stable and on medication.”

  “I won’t allow it, Skyler.” Logan shot her down without apology.

  She pulled her shoulders back in a hard line. “He’s suffering from a mental illness. He won’t be easy to communicate with and my training and education make me the best person in this group to get through to him.”

  “I concur,” Cash said.

  Logan fired an irritated look at the guy. But he supported Skyler, and Logan had no choice but to agree. “Then let’s at least change up our mode of transportation. Skyler can ride with Cash. I’ll drive the van as a decoy. When I’m sure I haven’t been followed, I’ll join you at Roger’s house.”