Page 30 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity (Secure Watch #2)

Before they left, Iris had told them that the Facebook page, including all the videos and the petition page, had disappeared.

That proved the person behind this knew what they were doing in the digital world and didn’t want to leave a trail for the authorities to follow.

Unfortunately for them, Secure Watch had multiple backups of all the videos and the petition page.

Once this guy was unmasked, he wouldn’t wiggle out of this one.

Nervous, Skylar shifted in her chair and checked her watch.

It was time to get rolling if she would make her deadline.

All she could see was the pain in Land’s eyes when he lowered her to her chair when they arrived at the hospital parking ramp.

His blue eye was filled with so much hope, while his gray eye was filled with pain, fear and worry.

Her demand to do this had cut him deeply and made him bleed again, something she hated but couldn’t prevent.

Having him back in her life had been fantastic despite the circumstances, but he couldn’t remain there.

She never wanted to be the reason he hurt again.

You don’t think shutting him out of your life again won’t cut him deeply?

That voice was back at a time when she needed to hear it the least. To avoid focusing on that thought, she snapped her brakes off and pushed forward, the slight incline distracting her from thinking about anything other than making it to the gallery in time to answer the call from a lunatic she couldn’t see and didn’t know.

Headlights illuminated the street and nearly blinded her as they came around the corner toward the hospital at a high rate of speed.

Someone must be in trouble. Sky turned her head to block the light as she pushed her rims, but she was suddenly snapped backward and flailing in the air.

She landed hard on her side as a door slid shut.

An engine gunned, and she rolled to the side until her head slammed up against metal to stop her.

“Well, well, who do we have here?” a voice asked. For the first time since all of this began, she recognized it, and her insides gelled.

* * *

“R IKER IN PLACE ,” Reece said into his walkie.

“Ten-four,” Cal answered. “We’re in position. Everything is quiet here. We have confirmation on the phone waiting by the loading dock.”

“What are the chances that when it rings, the place blows?”

“From what we can tell, there are no explosives inside the building. If there are, they’re well hidden.”

“It’s more likely a bullet will be headed her way once she’s in position,” Reece ground out, his heart pounding. “I don’t like this, Charlie. There are too many variables.”

“None of us disagree,” he responded. “You need to trust us as much as she trusts you, okay? Love and fear are equally powerful emotions, but you can’t let either one take control of the situation.”

“Don’t believe love was ever mentioned in any context here, Charlie,” Reece responded as he watched Sky from his position.

He heard Cal snort softly when he released the button on his walkie. “If you think it needed to be mentioned, then you’re more delusional than I thought. You two make more googly eyes at each other than Roman and Mina, and we all thought they were bad. You two are insufferable.”

“Charlie?” Reece asked, releasing the button.

“Yeah, Riker?”

“Shut up,” he said, then released the button to hear several snickers.

“Secure Watch, Whiskey,” Mina broke in. “I hate to break this up, but we have a situation.” Mina had stayed at command central to run their coms and keep them abreast of any communication that may come in from this guy.

“Charlie, your PD contact just called. They just got the DNA match back on the body thought to be Miles Bradshaw. It’s not him. ”

“What?” Reece asked, leaning forward in the van seat. “I thought he’d already been identified.”

“Only using the identification on the body. The face and hands suffered so much trauma they had to run DNA to be sure. The person they found is a known felon from the area who had been living on the streets.”

“Dammit!” Reece growled as he noticed Sky snap the brakes off her chair. “The package is on the move. We’ve got to stop her. This is a trap! Miles has to be the one behind the mask.”

“If we stop her, we can’t predict what he will do,” Cal said, and Reece heard the hesitation in his voice.

“She’s cresting the hill,” he said. “We don’t have much time to decide.

” He’d barely finished the sentence when a van came around the corner going way too fast. It clipped the curb as it came to a stop, and before his eyes, the occupant pulled Sky from her wheelchair and dumped her into the van before rocketing down the hill.

“Oh, hell no!” he yelled, jamming the SUV into gear and screaming into the walkie-talkie a description of the van. “I’m in pursuit, but I need backup! They’re headed to I-35!”

“Stay on them!” Cal yelled as Reece dropped the walkie to put both hands on the wheel.

The van ran a yellow at the first set of lights, and he didn’t brake.

He ran the red, the screech of brakes filling his ears but not breaking his concentration.

The next set of lights turned green just as the van reached it and roared through.

Reece nearly caught up as they turned past Leif Erikson Park, but the van’s brake lights lit up.

Then it sailed to the right toward the park, barely missing the giant statute of Leif before it went airborne and soared into the park until it rolled twice and came to rest on the roof near the shore of Lake Superior.

Reece ran toward the van, screaming Sky’s name as he drew his gun. The wheels of the van spun in the air as he aimed his gun at the passenger window, expecting to see crumpled bodies where there were none.

“Sky!” When he finally spotted her, she was crumpled against the side of the van on the driver’s side. He pulled the sliding door open, the creak and groan of bent metal sending a shiver down his spine.

He caught motion from the side of his eye as someone barreled toward him.

Reece raised his arm to block the guy, but he took a punch to his head, knocking him back a step.

They tussled, but the other man was no match for Reece, who quickly subdued him after a bit of grappling.

He had his knee in his back when Cal ran up with Mack and Eric.

Cal slapped a pair of cuffs on the guy before he stood him up then Mack ripped his mask off.

Reece registered the face of Miles Bradshaw before he practically ripped the door off the van and crawled toward the woman he’d loved his entire life, now crumpled in a heap on the roof of the van.

“Sky. Angel,” he said, gently slapping her face.

“Wake up, please. Don’t do this to me again.

You have to wake up. I love you. Wake up so I can see those beautiful blue eyes of yours fill with anger when I tell you that I love you and I’m never letting you out of my sight ever again.

I don’t care if that makes you mad. We were meant for each other, and it’s time to stop pretending that’s not true.

Skylar, please.” He checked her pulse as he pleaded with her, pleased when it was strong and steady.

“Reece, I need you to move so I can assess her,” Selina said, crowding into the space next to him.

“No, I’m not leaving her.”

“I didn’t ask you to. I need you to move toward her head and hold it carefully to protect her neck while I check her vital signs.”

Doing what she asked was easier said than done, but he finally managed to shift himself into the space between Sky’s head and the back of the driver’s seat.

“Come on, angel. Wake up.” He heard an ambulance in the distance, and a little of the tension in his belly was released.

As if on command, her eyes fluttered open, and she gazed into his with a blank stare for several seconds.

After she blinked twice, she gasped. “Land.”

“It’s okay, Skylar,” Selina said, holding her shoulder so she didn’t try to move. “The ambulance is on its way, and they’ll take you to the hospital to assess you. Does your neck hurt?”

“No,” Skylar said, staring at him with big, round blue eyes. “My neck is fine. I swear the guy who pulled me into the van sounded just like Miles, but he’s dead!”

“He’s not,” Reece said quickly. “His identification was planted on the body, but it wasn’t him. We got him. He’s cuffed and waiting for the cops.”

Sky moaned when Selina pressed on her side. “Some thing hurts, but I can’t tell you what.” Selina lifted her hands off her body. “There were two guys. Miles was the one who tossed me inside, but there was a driver. The driver never spoke.”

“I’m going to get the EMTs,” Selina said, ducking out of the van and leaving Reece to hold Sky steady.

“How did the van crash?” he asked, holding her gaze. He couldn’t help but notice her eyes were displaying signs of a concussion.

“I couldn’t let them take me, Land. I was afraid if they got too far away, you’d never find me alive.

Miles left me on the floor, thinking I couldn’t move, and got in the front seat.

I pulled myself forward with my arms and grabbed the wheel.

We weren’t going fast yet, so I thought it would be safe.

I didn’t realize we’d roll the way we did.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t listen when you told me not to trust them. I should have trusted you.”

“Shh,” he soothed, kissing her forehead. “You’re okay. We’ve got Miles. As soon as you’re in the ambulance, I’ll tell Cal about the driver and then meet you at the hospital. Okay? Just stay calm.”

Shouting ensued as the EMTs arrived to transport her a few blocks to the hospital. Reece moved aside to give them room to work and pulled Cal aside.

“How’s Skylar?”

“She’s hurting, but she doesn’t know where. It’s probably her ribs, but she doesn’t have full innervation, so that’s making it easier for her to tolerate the pain. She was able to wrestle the wheel from them and crash the van, but the driver somehow got away before I got there.”

“That girl has moxie,” Cal said with a grin. “Do you think it was Camille?”

“She’s the only player left in the game,” he agreed. “I have to go to the hospital with her. She’s a sitting duck if Camille shows up.”

“Go. Don’t let Skylar out of your sight. I’ll update you about Camille once Miles squeals on his partner.”

“If he squeals on her.”

“He will,” Cal assured him with a wink.

Motioning behind him, Reece sighed. “I hate to leave you with this mess to sort out.”

“Go,” he said, pointing to the ambulance with his robotic finger.

You didn’t argue with Cal when he gave a direct order with that finger.

“This is child’s play compared to the messes I’ve cleaned up over the last few years.

I’ll send some guys to the hospital once I can spare them. Keep me updated on your location.”

“You got it, boss.” He saluted and took off for the van, where they were pulling out the woman he loved on a backboard.

He wanted to crumple at the memory of the same scene repeating itself from fourteen years ago, and he tripped, putting his arms out to break his fall when a strong hand grabbed him instead.

“Head in the game, Riker,” Cal whispered. “She needs you to keep her calm and be her advocate right now. It’ll be hard, but you can fall apart later. Push everything else aside and concentrate on the second chance you’ve been given.”

He took a deep breath in and exhaled on four. “Thanks, Charlie.”

Cal slapped him on the back and returned to the team while he headed toward his second chance.