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"Kyle?" Tyler turned, relief flooding through him. "Man, you scared the shit out of—"
The last thing he saw was a dark figure silhouetted against the starry sky. Then something struck his head, and even the stars went dark.
CHAPTER ONE
The desert wind carried the smell of scorched coffee and diesel fumes across the truck stop parking lot. Sheila Stone watched the security footage for the third time, studying the grainy figure that moved through the frame at 3:47 AM.
Same walk. Same build. Even through the poor quality of the video, she was certain.
"That's him," she said quietly.
Gabriel Stone leaned closer to the monitor, his silver hair catching the fluorescent light. "You're sure?"
"I worked closely with Tommy on the Oscar Wells case. I know how he moves."
The night manager of Harry's Truck Stop hovered nearby, clearly uncertain whether he should leave the two strangers alone with his computer system. Sheila couldn't blame him for being nervous. They'd arrived just before dawn, flashing badges from another state, asking questions about a man who'd used his credit card to buy gas and supplies in the middle of the night.
"Did he say anything?" Sheila asked the manager. "Give any indication where he was headed?"
The man shook his head. "Barely spoke two words. Paid for his gas, bought some supplies—water, crackers, that kind of thing. Looked real nervous, though. Kept checking over his shoulder."
"He knows we're coming," Gabriel said.
Sheila's jaw tightened. Two days ago, she'd been in a hospital bed, recovering from hypothermia after Tommy had left her to die in an abandoned research facility. Now she was in New Mexico, watching grainy footage of the man who'd betrayed her department and tried to kill her.
Though Sheila didn't entirely understand why Tommy had tried to kill her, she had a rough idea. Years ago, back when her father Gabriel worked in Internal Affairs, he'd uncovered evidence of a money laundering ring within the department. He was warned not to act on this or report this information, but when Sheila's mother, Henrietta, discovered the files and started asking questions, Gabriel could no longer contain the situation.
Sheila's mother was shot in her own home, and Gabriel was told that if he didn't bury what he knew, his children would be next. So he transferred out of I.A., kept quiet, and eventually became sheriff. That worked until Sheila began investigating her mother's death on her own.
Gabriel, no doubt realizing he couldn't stop his determined daughter, helped her, and together they tracked down and caught the gunman: Eddie Mills. By his own admission, he hoped the truth would die with Mills. But Mills made it clear to Sheila that her father knew far more than he was letting on, leading Sheila to confront him. Gabriel dodged Sheila's questions, refusing to discuss the issue—until, that was, a rookie named Tommy Forster was planted in her department and tried to silence her.
Permanently.
Now, seeing that the people responsible for Sheila's mother's murder had already decided Sheila was next, Gabriel realized that protecting his family no longer meant silence. It meant fighting back.
And it started by catching Tommy Forster.
But what did the FBI have to do with this? Could Tommy be a rogue agent—or were the agents looking for him the ones who had gone rogue?
Perhaps the case about departmental corruption that had landed on Gabriel's plate while he was in the I.A. went beyond the department. Perhaps it went federal, too.
"Can you send me this footage?" Sheila asked the manager.
He nodded, already typing. "Email okay?"
"Perfect." She handed him her card, then turned to her father. "We should check the highways. If he was heading south three hours ago..."
"He could be at the border by now," Gabriel finished. His face was grim. "Once he crosses, we may never get another shot at him."
Or at the answers he might have about her mother's death. About the money laundering in their department. About why he'd been planted in Coldwater to spy on her, learn what her father had told her—and then kill her.
Gabriel checked his watch. "Border patrol's been notified. They'll stop him if he tries to cross. But if he's smart..."
"He'll find another way through." Sheila zoomed in on the footage, focusing on Tommy's face as he glanced toward the camera. He looked exhausted, haunted. Good. Let him be haunted. Let him feel a fraction of what her family had endured these past ten years.
The truck stop manager excused himself to help a customer, leaving father and daughter alone with the surveillance monitor. In the silence, Sheila could feel the weight of unspoken words between them. So many secrets. So many lies. Even now, she wasn't sure her father had told her everything about the corruption he'd uncovered, about the people who'd killed her mother to keep him quiet.
"I should have come clean with you when you started working in the department," Gabriel said quietly, as if reading her thoughts. "Told you about Internal Affairs. About what I found. Maybe if I had..."