by Terri Reed
He paused, cocking his head to the side. “The strange thing is, I like police work and I want to excel at it. For me, not just for them.”
That statement made her feel somewhat better. “You and Bella work well together.”
“Thanks.” He grinned. “We had great training.”
She laughed, pleased by the compliment.
His cell phone vibrated against the counter, drawing not only their attention but Bella’s, as well. She entered through the open slider with the puppies following closely behind. Gina liked how the older dog was teaching the younger ones. Bella sat at the ready as Shane answered the call.
“Weston.”
He visibly tensed. “We’re on our way.” He signed off quickly. “That was the chief. Apparently someone has taken the clerk at the Sun Break minimart hostage. The perp fits the description of your brother.”
Her breath caught. Oh, no. A hostage. Please, Lord, don’t let Tim hurt the person.
Could they finally capture and arrest Tim? Would she finally be free of his threats? She slid off the stool. “I’ll be ready in five.”
He nodded. They both hurried to their respective rooms to change. The Sun Break was a small mom-and-pop convenience store on the outskirts of town. She sent up a plea that God wouldn’t allow Tim to hurt anyone else the way he had Veronica. And that her brother would be caught once and for all.
ELEVEN
Shane brought his vehicle to an abrupt halt at the perimeter of the barricade around the Sun Break minimart made by three Desert Valley police cruisers. Officers Harmon, Bucks and Marlton crouched behind the vehicles with their weapons aimed at the minimart’s front door.
Chief Jones and Officer Ryder Hayes and his partner, Titus, were off to one side. Both men wore flak vests with the initials DVPD across the front and back. They had a blueprint of the store spread out on the back end of the Desert Valley K-9 Unit vehicle. Ryder had his cell phone to his ear.
“Stay here and lock the doors,” Shane advised Gina. Since everyone had been called out, there was no one left at the station in a position to adequately protect her. He didn’t want her in the line of fire. If Tim caught sight of her, he might take a shot at her.
“I might be able help,” she countered. “Tim may let the hostages go in exchange for me.”
“That’s not happening,” Shane practically growled as a tight fist of dread clasped his heart and squeezed. “There’s no way I’m letting you sacrifice yourself. We’ll get him out without anyone getting hurt.”
“Though I love your optimism, you can’t guarantee someone won’t get hurt.” She popped open her door. “I’d rather it not be an innocent bystander.”
“Gina!” Shane made a grab for her, but she was too quick. She was out of the vehicle and hurrying toward the chief.
Infused with frustration, he exited the Jeep, briefly touching the butt of his sidearm, thankful the chief had released it back to him. He released Bella from the back, quickly leashing her before following Gina to where Chief Jones and Ryder stood. Shane was glad they’d taken the time to drop the puppies off with Sophie, though he could tell the ex-cop had wanted to ride along with them.
Chief Jones glanced their way. “He’s barricaded the door. We’ve tried to reach him on the store’s landline, but he won’t answer. So we’ve resorted to the bullhorn.” He held up the white horn.
Gina stepped up. “Chief, let me try to talk to him.”
He handed her the horn. “It’s worth a shot.”
Her nerves shook, making her hand tremble as she held the bullhorn up to her mouth. “Tim, it’s Gina. Please pick up the phone. I want to talk to you. I want to understand.”
A face appeared in the window. A man or woman? Shane’s gut tightened. He remembered a hostage situation his father had once told him and his brothers about. A man had taken his neighbor’s family hostage because he believed they’d talked the man’s wife into leaving him.
And every time the hostage negotiator reached out to the kidnapper, a hostage was killed. Dad had finally ordered his men to breach the house, which resulted in the kidnapper’s death but spared two children their parents’ fate. Shane sent up a silent plea to God not to let this situation turn into a killing spree.
“Try the phone again,” Jones instructed Ryder.
Ryder nodded and dialed. He put the call on speaker so the sound of the ringer echoed through the air. After a moment the line was picked up.
“What?” a deep voice demanded.
Gina frowned and met Shane’s gaze. She whispered, “That’s not Tim.”
“Who am I speaking with?” the chief asked.
“I’m not talking to you,” came the terse reply, though the words were slightly slurred. “I want to go home.” The way he drew out the last word reminded Shane of a child having a tantrum.
“You want to go home. I can understand that,” the chief said. “Where’s home?”
“Santa Fe. I need money for the train to take me home. Nobody was supposed to get hurt.”
Shane winced. That didn’t sound promising.
“You want enough money to make it to Santa Fe. Of course you didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Sweat trickled down the chief’s brow. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Could you let the injured leave? We can take care of them out here while we work on getting you home.”
The chief impressed Shane. He was mirroring the kidnapper’s words and showing empathy, which would hopefully go a long way toward building trust with the kidnapper.
“You’ll help me?” Doubt echoed in the man’s voice. “Robin Hood said I shouldn’t believe anyone. He’s coming back. He’ll help me.”
Shane shared a stunned glance with the others. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Was Robin Hood Tim Perry? Was this guy the same one who had been with Tim when he shot the flaming arrows into Gina’s bedroom?
“Sure, we’ll help you,” the chief assured him. “There’s a train bound for Santa Fe tonight. We could get you on it.”
“No. You won’t let me go,” the kidnapper said. “Robin Hood said you’ll hurt me if you catch me.”
The chief put his hand over the phone’s microphone and addressed Ryder. “You and Weston go around back. See if you can get in while I keep him occupied on the line.”
Shane was pleased the chief trusted him with the assignment. But he didn’t want to leave Gina. If Robin Hood was her brother, then according to the guy on the phone, he was coming back. Shane needed to be here to protect her.
She put her hand on his arm. “I’ll stay right here with the chief. Be careful.”
Touched by her concern and by the knowledge she’d known what he was thinking, he squeezed her hand. He met the chief’s gaze. The older man nodded, a silent promise to protect Gina. Relinquishing control wasn’t easy, but Shane knew he had to trust the chief to keep Gina safe. Urging Bella into action, they followed Ryder and Titus in a wide arc that took them behind the minimart.
At the back door, Ryder easily turned the knob and the door swung soundlessly open. Shane and Bella hung back, allowing the senior officer and his partner to enter first.
Nerves stretched taut, Shane stepped inside with Bella at his heels. The corridor took them past a small office space and stacks of inventory. They came to a set of swinging doors with square windows. Ryder pressed his back to one side of the door while Shane mirrored him on the other side. He peered through the window. Tall shelves full of packaged goods obscured the view.
Ryder eased open one side of the door and slipped into the store. Shane followed suit. Ryder gestured to Shane to approach the front from the left while Ryder would take the path to the right.
Though a bout of nervous anxiety zinged through Shane, he had trained for this—he knew what to do. He took a calming breath
and set his mind to the task at hand. In a low crouch, he headed for the far left aisle and peered around the shelves. He had an unobstructed view of the cash register, where a thin man stood holding a sawed-off shotgun in one hand and the store’s phone pressed against his ear with the other. Shane saw only the one kidnapper.
The man’s slurred voice rose and fell in agitation. He shifted from foot to foot, clearly amped up. From adrenaline? Or were drugs involved?
Stringy brown hair spilled over the collar of a worn leather jacket. The jacket was too heavy for Arizona, even at this time of year. On the left shoulder, a patch snagged Shane’s notice. A Native American symbol by his guess, but one he wasn’t familiar with. A black arrow pointing upward with three black feathers at the bottom and beneath the arrow’s tip was what looked like a skull. The man had said he was from New Mexico; perhaps the symbol had meaning in the other state.
A mirror above the man’s head provided a panorama of the store and revealed Ryder and Titus herding a group of kids and a lady out the rear exit. Shane prayed the kidnapper didn’t look up, but that was a risk they had to take to get the hostages out safely.
Shane hustled Bella across the aisle to another tall shelf, grimacing as her nails clicked on the linoleum floor. He peered around the corner along the refrigerated cases. A man and two teens huddled together in the middle of the aisle. Shane waved them toward him. The trio hurried to his side.
“Stay out of sight,” Shane whispered.
The man nodded, putting his arms around the boys as they hunkered down at the end of the aisle.
Shane and Bella moved toward the front of the store. When they reached the end of the shelving rack, he chanced a peek at the kidnapper. The man cradled the phone against his shoulder and grabbed the store clerk, a middle-aged woman with a riot of black curls, by the back of her collar. He pressed her against the front window with the shotgun pointed at her head. The woman let out a terrified yelp.
It took everything in Shane not to rush to her aid. Not yet. If he moved too soon, it might spook the kidnapper and cost the woman her life. The priority was securing the clerk’s safety. Shane said a quick prayer of protection and for success. In the mirror above the register, Shane saw Ryder and Titus return, along with Officer Bucks.
Catching Ryder’s eye in the reflection, Shane pointed to himself then to the man holding the shotgun. Ryder nodded. Taking that to mean Shane was clear to make a move, he unleashed Bella and stepped from the aisle with his gun drawn. “Police! Drop your weapon!”
The kidnapper whirled toward Shane. A bag of marshmallows dropped from beneath his jacket. The store clerk lunged away. Bella sprinted forward and leaped at the man, latching on to his forearm, forcing him to relinquish his hold on the shotgun. It clattered to the floor.
With a scream, the kidnapper dropped the phone and pummeled Bella with his fist.
Titus’s barks ricocheted off the linoleum floor as Ryder grabbed the man’s flaying arm and bent it back behind him.
“Release,” Shane instructed Bella. The dog immediately complied but kept her alert gaze on the suspect as Ryder subdued the man by pushing him to the floor and slapped cuffs on his wrists. Shane clicked the leash back on Bella once the man was secured. He toed the bag of marshmallows. Had they planned on more letting loose more flaming arrows?
The sales clerk sank to her knees in tears. Her name tag read Ronda.
Bucks and Ryder led the kidnapper out of the store. Shane and Bella helped the clerk to stand. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “No. Scared. That man’s crazy. I think he was high on something.”
“There was another man with him,” Shane said. “Where did he go?”
“He ran out as soon as he heard the sirens.”
Frustrated disappointment camped out in his chest. He needed to get back to Gina.
Ronda scrunched up her nose. “They both smelled horrible. When they came up to the counter and demanded money, I thought I was going to gag from the stench.”
“Was anyone else hurt?” Shane hadn’t seen any injured hostages but he had to ask to be sure.
“No. That one kept waving that shotgun around but he never fired it,” Ronda said. “Thankfully, we weren’t too busy this morning.”
“That is a blessing,” Shane agreed. Though he doubted those who’d been trapped inside the store would define the situation in that way. The blessing was that no one was harmed. Shane escorted Ronda and the other customers out the front entrance. Officers Marlton and Harmon rushed forward to take the hostages’ statements.
A crowd had gathered around the perimeter, and Shane sought Gina out. She stood where he’d left her by the chief’s side, looking lovely with sunshine bathing her in a warm glow and making her red hair spark. He headed toward her with an urgency that confused him.
The relief in her eyes twisted him up inside.
She’d been really worried.
About him?
He was surprised by the ribbon of warmth twining through his chest.
She cared? It scared and pleased him at the same time. A romantic relationship with the lovely trainer wasn’t in his future, yet there was a part of him that yearned to see where a romance with Gina could lead. Boy, he was in deep trouble.
The chief stepped into his path before he reached Gina’s side. “Good job, Weston.” The chief slapped him on the back.
“Thank you, sir. But Bella’s to be commended. She disarmed him.”
The chief nodded. “Of course. It’s gratifying to see the Canyon County Training Center is so effective.”
“It is, sir,” Shane assured him. “Gina and Sophie are excellent at their jobs.”
Chief Jones’s gaze narrowed. “So was Veronica.”
“She was, sir,” he was quick to agree, though he hadn’t technically worked with Veronica. She’d had a more hands-off approach, letting Gina and Sophie do the work and then taking the credit for herself. But Shane kept that quiet, not wanting to disparage Veronica to the chief. “Sir, the store clerk confirmed there was another man with our suspect, but he escaped before we arrived. I’m sure it was Tim Perry.”
The chief ran a hand over his jaw. “Then we definitely need this suspect to talk. He may be the lead that breaks the case.”
“Yes, sir.” Shane hoped so.
After seating the suspect in the back of Bucks’s cruiser and leaving Bucks to keep an eye on the man, Ryder and Titus walked over.
“Our guy’s in bad shape,” Ryder said. “High as a kite. Barely lucid. He’s got track marks on both arms.”
“Did he say anything more about Robin Hood?”
“Nothing useful. Just keeps blathering on about his merry band of men and that he was only allowed to shoot marshmallows.”
Had Tim enlisted more than one junkie to help his cause? Shane had figured something like that. “Did you get an ID on him?”
“Yes, he’s in the national criminal database. His name’s John Krause, from Santa Fe, New Mexico. He’s got a rap sheet a mile long. Mostly misdemeanors for possession of illegal substances, a few assault charges, and breaking and entering. He’s done jail time. Last known address puts him in Tucson. Not sure how he ended up here and he’s too far gone to be coherent.”
“Take him in,” Jones instructed. “Call Dr. Pennington and have him come to the station to do a blood draw and tox screen. I want to know what this guy is on. And where it came from.”
“Yes, sir,” Ryder said and led Titus back to the cruiser.
The chief turned to Shane. There was a haggard look in the chief’s gray eyes. The past few days had taken a toll on the man. “You’ll need to come to the station to give your statement, as well.”
“Will do, sir,” Shane said.
Chief Jones strode away, his gait even but slow. He climbed behind the whe
el of his Desert Valley police car and drove away.
Gina walked over. “That was intense.”
To say the least. “I’m glad no one was hurt.” He steered her to his Jeep. “I have to give my statement at the station. I’m not comfortable dropping you off at the training center.”
“I’ll go with you,” she said as she slid onto the passenger seat.
As he shut her door, he admitted he was glad to have her company and relieved to have her close. With the adrenaline fading, he found himself needing Gina’s soothing presence. Something he knew he had no business needing, let alone wanting. He really had to put some distance between them; however, as long as she was his to protect, distance wasn’t an option.
Instead, he had to find a way to regulate his response to her. His father would tell him to stop his bellyaching and compartmentalize his feelings. Emotions had no place on the job. Emotions interfered and could result in tragedy.
Way easier said than done. But for Gina’s sake, Shane would do whatever was necessary to keep her safe. To keep them both safe.
At the police station, he and Gina entered through the side door just as Ryder was escorting the suspect to the cells.
The man, John, lifted his eyes to stare at Gina. His muddy gaze widened. He lunged toward her. “Are you Maid Marian? Robin Hood is going to rescue you. And me. I’m Little John.” He grinned, revealing yellow stained teeth.
Gina shrank back from the man. Shane urged her away.
“What was that about?”
With a sigh, Shane told her about Robin Hood.
“Tim’s delusional now,” she said. “That makes him more dangerous.”
“He’s not getting anywhere near you,” he assured her.
They stopped at the cubicle that bore his name. He sat at the desk he’d been assigned and wrote up his account of what had transpired inside the convenience store while Gina sat nearby quietly petting Bella. Her presence was distracting. It took him several tries to get the words written in a coherent fashion. So much for compartmentalizing.
