Dead End

by Susan Sleeman

  “You’re just like my brothers.” She shook her head and marched down the road.

  He was decidedly not like her brothers, but he thought about calling them to ask them to talk some sense into her. He’d do it, too, if he didn’t think it would make things worse. He trailed her to the house, still on high alert.

  “Any luck on the evidence?” Miller asked Sierra.

  “He’s bleeding. Agent Rice might have hit him when he returned fire. We trailed him to his car down the road. The house security camera caught him on video.”

  “It’s the suspect we’ve already put an alert out on,” Reed added. “And gave his sketch to the news media. Now we can distribute actual photos.”

  “I still need to look for slugs in the hot tub area, and then we’ll be leaving.” Sierra stepped inside, moving at the same brisk pace that said she didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

  She might be mad at him, but there was no way he would let her go into that yard alone. He caught up to her and joined her at the hot tub.

  She glanced at him, her expression tight. “I can do this myself.”

  “I know.” He faced the hill, lifted the rifle, and kept his head on a swivel. He wished he had a night vision scope for this thing, but he didn’t, so he had to be extra vigilant.

  “You don’t think he’s up there again, do you?” A worry line formed between her brows.

  It hurt to see her concern and he didn’t want to scare her more, but her safety came first. “It’s dark now, and I won’t take any chances with your life.”

  She sighed. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I promise when we get back to Veritas I’ll consider any suggestion you make.”

  His gut loosened at her change of mind. “That’s all I can ask for.”

  “What? You’re not mad that I’m not falling down and doing exactly what you want?”

  “As you pointed out. It’s your life. I can only make recommendations.” He glanced at her then back at the hill. “But you should know that I have to report discharging my weapon to my supervisor. He could put me on leave while they look into it. Means I might not be there for you in any official capacity anymore.”

  “Can you still help on the investigation?”

  “If he puts me on leave, not officially, no.”

  “But you could work at the center with us, right? Just not go out and do interviews and such.”

  “Maybe. We’ll see.”

  “Reed,” she said softly.

  Her quiet tone made him look at her.

  “Don’t leave me alone in this, please,” she pleaded. “I’ve gotten used to having you around.”

  His heart soared, but he didn’t know if he could do anything about her request. “I’ll do my best.”

  “That’s all I can ask.” She sounded disappointed.

  But she wasn’t the only one. He would be disappointed, too, if he couldn’t help her bring this investigation to a close. Especially if he couldn’t be there to protect her from this dangerous spec ops shooter. He made up his mind right there with her gaze on him. He would quit his job if he had to. It was just a job and she was… What was she? The woman he’d fallen in love with? His reactions to everything that happened today said that was the truth, but he wasn’t sure he could admit it.

  Best to move on before he declared feelings he wasn’t sure of. “Even though I’d like to get you back to Veritas straight away, we should stop to interview Kuznetsov in case I don’t have any standing to interview him later.”

  “Then let me look for the slugs so we can get out of here.” She shone her flashlight in the area round the tub. “How many shots did you hear?”

  “Three,” he said, remembering his heart stopping with each one.

  She grimaced. “One went over my head. One hit the tub. The other one…I don’t know.”

  “But you do know the location of his stand and his trajectory. And the shots were directed at you, so let’s look at the privacy wall behind your location.”

  She shone her light on the wall and so did he. They quickly located two embedded slugs.

  “I know you want to get going,” she said. “But I won’t pull these out with tweezers and risk ruining the lands and grooves.”

  He didn’t want that either. Each gun barrel was individually machined, making it unique and the bullets fired just as unique. In the machining process, spiral grooves were cut inside the barrel to give bullets a spinning motion. Bullet diameters were slightly larger than the bore diameter of the barrel it was fired from. As a result, this barrel made a negative impression of itself on the sides of the bullet, leaving grooves that could be tracked to a specific gun. If Sierra didn’t alter the bullet in removing it, they might be able to match it to the shooter’s gun once they located him and his weapon.

  She placed a ruler next to the slugs and took pictures, then dug a couple of wooden sticks from her kit and gently started maneuvering a slug from the wall. When a quarter of it was out, she used her gloved fingers to gently remove it. She held it up in the light. “Not too deformed for evaluation.”

  She put it in a bag and moved on to the next one. He took the time to search for the third slug by estimating how far the shooter had headed west before Reed got outside. He stepped off the deck at that spot and only walked a few feet where he found the slug lodged in a wooden planter.

  Excellent. Finding the third slug meant he could get Sierra out of this backyard where the highly-trained Ranger had nearly taken her life. Then after a quick visit to Kuznetsov, he’d make sure she was locked up tight under the watchful protection of Sam and Blake and any of her other partners who could prove their expertise with a gun.

  Sierra rarely got to interview suspects or persons of interest, and looking at Vasily Kuznetsov’s sinister stare, she wished she hadn’t accompanied Reed to the interview. He stood behind his expensive desk in the most lavish office she’d ever seen. He had intense blue eyes below bushy black eyebrows, and his face was weathered and so wrinkled he reminded her of a Shar Pei. Strands of gray mixed with inkiest of black hair. He wore a black turtleneck and black slacks. But it was the deadly intensity in his eyes that sent a shiver creeping down her spine.

  She had no idea what this man had seen or done in his lifetime, but the two armed men as big as refrigerators standing behind him told her it had certainly involved danger.

  “Agent Reed Rice.” Reed displayed his shield clipped to his belt.

  “I know who you are agent.” Kuznetsov shifted his focus to Sierra.

  She felt his power and the danger and instinctually took a step back.

  “And you, Ms. Byrd. How are you?” Kuznetsov sounded like they’d come for a social visit, but she had no idea how he knew her name. He likely knew Reed from an investigation, but Kuznetsov knowing her wasn’t at all likely.

  “How do you know my name?” she fairly demanded of him.

  “I am well acquainted with your father. Eddie Barnes, not the man you call father.”

  She gaped at him. “You know Eddie’s my biological father. But how?”

  “He spoke of you many times.”

  “How do you know Barnes?” Reed asked, stepping closer to her.

  Kuznetsov scared her, and she was thankful Reed was only a fingertip away.

  “He manages a few of my beach rentals.” He waved a hand over chairs by his desk. “Please. Sit. Sit. And I’ll have drinks brought in.”

  Sierra dropped into a chair, thankful to sit before her knees gave out. She took a deep breath of the air laced with a lingering smell of garlic as if he’d just finished a meal. Reed moved a chair right next to her and sat. She wanted to reach out to him. To let him know this man was terrifying her, but she didn’t want to appear weak.

  “Nothing to drink for me,” Reed said.

  “Me neither,” she said.

  “Suit yourselves.” Kuznetsov lowered his body into a high-backed leather chair.

  “When was the last time you saw Eddie Barnes?” Reed asked.


  “Hmm. It’s been some time.” He turned to look at one of the refrigerator men. “When did we last go to Seaview Cove?”

  “Fourth of July,” Refrigerator One said, his voice as deep as the ocean and his stature as threatening as a storm.

  “And you saw Eddie at the fireworks,” Refrigerator Two added.

  Kuznetsov didn’t look happy with the added bit of information from the second man, and she knew he was going to pay for speaking without being asked. She could easily see Kuznetsov pummeling this man with his fists or even killing him for a simple step out of line.

  A sneering smile slid across his face. “We did indeed see him there.”

  “Did you visit his office?”

  “No.”

  “When was the last time you did go to his office?”

  “Years ago, when he took over his father’s business. Otherwise he came to me.”

  Could Eddie have visited this creep when he came to take those pictures of her? “And have you spoken to him since then?”

  “No, my dear, I have not. Is Eddie in some kind of trouble?”

  “He’s missing,” Reed said matter-of-factly, but she saw his fingers curl where his hand rested on his leg. “Has been for a month.”

  “I am sorry to hear this.”

  “Are you?” Reed asked.

  “But of course. He is my friend.”

  “Then why did you move his money to an offshore account?” Reed’s tone and voice turned deadly cold.

  Kuznetsov’s friendly façade evaporated, icy blue eyes impaling them as he leaned forward. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  Reed didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. “We have it on good authority that you were involved in an Internet transaction that involved moving Barnes’s funds.”

  “That’s ludicrous.” Kuznetsov sat back and held out his hands. “Look at this place. Does it look like I need other people’s money?”

  “Some people aren’t content no matter the amount of money they’ve amassed,” Sierra said.

  He speared her with a look. “I am not one of those people.”

  She forced herself not to squirm under his burning intensity. “Do you have any idea where Eddie might have gone?” she asked, changing tactics.

  “I’m afraid not. We are friends, but just business ones. You know, superficial.”

  “And do you have the same relationship to Ira Caulfield?” Reed asked.

  A muscle in Kuznetsov’s face tightened, but he released it so fast that Sierra wondered if she’d actually seen it.

  “He is my accountant.”

  “Was?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Oh come, Kuznetsov. Don’t pretend you don’t know he was murdered Sunday night.”

  “I did not know this.” His tone seemed sincere, but Sierra figured he was a practiced liar.

  “We also located a body in Caulfield’s hot tub,” Reed said. “Know anything about that?”

  If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. He didn’t even blink. “Of course not. I’m not in the business of murder, Agent Rice, no matter what you think.”

  “Thank you for your time.” Reed abruptly stood and gestured for Sierra to exit before him.

  In the hallway she looked at him. “Why the sudden departure?”

  “He’s had years of practice lying. We’re not going to get him to tell the truth without some leverage.” He met her gaze. “Time to get you safely behind Veritas’s secure walls and hope since I mentioned the money transfer that this guy retrieves the router at his warehouse.”

  They went to the door, and as she was about to step outside, Reed stopped her. “Let me take a quick look, okay?”

  She nodded, thankful that he asked but still raising her worry again. He disappeared into the dark and soon came back. “We’re clear. Mind if I drive?”

  She handed him the keys, and he pulled her tight against his body while rushing toward the van. She didn’t argue as he’d done the same thing when they arrived. He was certain they weren’t tailed, but he said he would rather be safe than sorry.

  He got the vehicle on the road and kept checking his mirrors. He made a few left turns that weren’t necessary, and she knew he was checking for a tail.

  When they neared Veritas, he looked at her. “I assume you have a secured parking deck.”

  “Around back. Access is by fingerprints.”

  He pulled behind the building, and at the gate, he stopped. She leaned over him. He put his hands around her waist and held her there as she pressed her fingers on the reader. She couldn’t even count how many times she’d touched him this afternoon, but each time they made physical contact, she wanted more of it.

  Including now. It would be so easy to kiss him again as she settled back into her seat, but she had more control now, and she wouldn’t. Kissing him once was bad enough. She didn’t want to lead him on and make him think she’d changed her mind about a relationship. She’d simply been vulnerable after the shooting. That was all.

  24

  Reed didn’t want to call his supervisor. Once he did, he would have to leave Sierra. But he should have reported the shooting while still at Caulfield’s house, and he needed to report in before Adair heard about it from someone else.

  Reed dialed and moved as far away from Sierra as possible so he didn’t distract her while she worked on printing the Leatherman. He looked down at the Veritas Center badge swinging from his dirty lapel. Even after all that Sierra had been through, she followed protocol and insisted he check in at the front desk when they arrived. Her strict adherence to procedure, doing the right thing no matter what, made him even more sure that he had to call Adair.

  “Adair,” his supervisor answered.

  “It’s Rice. I discharged my firearm today and need to report it.” Reed gave him the details.

  Adair muttered something under his breath. “And you’re just now calling?”

  “I had to be sure that Ms. Byrd made it to a safe location.”

  “No,” he snapped. “Her safety was up to the locals.”

  Reed figured he’d say that. “You’re probably right, but it’s already done.”

  “That it is.” Adair hissed out a wheezy breath.

  Reed ignored his supervisor’s displeasure and continued, “Ms. Byrd retrieved evidence from the suspect, but we left my slugs alone. I know you’ll want ERT to recover them.”

  Adair didn’t respond for the longest time, and Reed wished he was looking at the guy to get a read on his thoughts.

  “I’m still in the office,” he finally said. “You better be on your way here in less than five.”

  “Actually,” Reed said. “Could you give me a little more time? We recovered the shooter’s Leatherman, and Ms. Byrd is looking for fingerprints right now. If she finds any, I’d like to bring the card in for someone to search military databases for a match.”

  “I’ll give you thirty minutes. But that’s it. Don’t take advantage of my generosity.”

  “I won’t, sir.” Reed ended the call and crossed the lab to Sierra, but as he neared her, the door burst open and her partners flooded into the space.

  Maya eyed Sierra. “You weren’t going to tell us you were back and that you had a near brush with death?”

  Sierra looked like she wanted to sigh, but didn’t. “How did you know?”

  Blake crossed his arms. “Trent heard it through the grapevine and called me.”

  “You were planning to tell us, right?” Grady asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said. “After I developed prints on the Leatherman we think the shooter dropped.”

  “And if she didn’t tell you, I would have,” Reed said, trying to get them to back off a little. “I fired at and may have hit the shooter. Means I need to turn in my weapon while my agency investigates.”

  Blake nodded as if he was glad Reed was following protocol, but now Reed was having second thoughts about leaving her behind. He glanced at her and wished she woul
d look at him, but she’d been avoiding his gaze. Likely because of the kiss. Or because of his hot-headed statement about locking her up in a safe house.

  Blake firmed his stance. “We’ll keep an eye on her. Make sure nothing happens to her.”

  Leave it to a former law enforcement officer like Blake to figure out what was bothering Reed.

  Emory looked at Reed. “Does this mean you can’t come back and work with us any longer?”

  Reed didn’t even want to think about that, but he had to. “It’ll be up to my supervisor. But even if he takes me off the investigation, I can work with you all in an unofficial capacity.”

  Blake frowned. “If you value your career, you won’t come back here before you’re cleared.”

  Sierra finally looked at him. “Please don’t risk your job for me.”

  “A job is a job,” he said and hoped she understood he was trying to tell her she was more important than that. “God will provide another one if needed.”

  She shook her head. “I won’t let you throw away your career. I’m fine. Everyone here has my back.”

  “Yeah, but how many own a gun and are experienced shooters?” he asked and was surprised that all of them but Sierra raised their hands.

  “I’m the odd one out,” she said.

  “And Grady takes us all to the range and makes sure we understand gun safety,” Maya added.

  “Well, tonight, I’m glad you all have weapons training and experience.”

  “Since we’re all together,” Blake said, focusing on Reed, “I should mention that I heard back from the forensic accountant. The account numbers in Eddie’s ledger and dollar amounts all match companies who provided services for the rental properties. Could be for the bogus companies you mentioned.”

  “Forward the information to me so I can have my analysts compare them to the accounts they flagged.”

  Sierra frowned. “So that means Eddie knew about these accounts.”

  “Seems like it,” Blake said. “Also, there hasn’t been any women reported missing in the area in the last month.”