After visiting the vandalized memorial site, the three had been mostly silent. The atmosphere somber. When Mom was killed, Terra was fourteen going on twenty-five, so she, Alex, and Erin spent a lot of time there at the ranch. On the horses. Hiking trails. Anything to move beyond their despondency.
“Okay, look. We’re all dancing around the elephant in the room,” Alex said.
“Dancing?” Erin sank deeper into the sofa and crossed her arms. “I don’t see any dancing, Alex. But if you’d like to entertain us, go ahead.”
“Funny.” Alex frowned.
Yep. They were like siblings. Family. Terra would have soaked up the warmth of the moment if they weren’t all so miserable. “Okay, kids. Now isn’t the time. I hear you, Alex. The memorial got vandalized on the very evening we were going to hike out to see it. Coincidence? Intentional?”
“What do you think, Erin?” Alex asked. “You’re the criminal psychologist.”
Erin sat forward and rubbed her eyes. “I’d like to know more. Like were any other memorials destroyed? That would tell me something, like if there is some sort of political ideology behind it. What I saw—that damage was no child’s game. That was malicious. Violent.” She shuddered, then rubbed her arms.
“What about revenge?” Alex asked.
“Revenge?” Erin studied him. “What makes you suggest that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. This year is the fifteenth anniversary. Maybe there’s something about what happened that we don’t know.”
Terra found herself staring at Alex, along with Erin. “It was an avalanche, Alex. An accident.”
“I would think if it were some sort of message or revenge,” Erin said, “whoever was behind it wouldn’t have waited fifteen years.”
“It just seems like a weird coincidence.” Alex steepled his hands against his lips.
Unfortunately, Terra agreed.
His gray eyes bored into her. “What cases are you working on now?”
She bolted from the sofa. “Okay, enough. Jack is going to handle it. Let’s let him do it. Frankly, I can’t add one more thing to my plate.”
“And you trust him to figure it out?” Alex asked.
“Yes. Of course I do.”
He leaned back, a smirk on his face. “I want to hear that story. Since when do you trust Jack Tanner? You haven’t said much at all about him. In fact, I knew nothing about his being back.” Alex glanced at Erin. “By that look on your face, I can see that you knew.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Terra said. “I’m working an archaeological crimes case that’s connected to Jack’s murder investigation. Oh, and the sheriff deputized some of us for the foreseeable future. We’re pooling our resources, that’s all.” Time to redirect. “I just hate that this happened. It’ll be all over the news tomorrow.”
Alex sighed. “Will it? I’m not sure anyone cares anymore.”
“Of course they care.” Erin stared at Alex. “And if they don’t, we need to make them care. We need to make sure it’s rebuilt.” She rose from the sofa. “I need to head home to Mom. I told her I’d be a little late, but I’m leaving tomorrow, and I need to pack but also visit with her.”
“What? No game of Parcheesi?” Alex genuinely sounded disappointed.
Terra tossed a pillow at him. “You’re welcome to stay and play. Owen should be home soon.”
Alex stood and moved closer to Terra. “I should get going too.”
Regret flooded her. This evening certainly hadn’t gone as expected. Terra hugged Erin. She got to see her much more often than Alex, but she still missed her. Erin headed to her vehicle while Alex lingered.
Terra was glad for a few more moments with him. “I’m worried about you.”
Hands in his pockets, he shrugged. “There’s no need to be. Honestly. I’m good.”
“Would you tell us if you weren’t?”
He grinned. “Probably not. That’s only because I want to protect you like an older brother.”
“I have an older brother.”
His grin dropped. “Yeah, well, he wasn’t really around for you when you needed him.”
Terra fought the retort as hurt and anger flashed through her.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” He shifted closer. “Look, Terra, I’m worried about you. You’re involved in a big investigation. You’re close to the memorial geographically, and your mother’s plaque suffered the most. What if it’s somehow related?”
“Is that all?” She braced herself.
“You know it’s not. Jack Tanner is back in your life. It tore me up the way he hurt you.” He swiped his hand over his face. “I mean, do I need to quit my job and move back here to make sure he doesn’t hurt you again?”
That brought a chuckle, despite his serious tone. “You don’t need to worry about me and Jack. There’s nothing going on between us.”
He studied her long and hard. “I’m not convinced.”
“He’s different. Something happened to him, and it changed him somehow. I’m still trying to figure things out. Don’t worry about me. But as for you, young man, I want to hear from you in a few days. Call me and tell me what’s really going on in your life.”
He sighed. “I might just take you up on that.”
Alex leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, and she gave him a big hug. At least the evening had ended on a good note. Terra felt like she’d reconnected with Alex, who had seemed somehow distant the whole evening until the last few moments.
After he left, she cleaned up the mess and washed out the few dishes in the sink as she considered Alex’s words about the vandalized memorial. Her mind shifted to Jim and Neva, and the devastated forest around the cabin.
A creak startled her. She whirled and caught Owen standing in the kitchen, watching her.
She exhaled with relief. Terra smiled and folded the dish towel. “When did you get back?”
“A long time ago. Gramps told me about the memorial.”
Terra dropped her gaze and shook her head. “It’s just crazy, the things people do these days. They’ll just have to rebuild it and set up some cameras or something. I don’t know anymore.”
Arms crossed, Owen continued to watch her but said nothing more.
“You got home a long time ago?” Terra asked. “I thought you were going out with Leif.”
“He canceled on me.”
“That’s too bad. You could have come to dinner with us, though it wasn’t much of a dinner since Jack showed up to give us the news.”
“So I heard.”
“Uh . . . Owen, why didn’t you just come out and visit?”
“That’s your circle, Terra. Your best friends. I wasn’t around for you back then. I’m sorry I wasn’t, since it turned out that Dad wasn’t either.”
Owen seemed in a dark mood tonight. She wasn’t that familiar with this side of him, and it could be that he developed this mood while he was in a foreign land. She didn’t know. But she did know that she didn’t like it and wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“It’s okay, Owen. We’re all grown up now. It’s all good, especially now that you’re here.” She approached and gave him a quick hug. “I’m heading to bed. I have a lot to get done tomorrow.”
She paused in the hall and turned back. “About Leif. How well do you know him anyway?” She instantly regretted the question. This wasn’t the time to ask.
“You could say that he’s my best friend, since he saved my life. On a mission, our Apache got shot up, along with my leg. I lost consciousness. He used the autorotation maneuver to land the helo and got us both out. I owe him everything.”
Owen turned from her then, as if talking about what happened dredged up an unwanted memory.
“I’m glad he was there when you needed him.”
“Yeah.” Owen left her in the kitchen.
After she heard his bedroom door shut, Terra headed for her own room. She shut the door behind her. Closed her eyes and forced back the nausea.
She was jumping to conclusions. But . . .
God, Owen can’t be involved in the artifacts trafficking. He just can’t.
Her cell rang, and she grabbed it. Jack. Her heart jumped and moisture bloomed on her palms. What was she? Sixteen? She blew out a breath to steady her reaction. Terra hoped he didn’t have more bad news.
“What’s up?” she answered.
“You want to go with me to Bar Wars?”
She couldn’t help the smile that erupted. “Have you lost your mind?”
“It’s a stakeout. I got a lead. We’re going to watch the bar and see who stops in.”
“Tonight? You want me to meet you tonight?”
“No. I want you to open your door. I’m outside. If you want to go, you can ride with me. Come on, Terra, it will help get your mind off what happened. And we need a break in this.”
“Where’d you get the lead?”
“Boba Fett.”
“Excuse me?” Terra almost barked a laugh.
“Bartender named Boba Fett said he spotted a guy who looked a lot like the pilot who disappeared from the hospital.”
FORTY-EIGHT
Jack steered around the corner a little too fast.
Terra reached for the handgrip above the passenger window. “If you were worried about missing this guy, maybe you should have just called me to meet you there.”
“The truth is that I didn’t decide to invite you along until after what happened tonight. I thought you could use the distraction.”
“You didn’t think I’d want to be part of it?”
“I figured you were with your friends, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“But you ended up interrupting anyway.”
“Did I? Looked like they were gone to me. Oh, you mean the dinner. I thought you would want to know about the memorial. Terra, I hated tracking you down. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I—”
Terra touched his arm, sending a warm current through him. “You handled it the right way, Jack. And thank you for inviting me along tonight as well. But can I ask you, from now on, to please not make decisions for me? If a lead turns up that is important to my investigation as well, then please inform me. Let me make the decision whether I will be part of the stakeout, okay?”
“I’m duly lectured.”
Downtown Big Rapids was still hopping thanks to the local casinos, pizza joints, and ice cream parlors. But farther into the shadows, the section that included the bars, otherwise called dives, began. Bar Wars was at a halfway point—not quite in the limelight, not quite in the darkness.
He parked a block down and across the street from the bar, grateful that he drove an unmarked vehicle. Now that he was here with Terra, he thought maybe he’d made a mistake. She was a huge distraction. As he stared out the window, taking in the area, a strand of hair fell from the clip and curled across her cheek. Jack gently lifted it and tucked it behind her ear.
A small gasp escaped from her as she turned to look at him, her eyes shining.
And her lips . . .
The stakeout, Jack. Remember why you’re here.
“So, I’m told this guy comes in every night. Sits in the booth and drinks a few beers.”
“Oh, that’s a new one,” Terra said.
“The thing is, someone took the regular guy’s place a few nights ago. Nobody sits in that booth, right? Because they know the regular guy, Blevins, likes to drink his beer alone. And he’s a bully. Nobody gets in his way. And every Monday night at ten-thirty, someone comes in to sit across from Blevins. Like a meeting.”
“The same person every time? Or someone different?”
“I haven’t confirmed anything yet, except I was told that Neva Bolz had been in to meet with Blevins. Since a new guy took Blevins’s place and the bar employees think that’s unusual, I’ve put a deputy on finding Blevins. We still don’t know where he is, and it looks like he might have skipped town.”
“You mean he disappeared?”
“I mean . . . we’re looking for him.”
“You don’t think he’s the killer, do you?”
“I hope he’s not our next victim. I hope there won’t be one. Now, if we can question this new guy who took Blevins’s place, whether he’s the pilot or not, we could find out more.”
Terra sighed.
“What’s the matter?”
“Everything. Investigations just take too long.”
“I’m getting impatient too, Terra.” The evening had started to cool down, so Jack turned his vehicle back on and cranked the heat. “Were you able to talk to the museum curator?”
“They were closed.”
“When I left the bar today, I went out the back into the alley and I saw the back of the museum.”
“What are you thinking?”
“It’s just something to note. The Bar Wars owners are collectors.”
“Of Star Wars memorabilia. But you think there could be more going on behind the scenes?”
“Something else to look into.”
“Again, it seems too obvious. Too easy. No one would be so bold to operate like that.”
“In plain sight? Sure they would.”
“I’d like to talk to the Bar Wars owner, then—about their collections. But we’re staking out the bar tonight, sitting in your vehicle. You haven’t explained how we’ll know this guy when we see him.”
“The bartender said ten-thirty. It’s ten twenty-five. Let’s see if our guy walks in soon.”
“Then what will we do?”
“We’ll see who goes in after him.”
“But we won’t know which persons coming and going are there to meet with him. I think we should go in.”
Jack rubbed his jaw. “Earlier today the bartender said he had me pegged as a cop from a long way off. I don’t want to disrupt the flow of things. Let’s wait.” He didn’t add that he was counting on that gut feeling that was an important part of any investigation.
“That’s it. I’m going in. I don’t look like a cop.” She flipped the mirror in the car open and let her hair down from the clip, then mussed it.
“What. Are. You. Doing?”
“I’m going in to see who he meets with.”
“You’re not going in alone,” he said.
“Name one reason why not? I can handle this. I’m law enforcement. This is my investigation too.”
“When I brought you into this, I hadn’t meant for you to step in the middle—” A guy moseyed toward the bar wearing a baseball cap. He glanced over his shoulder, wary. “I think that’s him. It’s hard to see in this lighting.”
Terra opened the door and stepped out. She leaned in and smiled. “I’ll text you a blow-by-blow account.”
He started to open his door.
“Don’t you dare,” she said. “You’ll ruin this for us. We need to find out who is behind the trafficking and the murders. I’ll text you when the guy he met with leaves, and you can snag him for questioning.”
“Uh . . . Terra . . . the booth to watch is the one at the very back far right.”
She ducked her chin, acknowledging that she appreciated the tip.
“And I want a blow-by-blow,” he said. “If I don’t get one, I’ll think you’re in trouble and then I’m coming in.”
He watched her walk away and head across the street. She opened the door and entered the bar just as a couple spilled out, leaning on each other and laughing. They strolled down the sidewalk weaving back and forth. He hoped they had called a cab.
Then a familiar face walked into the bar.
Not good.
FORTY-NINE
At least Bar Wars wasn’t the seedy kind of bar she’d imagined. With all the Star Wars memorabilia, it could even rank as family friendly. Unfortunately, too many heads had turned her way when she walked in. She would not walk through to check out all the decorations and draw more attention. Instead, she found a corner from which she could watch the entire place and quickly took in the far back booth in the shado
ws, a man already sitting there. The pilot?
A waitress approached. “What’ll it be?”
“I’ll have a club soda with lime.”
The woman arched a brow. “Suit yourself.”
Terra dropped her cell and picked it up from under the table. Then she sat up and started a text to Jack like she told him she would. A man pulled out a chair and sat at her table.
“Excuse me, but I’m waiting on a friend,” she said.
The guy winked. “I can be your friend.”
Oh brother.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“I can work around that.”
Really. “Look, I’m not interested.”
The waitress approached with Terra’s club soda. “This guy bothering you?”
Terra did not want to make a scene. She wanted to blend in. Maybe this had been a bad idea, after all. “I can handle him.”
The waitress laughed. “Bobby, go find another lady to hit on. This one’s too classy for you.”
“Look, I—”
Another man approached the table wearing a leather bomber jacket and a cap. She did a double take and realized it was Jack. He pressed his index finger on the table in front of Bobby. “This one’s taken, buddy.”
Bobby glanced up as if he would argue, then thought better of it. He lifted his hands in surrender. “Sorry, dude. You can’t blame me for trying. You’re a lucky guy.”
He exited the seat.
And Jack slid into it, his back to the booth where their person of interest was sitting in the shadows.
“What are you doing here?”
“Saving you.” He leaned forward. He looked too good. With the jacket, the cap, and the more arrogant demeanor, she had to admit that he didn’t look at all like a cop or a local detective.
Her mouth went dry, and she’d never been so grateful for a club soda. She took a few sips, then said, “I had it under control, thank you very much.”
“I’m sure you did. I’m here because there’s been a change in our plans.”
Terra glanced at the booth at the back, and someone was now sitting across from the man already seated. She’d missed his entrance. His back was to her, so she couldn’t see who it was. Terra inwardly groaned.
Present Danger Page 22
