Page 14

May

“ I t’s been two months, Caro! Two whole months since there’s been so much as a comma added to our case files.” Ashley’s frustration level was at an all-time high.

After Martin’s cryptic gift of flowers, he’d disappeared into thin air. She should’ve known his last words to her were yet another empty promise. Whatever he was up to these days, he certainly wasn’t busy making anything right. Contaminated milk was still popping up all over Central Texas and beginning to spread outward to other areas. The efforts of the XAX terrorist operation were picking up momentum, while the FBI was standing still and doing nothing.

“I know it feels that way,” Caro sighed, “but there’s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes.”

“Like what?” Ashley desperately wanted to believe it, but she was tired of vague promises. She needed something to sink her teeth into.

“Data analysis mostly. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but trust me,” Caro’s voice was firm, “it’s the best way to track the movements of a group like XAX.”

They were at the farmhouse, comparing notes on the case like they did most evenings before dinner. Ashley hated the fact that she had nothing new to report on her end, other than her sudden uptick in headaches and nausea. As much as she wanted to blame it on the case, it was more likely she was coming down with something.

She lifted her water glass to take a sip and nearly threw up. Ugh! She set the glass back on the table, swallowing hard.

Caro gave her a searching look. “Are you okay?”

Ashley stuck her tongue out. “I will be when this case is closed.”

“Cranky.” Caro looked like a supermodel in a designer pantsuit that was a luscious shade of hot pink. She was wearing matching stiletto pumps, probably from Modello’s, the only upscale clothing boutique in town.

The color made Ashley think of watermelons, which had the unfortunate side effect of making her stomach pitch and roll again. She didn’t want to think about food right now. Or how much sawdust was still hanging in the air from the new bookshelves Johnny had been building in the living room. As much as she appreciated the many projects he was forever juggling, she could practically taste the sawdust.

She coughed to clear her sinuses and took another sip of water, a tinier sip this time. Afterward, she raised the cool glass to her forehead and rested it against her feverish skin. “I think I’m getting sick.”

Caro looked concerned. “Do you want me to ring Johnny for you?”

“Nah.” Ashley liked how her forehead felt against the cold glass. “He has enough on his plate without worrying about me.”

Caro made a scoffing sound. “Worrying about you is the highlight of his existence.”

Ashley smiled. It was amazing that she and Caro had reached the point that they could talk about Johnny like this. “I’m just glad you don’t hate me anymore because of him.” Caro had such a competitive nature that it couldn’t have been easy for her.

“I never hated you.” Caro rolled her eyes. “I just couldn’t understand why he got in such a lather over your ponytails and no makeup days. Let’s be real. You put zero effort into catching his attention and somehow managed to succeed where the rest of us failed.”

Ashley couldn’t explain it either. “It was an accident.” So many other women had tried to land a date with him that maybe it had made her stand out. Who knows?

“Or a God thing,” Caro returned in a milder voice. “Oh, wow! Did you hear that? I wasn’t the least bit religious before I met Clint, but now he drags me to church every Sunday. The stuff that pops out of my mouth these days…” She shook her head, looking like she was trying not to laugh.

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” Ashley liked the changes in Caro. “Letting go and letting God, like Pastor Joe is so fond of saying.”

“I’m not a hundred percent sure what that means,” her friend grumbled, “but, yes. That.”

To Ashley, it meant they weren’t alone in the world — her, Johnny, Caro, Clint, and all the other amazing people she’d met in Heart Lake. It was her biggest comfort right now, considering how overwhelmed and outnumbered they seemed to be. Never before had she felt so much like they were losing the war on crime. Never before had she battled a nameless, faceless set of enemies, people who operated from the shadows and always seemed to be a step or two ahead of law enforcement.

The familiar rumble of Johnny’s work truck made its way up the gravel driveway and paused in front of the house, idling there.

Ashley blinked in surprise. “I wonder why he didn’t pull into the garage.” She thought she remembered her husband driving his Jeep to work this morning, but she must’ve been mistaken.

Caro stood and tucked her electronic tablet into her briefcase. “Maybe he’s planning on taking you somewhere for dinner.”

Ashley followed her to the door. “Let’s find out.”

Caro pulled open the door and grew still.

Ashley, who’d already taken another step, bumped into her. “I’m so sorry, Caro! I’m such a klutz!” The words died in her mouth as her gaze landed on the man standing outside the door.

It was Martin, wearing an outfit that was oddly reminiscent of what Johnny normally wore — a plaid shirt, jeans, and work boots. He had a Stetson pulled low over his eyes, and he was pointing them toward Johnny’s work truck. Or a truck that looked a lot like her husband’s truck.

“If you two ladies will follow me,” he breezed, as if it was no big deal that a fugitive from the law had appeared on their doorstep.

“And if we don’t?” Caro bit out the words.

Martin pulled aside the open flap of his plaid shirt to reveal a gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans. “Just get in the truck, and you’ll be fine.”

Somehow, Ashley doubted the “fine” part, but he wasn’t giving them a choice.

Caro started moving, but Martin held up a hand to make her halt. “After you hand over your weapons. Barrel down.”

Fire flashed in her gaze, but she obligingly removed a pistol from her briefcase and handed it over.

He accepted it with a hard, unmoving expression. “I said weapons, as in plural.”

She silently produced a second gun.

“And your knife.” He glanced pointedly at the hem of her hot pink dress slacks.

She reached down to remove a blade that Ashley wouldn’t in a million years have guessed she was wearing.

“Now your cell phone.” He held out his hand again. “Perkins, you’re next, so get ready.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped, sorely regretting being caught unarmed. It was careless of her. Married life was making her soft. So was the bug she was coming down with. Because of her nagging headache and nausea, her hair was down today, and she was wearing a flimsy sundress and cardigan sweater. No doubt she looked as vulnerable and as exposed as she felt.

Martin ordered them to climb into his truck, speaking quietly the whole time their feet were crunching through the gravel. “A sniper will follow us in another vehicle. I can’t stress this enough, so listen carefully. One wrong move, and I can’t promise you’ll live to talk about it. Nod your head if you understand.”

Ashley was too angry to nod. “Yes, we understand you’re a scumbag.”

The passenger door of the truck was already open. Martin motioned her forward. “You first, since you’re less likely to try to gut me while I drive.”

“Are you sure about that?” It was all she could do to keep her voice from shaking.

“I am. You’re a good person, Per—I mean Ashley. That’s why I fell in love with you.”

Love? “Then why are you doing this to us?” Nothing he did was adding up. This isn’t love.

Martin made Caro climb in next and slammed the door behind her.

“Just breathe,” Caro hissed while he walked around the truck. “We’re going to be okay.”

Ashley wanted to believe her, but Martin was holding all the cards right now. He shut the door and locked them in. It had a sound of finality to it.

Hysteria welled in her throat, making it harder to breathe. She struggled to recall her training as a police detective. They trained for stuff like this at the police academy — what to do and what not to do in the event of capture. At the moment, however, it was taking most of her energy not to throw up. She was definitely coming down with the flu or something, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Martin started driving. “Like I said in my card, I’m making things right.”

His words made no more sense now than they had the first time. “I think we have very different ideas of what that means.”

“Maybe. Maybe not,” he said cryptically. “I’ll try to explain. Your mother wasn’t supposed to die. Neither were the dairy farmers in Dallas or your partner.”

A moan of anguish escaped her. “Please, please, please assure me you had nothing to do with their deaths, Martin.” Even though he was her ex, she couldn’t stomach the idea of having once been engaged to a man who’d ended the lives of so many people, two of whom had been very dear to her.

“I didn’t.” His mouth twisted. “Well, not directly. They made me believe I was part of a revolutionary research project. It was something I got recruited for back in college. It’s how I met your stepmom and stepsister.”

She already knew that. “Who recruited you?”

He didn’t answer.

“It was XAX, wasn’t it?

“Ashley,” Caro hissed.

Martin’s expression was one of reluctant admiration. “You figured it out, eh?”

Technically, the FBI had. “Why did you do it?” She glanced over her shoulder and discovered they were being tailed by a black SUV with tinted windows. He hadn’t been lying about that. She stifled a shiver. It blew her mind that he seemed bent on trying to convince her he was one of the good guys in all of this.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he sighed.

That wasn’t possible, but she didn’t argue the point.

“Initially, all they asked me to do was prepare some legal documents for them.” His voice held a note of pleading. “It was all above board, and the pay was good. I had some pretty hefty student loans to pay off, so it was a welcome side gig. But the money got bigger, and their requests got shadier. I tried to get out. I did.” The look he gave her was one of pure regret. “You claimed our relationship was never going anywhere, but that’s not true. The only reason I didn’t ask you to marry me was because I didn’t want XAX getting their hooks into you, too.”

“Oh, boohoo!” Caro clearly wasn’t impressed with his story. “If you expect her to feel sorry for you after the trail of bodies you dropped in Dallas?—”

“It wasn’t me,” he exploded. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

He was lying. Ashley knew that now. “You were there the night John Bench died,” she accused shakily. “The night I almost died.”

“Only after I figured out what they were up to! You have to believe me, Perk—Ashley!”

“She doesn’t have to believe anything,” Caro interjected coldly.

“But I’m the reason she didn’t bleed out,” he sputtered. “I’m the one who called the ambulance, and I’m the one who removed the drugs they’d planted on her.”

“Martin!” Ashley wailed out his name, knowing it also meant he’d failed to remove the drugs his associates had planted on her partner.

“John was already dead.” He grimly recounted that fateful night. “And someone had to go down for the murder of the three dairy farmers. I hoped that would be the end of it, but I should’ve known better. I should’ve known they were never going to let the family of the woman who developed a bioweapon live in peace.”

“My mother developed the capability.” Ashley hated how badly he was maligning the dead. Her mother was innocent. “Your associates are the ones who turned it into a weapon.”

“If you want to split hairs…”

Split hairs! She was aghast at how cavalier he was being about the growing list of tragedies he’d had a hand in. Whether directly or indirectly, it didn’t matter. He was going to jail when this was over. He had to know that.

“I don’t want to argue with you,” he sighed. “That’s not why I came for you.”

“You kidnapped us at gunpoint,” Caro reminded frostily.

“I was in the crosshairs of that sniper, too,” he reminded.

“Whatever makes you feel better when you tell it.” Caro waved her hands airily.

Martin’s angular features twisted with anger. They reached a back road, and he turned onto it. It was full of potholes that made them bounce around in the truck until their teeth rattled.

Fresh waves of nausea crashed through Ashley. “Where are you taking us?” If he didn’t stop soon, she was going to start gagging.

“Some place quiet where we can talk.”

Ashley stared blankly at him. “About?”

“The roses I sent you.”

“I threw them out!”

He gave her an irritated look. “Then explain how the GPS tracker on the zip drive I embedded in them has been traveling all over the south side of town.”

“I never saw a zip drive.” Horror shuddered through her at the possibility that Can Opener had inadvertently swallowed it while rummaging through the trashcan.

“Then help me come up with a plausible explanation I can present to my associates.” He parked in front of a weathered shed that looked like it was close to falling in. “Preferably before they lose patience and pull the plug on this interrogation.”

By pulling the plug, she could only assume he didn’t expect her and Caro to leave the cabin alive. A choking gag worked its way up her throat. She fought to tamp down on it while Martin herded them at gunpoint from the truck into the shack.

The interior was as bleak as the outside. Two wooden chairs were resting in the center of the room. Martin waved Ashley and Caro toward them. “Sit.”

She didn’t appreciate being barked at like she was a dog. “What was on the zip drive, and why in the world did you send it to me?”

“I’ll ask the questions from now on.” He swiftly tied her hands behind the chair and her ankles to the legs.

“Good girl,” he crooned as he did the same to Caro. “I was afraid you’d put up a fight, and…” He crouched in front of her to laughingly draw a finger across his throat. “Snipers.”

“You mean the one who kept driving when we turned onto the road leading to this shack?” Her voice was taunting.

His smile disappeared. “You think you’re clever, don’t you? I was actually referring to the two stationed in the deer stand outside.”

“If you say so.”

He stalked to the nearest window with a walkie talkie in hand. He muttered something in code into it. When he stepped away from the window, a red laser dot appeared on Caro’s forehead.

From the look on Caro’s face, Ashley deduced that a matching red dot was resting on her own forehead.

“Is our conversation being recorded?” Caro intoned, still managing to sound unruffled.

“Like I said, I’ll be asking the questions from now on.” He spoke into his walkie talkie again, and the red laser dots disappeared. He swung back to Ashley. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, I need to know where the zip drive is.”

She shook her head helplessly. “I have no idea.”

He towered over her with his hands on his hips. “It was sewn into the ribbon tied around the vase. Didn’t you notice how thick it was?”

Her heart plummeted. “I noticed that it was pretty,” she said faintly. She’d noticed it was sturdy, too, but not for the reasons he was thinking. The blue velvet was so thick that she’d used it to make a new collar and bow tie for Can Opener.

The collar! That was it. If Martin was telling the truth, then Can Opener had been wearing the zip drive around his neck since the day Martin’s flowers had arrived on her doorstep.

“Come on, Ashley,” he coaxed. “What did you really do with the flowers?”

The desperate light in his eyes made her shiver. “I don’t know what you expect me to say. You sent me flowers. I was dating someone else, so I threw them away. End of story.”

“It can’t be the end of the story,” he fumed, stomping away from her. “You know why?” He started pacing the narrow room. “Because what’s on that drive is the only leverage I have left to save your hide and mine.”

His impassioned declaration left her perplexed. “I’m not following you.”

He swung her way again. “If you hadn’t turned off your cop instincts like a light switch, I wouldn’t have to explain any of this to you.” Without warning, he slammed out of the shack. Moments later, she heard him roar off in his truck.

“Well, that was weird.” Caro slowly scooted her chair a few inches closer to Ashley’s.

“What are you doing?” Ashley tensed, expecting to hear a shot fired at any second.

“Getting these ropes off. Whatever you do, though, stay seated. I’m not sure how closely those snipers are watching us.”

To Ashley’s amazement, she produced a razor and sawed her wrists free. “How did you—never mind.” Clearly, Caro was a whole different caliber of law enforcement than she’d ever been.

Oh, who am I trying to kid? Ashley’s interest in law enforcement had been waning since the day she’d been hired as a farm hand. Her interest had faded even more after marrying Johnny. She genuinely enjoyed dairy farming. Beyond that, her next biggest goal was becoming a mother.

Caro reached over and sawed Ashley’s hands free next. “Hang on to the ropes. If Martin comes back before we escape, everything needs to look the same as how he left it. The key to our survival is making him believe he’s still in charge.”

Despite the direness of their situation, Ashley smiled. “Are you armed with more than a razor?”

“Is the sky blue?” Caro’s voice was lofty.

Ashley felt like kissing her feet.

Caro removed a miniature pistol from the hair piled loosely on top of her head. “This one’s for you.” She demonstrated the mechanics before handing it over. “And this one’s for me.” Another pistol appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

“You’re a magician.” It was the only word she could come up with to describe the lovely federal agent.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of, and neither does Martin.” There was no emotion in her voice. “Being an FBI agent isn’t what turned me into who I am. An abusive marriage did. To hide it from the rest of the world, I learned how to apply theater makeup to cover everything from a black eye to a fractured jaw. I became the queen of subterfuge. After my late husband kicked the bucket, it was a skill set I rechanneled to track down some of the toughest criminals on the planet.” She cocked and uncocked her gun. “I never dreamed a certain cocky cowboy would limp into my life and see what nobody else has seen before. The real me.”

“Clint is pure gold.” Ashley didn’t see the problem.

“But he doesn’t have Johnny’s law enforcement skills.” Caro shook her head. “The moment any of the cutthroats I put behind bars tracks me down, he’ll suffer for it, and I can’t let that happen.”

“Clint can handle it.” Ashley was sure of it. “Not only is he one of the toughest cowboys I know, he has broad emotional shoulders.”

“It still doesn’t make it right for me to put that on him.” Caro fiddled with her weapon.

“Why don’t you let him decide that for himself?” Ashley knew what his choice would be. Another wave of nausea rocked her, making her dry heave. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “What an awful time to be coming down with the flu!”

Caro gave her a strange look. “I don’t think it’s the flu.”

“Do tell, Dr. Madison!” Ashley gestured for her to continue.

“You’re pregnant,” her companion stated flatly.

“You think I’m—oh!” Her hands flew to her midsection. Then she started laughing and crying at the same time. “You know what? That makes sense.” All the nausea and extra emotional stuff. Yep, it made perfect sense.

Caro scowled her into silence. “Get a grip, little mama, because you’re about to be a key player in our escape plan.”

Ashley gulped. “What about the snipers outside?”

“What about it?” Caro shrugged off her concern. “I’ve been in worse situations. Darkness will help. If he’s wearing night vision goggles, we can start a fire to temporarily cloak our heat signatures. If he’s?—”

“Who are you?” Ashley was starting to realize just how badly she’d misjudged the woman before now.

“Someone who’s seen and done things she can’t unsee or undo,” Caro retorted glumly.

“You’re also someone I’m proud to call my friend.” Ashley meant it with all of her heart. “And not just because Johnny and Clint want us to get along to make their own lives easier,” she added with a chuckle.

A ghost of a smile flitted across Caro’s face. “They’re something else, aren’t they?”

“That’s why I married one of them.” Ashley’s thoughts inevitably returned to Martin. She’d really dodged a bullet with him. “What do you think my ex downloaded on that zip drive he’s in such a lather about?”

“My best guess?” Caro’s voice was cautious. “Something he’s blackmailing his associates with.”

“As if things couldn’t get uglier.” She almost wished she hadn’t asked.

“Right or wrong, my gut says he’s telling the truth about doing it for you.” Caro nodded like she knew what she was talking about. “I see the way he looks at you.”

Ashley felt revolted. “I don’t want one thing from that creep!”

“We-e-ell…” Caro spread her hands. “We might be able to use it to our advantage.”

A truck rumbled closer, filling Ashley with dismay. It sounded like Martin was back.

“Hold the ends of the ropes tightly inside your fists,” Caro instructed in a low voice.

Moments later, he stomped into the shack with a couple of water bottles and granola bars in hand. He plopped them on the windowsill and pivoted to take off again.

Ashley glanced longingly toward the water bottles, feeling parched. “How are we supposed to eat or drink with our hands tied?”

For an answer, he walked around their chairs to slash one hand free apiece. “I’ll be back,” he warned. On his way out the door, he tossed the water bottles and granola bars to them.

Caro easily caught hers.

Ashley caught the granola bar but missed the water bottle. It crashed onto the floor, busted, and leaked out. She watched dejectedly as the water disappeared through the floorboards.

Martin left without another word.

“Take mine.” Caro uncapped her bottle and held it out.

Ashley shook her head. She was the one who’d fumbled her catch, and it had cost them an entire water bottle. Caro wasn’t to blame, so she shouldn’t suffer the consequences.

“It wasn’t a question.” Caro sounded impatient. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re drinking for two right now.”

“I won’t drink all of it.” As the evening wore on, however, it became clear that her friend had no intention of touching a drop of it.

Thirst and fear for the well-being of her unborn child eventually propelled her to down the rest of the water.

The sun dipped on the horizon, and shadows fell. Right before the room was plunged into darkness, Martin returned.

“My higher ups think I’ve been interrogating you all evening,” he informed them brusquely. “Since you’re not cooperating, I’ve been instructed to drive you to the GPS coordinates on the zip drive and torture the truth out of you there.”

“You’ll never get away with it,” Ashley gasped. He was out of his mind if he thought Hawk, Tucker, and Clint would allow it.

His smile was ugly. “We’re creating a diversion right now to ensure your husband and his pesky brother-in-law are too occupied to get in my way. Oh, and Hawk is on duty at the rez tonight. I made sure of that, too.”

Which left Tucker alone to defend them.

Martin studied her expression. “The one guy left standing will be sorely outnumbered this evening.”

Ashley shivered. Poor Tucker! She sent up a silent prayer for his safety. For all of their safety.

She couldn’t imagine what Martin had done to send Johnny and Clint packing for the night. Had he harmed them? Her heart ached at the very real possibility she might never see them again.