Page 15

FOURTEEN

Pretending to play hide-and-seek in the back seat of Nanny Raya’s SUV, Jenna snuggled down with Tauri. Jo sat in the front seat and Beth slid onto the back seat beside Jenna. She had removed her hat and her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders. In the front seat Jo had done the same. No one could possibly believe either of them were Jenna. They headed out along Main and Nanny Raya hit the gas the moment they made it onto the highway. Twenty minutes later, they were heading along the driveway to Jenna’s ranch. The gates whined open and Nanny Raya drove around the ranch house to the door to her private entrance. The back of the house was well treed, shielding the entrance from the road. They all piled out and went through the extension built exclusively for the nanny and into the main house.

When Tauri took off along the hallway and into his room to play with his toys, Jenna led the way into the kitchen. So far so good. They’d gotten home without any incidents, but they needed to stay alert and that meant posting lookouts overnight. She went about setting up the coffee machines and searching the fridge for something to eat. She smiled seeing the peach pie on the shelf. It seemed that Kane always had a good supply of pie.

“You have a beautiful home.” Beth Katz dropped a duffel onto the floor and, after placing a laptop onto the table, scanned the kitchen smiling. “I figured, from the stories that Styles told me, the kitchen would be spectacular. Kane enjoys cooking I hear.”

Taking down cups from the cabinet, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, he does all the cooking. I’m not sure if it’s by choice or that he can’t stand eating my food. I can make scrambled eggs and burned toast but honestly my career doesn’t really leave me too much time to experiment with recipes.”

“Well, I’m a great cook.” Jo searched the freezer. “Dave always has a well-stocked pantry, so one thing’s for sure, we won’t go hungry while they’re away.”

Jenna looked from one to the other. “Now we have the food organized, we need to work out who is going to stand guard overnight. We have perimeter alarms, so we should be safe enough, but people have gotten into the ranch before when we believed it was impenetrable.”

“I’ll take first watch.” Beth dropped into a chair. “I usually work on my laptop late into the night, so I won’t fall asleep on the job.”

“I’ll take the second watch.” Nanny Raya smiled. “I’ll sleep after dinner. The one thing about being an ex-FBI agent is that I can sleep anywhere and at any time.”

“I’ve never been able to do that.” Jo heated the pie in the microwave and then slid it onto the table. “Quantico seems a lifetime ago. What made you retire?”

“I wanted to live in a small country town where it was quiet. When the position of nanny came available for Jenna, I couldn’t resist it.” Nanny Raya chuckled and poured the coffee. “I hadn’t realized I would be working in Serial Killer Central.”

The sound of a chopper came from overhead. Heart thumping in her chest, Jenna ran along the passageway and into the family room. Along the way, she grabbed one of the semiautomatic rifles they’d taken from the office. She glanced over one shoulder as footsteps came behind her. Following closely, Jo and Beth flanked her. Nanny Raya ran into Tauri’s bedroom and shut the door.

“Don’t you have a net?” Beth stood to one side of the window scanning the sky.

Stomach clenching, Jenna moved out of the family room and toward the front door. “Yeah, and it’s activated.” She turned as Jo joined her, rifle in hand. “It will prevent them from landing, but it doesn’t stop bullets. If this is Souza, he knows we’re here and all our resources are in the forest. I just hope he doesn’t have people who can hack our system and bring down the net.”

“They don’t know about me being here, do they?” Beth’s lips curved into a smile. “Anything they can do I can do better and faster.”

Keeping her back to the wall, Jenna peered out of the window at the chopper circling high above. It was an indistinct helicopter and she couldn’t make out any numbers or distinguishing features. The one that had kidnapped Tauri had a blue flash on one side, but this one was plain gray. One of the doors was open and she could see the legs of a man sitting on the edge like a military sniper, with a rifle across his lap. “We have a shooter. Keep away from the windows.”

“I could probably take him out from here.” Beth gave her a small smile. “I’m being a little optimistic. I’m great on the rifle range but nothing like Styles. My expertise is in cybercrime, not as a sniper.”

“I know how to use a rifle. Carter makes sure I hit the range at least once a week, but I agree, hitting a moving target at that distance would be optimistic.” Jo’s face was etched with concern. “I figure shooting at them would only start a gunfight. It’s better if they believe that we’re not here.”

A trickle of sweat ran down Jenna’s spine. The women, both FBI agents, gave out different vibes. She’d known Jo for a long time, and together they’d taken down serial killers without the help of men. It had been easier then. Being almost eight months pregnant and with a young son to care for, she couldn’t go gung ho into danger. Jo had taken in the situation and decided to stand down and wait and see what happened. Beth, on the other hand, was excited and ready to jump in, boots and all. Styles had mentioned she was a little unconventional, even to the point of being eccentric. She had a very dark sense of humor, which popped out in the most inopportune moments, and yet he’d seen her place herself in danger to protect women and children without a second thought.

Undecided about what she should do next, Jenna turned to Beth. “It’s likely they have us outgunned. We have no idea how many shooters are in that chopper. I figure we close the shutters and use the camera array to watch what’s going on outside. My office has a bank of screens. It’s comfortable inside. We’ll need to take turns watching the monitors, but for now we can rely on the perimeter alarms. They go straight to my phone. There’s not a chance anyone is going to sneak up on us.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” Beth looked at Jo. “Help me close the shutters.”

“No need.” Jo kept her attention on the circling chopper. “Everything is automated.”

Keeping low, Jenna dashed to the control panel beside the front door and hit a button. Metal shutters slid down over the windows. The house was safe. She turned to look at the other two. “If they breach the house, head for the safe room. I’ll leave the door propped open the entire time we are under threat. Once inside there, even if they set fire to the house, we can escape.”

“Unless they drop explosive devices on the roof.” Beth frowned. “If what I’ve read about Eduardo Souza is true, he wouldn’t stop at anything. The only chance we have is that he is using you to lure Kane out into the open. It’s him he really wants, isn’t it?”

Nodding Jenna, turned to look at her. “So it would seem, but why him, when a team of FBI agents were involved in taking him down? It wasn’t just Kane who gave evidence.”

“Souza needs to be taken down permanently.” Beth shrugged. “I hear that Kane doesn’t balk when it comes to taking a shot when necessary.” She flicked a glance at Jo. “It’s a fine line, the one we walk between right and wrong. I’ve worked out my own set of rules since working alongside Styles. In a fight there’s no rules, and if someone draws down on me or tries to stick me with a knife, I aim center mass. I don’t get paid enough to be shot or cut up by criminals.”

“You’ve been through many shootings of late.” Jo’s eyes narrowed as she openly assessed her. “Do you get flashbacks?”

“Nope.” Beth returned her gaze, and they stared at each other like two gunslingers in the O.K. Corral. “The only reruns in my head come from seeing abuse of any kind. People I’ve killed in the line of duty who were trying to end my life don’t deserve my thoughts. Yeah, I remember them, but I don’t lose any sleep over them.” She looked at Jenna. “Kane would be the same, right?”

All Jenna could hear was the chopper overhead and this conversation was going nowhere. She never discussed Kane’s past life or his feelings. “In my team, we prefer to incapacitate than kill. It’s not an order, but we’ve discovered the perps usually have information we can use. They can’t do that when they’re dead.” She sighed, suddenly needing to sit down and rest her aching back. “Would I shoot to kill if those men circling my home came through the door? Yeah, without hesitation. Now, can we figure a way of getting that chopper off our backs?”

“Sure.” Beth headed for the kitchen. “I’ll try and hack the computer onboard the chopper. I did notice a registration number on the side when it turned around. If I can get in, they’ll suddenly be out of fuel.”

Jenna pushed her hair from her eyes and followed her. “Anything to get them away from here.” She walked into the kitchen and placed her rifle on top of the refrigerator. “We can’t forget we have a child in the house. Carry your pistols, by all means, but keep the rifles locked up for now. I have a gun safe in my office and in the safe room. If you want to take them into your bedroom, that’s your choice, but they need to be on top of the closet not out in the open.”

“You don’t need to talk to me about gun safety.” Beth rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “My partner is ex-military police, and although he’s known as a maverick in the FBI, trust me, the MP is never far away.” She sat down at the table and opened her laptop. She cracked her knuckles and went to work.

As the chopper circled in never-ending loops above the house, Jenna took a deep breath to steady her nerves and went to Tauri’s room. “We have pie. Do you want a slice? I have ice cream as well.”

“I like pie.” Tauri looked up from the book he was reading to Nanny Raya. “Is that Uncle Ty flying around?”

Keeping her expression neutral, Jenna sat beside him. “Not this time. They’ll be gone soon, but you’ll see Uncle Ty very soon. He’s with Daddy chasing bad men. He’ll be back in a few days.”

“Okay.” Tauri licked his lips. “Can I have his slice of pie too?”

Smiling, Jenna ruffled his hair. “Maybe after dinner. Okay?”

“Okay.” Tauri closed the book and took off along the passageway to the kitchen.

As Jenna followed him, chatting with Nanny Raya and trying to keep everything normal, the sound of the chopper moved into the distance. In the kitchen, Beth was sitting back in her chair sipping coffee. She raised one eyebrow and looked at her. “The chopper is leaving.”

“Yeah, I found a nice little back door into their computer system.” Beth chuckled. “They’ll have so many warnings flashing, I don’t figure they’ll be back for a time.”

Shaking her head in amazement, Jenna sunk into a chair and turned to her. “When we met Bobby Kalo, the computer black hat hacker, I figured he was the best, but you have skills I’ve never heard of before.”

“Never underestimate Kalo.” Beth reached for a slice of the pie Jo was pushing onto plates. “He’s evolving faster than I ever imagined. We’ve worked together on many cases and he’s darn good. You’re lucky to have him on your team.” She chuckled. “I guess me and Styles are on your team now.”

The woman was smart—there was no denying that—but did she take orders? Could she trust her to have her back? There were so many questions that needed answering and Jenna’s sixth sense insisted she act with caution around Beth. She’d liked Styles’ no-nonsense efficiency and selfless courage at once, but the way Beth Katz’s eyes flashed sometimes told her there was more to her than met the eye. She’d talk to Kane and maybe Jo later, but for now, she needed an extra person to keep Tauri safe and would give her the benefit of the doubt. She looked at Beth. “So it would seem.”