Too Many Suspects Page 13

  “Shit,” Roxy muttered.

  “Watch your lang…” Before he finished the sentence, a crack echoed through the woods and Jones fell forward, his open lips taking in a mouthful of snow. He choked and sputtered, trying to push himself up a few times only to fall back into the soft powder.

  - 13 -

  “Off the path—everybody!” Roxy grabbed her daughter’s arm and pulled her behind a tree while Conor scrambled into the woods on the other side.

  “Son of a bitch! I never saw them following us.”

  “We’ve got to help Pastor Jones.” Roxanne tried to break free of her mother’s grasp but Roxy’s fingers held tight.

  “Do you have a death wish?”

  “No, but he’s out in the open,” Roxanne said. “We can’t leave him there.”

  Roxy sighed. “Much as I’d like to get rid of the pain in the ass, you’re right.” She signaled to Conor who dashed onto the path, hooked his arms under Jones and slid the man out of harm’s way. The Pastor tilted his head to breathe more easily but didn’t utter a word of thanks.

  After ten minutes, Roxanne couldn’t take any more. Snow had slipped down her boots, turning her toes to icicles. She could barely move her frozen fingers as she dug in her pocket for her phone. When she tried to text Callahan, her thumbs would not cooperate. Giving up, she pushed the red button to make a voice call.

  It rang only once before Callahan answered, breathless. “Roxanne, what’s wrong?”

  “We…uh…somebody’s shooting at us!” Her words rushed out with more force than she’d anticipated; they shattered the stillness of the forest around them.

  “I thought you were going to see Pastor Jones. Where are you?”

  “I met with him this morning. We’re at the campground now and some… somebody just took a shot at us.”

  “Is everyone okay?”

  “I…I think so.”

  “Did you see who did it?”

  “No, just heard the echo of a gunshot. Pastor Jones fell, but I don’t think he’s hurt.”

  “Can you check on him? I’ll send an ambulance if it’s necessary.” Callahan’s rapid delivery communicated his concern.

  “Hold on a minute.” Roxanne twisted to glance over her shoulder. “I can’t see them. He’s on the other side of the path.”

  Roxy overheard the conversation and whipped out her cell. “Conor, is Jones hurt?” She listened to his answer while nodding her head. “Don’t let him come out in the open, no matter what he says.” She clicked off and turned to her daughter. “Jones is fine. He just tripped over his own two feet.”

  As Roxanne relayed the message to Callahan, her mother studied the surrounding area. “I don’t see anyone. They need a clear line of sight to hit us. As long as we stay under the cover of trees, we should be fine.”

  Callahan warned Roxanne to keep her head down and told her he’d be there in a flash. Roxanne stuffed the phone in her pocket, and clapped her mittened hands together to warm them. She didn’t know how long she could stay hunkered in the snow without freezing to death.

  They heard grumbling from across the way. Pastor Jones was demanding to be released so he could return to his car, while the Irishman told him it wasn’t safe. Conor tried to reassure him help was on its way, if he would just remain patient.

  From a distance came the wail of a siren. In spite of how the landscape muted the sound, it grew louder as a second siren joined the first. Roxanne started to rise from her crouched position to greet their rescuers but Roxy grabbed the bottom of her parka and pulled her down. “Let them check out the area first,” she whispered.

  Roxanne nodded, feeling inept. Clearly, she was not cut out for clandestine operations She wondered yet again why she had agreed to come along.

  It seemed like forever before a hunched figure came into view on the lane, leading with a rifle and swiveling it slowly from left to right. Two other stooped figures followed the first, both with rifles at their shoulders. They kept their backs to one another as they slowly stepped sideways in silent choreography. The shortest person had blond hair sticking out from beneath a hood. Roxanne assumed it was Sam and watched as she periodically swung her rifle to the rear. The man next to her made a complete circle with his weapon before moving forward.

  Roxanne tried to get up as they approached but was once again yanked back by her mother. “Wait until they’re closer!” Roxy whispered. “Christ! Have you no sense of self-preservation?”

  With a sigh, Roxanne slumped against the tree in frustration. Snow saturated her jeans and worked its way further into her boots. She couldn’t take much more!

  Finally, Roxy nodded and stood. Roxanne jumped up to join her and clomped out of the woods toward the lane.

  When Callahan spotted them, he signaled the others. They halted in their tracks, their rifles poised for action.

  Pastor Jones did not wait for an all-clear but barreled through the snow waving his hands wildly. When he reached the law enforcers, he planted himself in their midst, still visibly shaken. “Thank God you’re here. I thought we were goners.”

  Conor followed the pastor out of their hiding place, shaking his head in disgust. No one paid any attention to the blubbering cleric. Instead, they continued scanning the woods for any sign of movement.

  As Roxanne tried to hurry towards them, her snow shoes tangled and she almost toppled. She noticed Callahan’s smirk as he watched her.

  Roxy grabbed her daughter’s elbow to steady her and with her other hand swung the snow shoes she’d taken off while they were in hiding. “We don’t need these anymore. You can run better without them.”

  When the third person in Callahan’s group turned to face them, the hood dropped from her head and Roxanne recognized Tiffany. Why couldn’t it have been Sam? She kicked at the snow like a two-year-old. Bad enough that she could barely walk in the damn snow shoes, she made a fool of herself in front of the annoying DSS agent.

  Pete made one more sweep of the area then lowered his rifle. “I think we’re clear. Haven’t seen any suspicious movement and no one’s taken a shot at us since we arrived. But just to be safe, we might want to keep close to the tree line going back.”

  Despite Pastor Jones’ protests, they followed Pete off the path. Tiffany and Callahan brought up the rear, keeping watch over the woods. It took only a few minutes for the group to reach the entrance where Jones’ Cadillac sat next to the police cruiser and a silver BMW X5.

  “Where’s the other SUV— the black one?” Jones looked around as if he expected the vehicle to miraculously appear. “It was here when I arrived.”

  “You’re sure it was parked? Maybe someone pulled off the road to look at a map or something.” Pete surveyed the area while he spoke.

  “Yes, I’m sure! It was big and had its nose pulled right up to the gate. I had a heck of a time getting around it and I would have seen if someone was inside even with the tinted windows.”

  “Not here when we showed up. Just the white Cadillac.” Pete secured the gate and fastened the padlock. Then he stooped over to pick up something from the packed snow.

  With a start, Roxanne realized she must have dropped the silver key after opening the lock. She recalled fumbling with her mittens as she struggled to put it in her pocket while Roxy rearranged the chain.

  Pete handed the key to the pastor. “I assume this is yours?”

  Shit! Now they may never get another chance at the campgrounds. Why the hell did Pete give him the key? But Roxanne couldn’t blame the sheriff. He didn’t know the circumstances.

  “My guess is whoever took that shot at us is long gone in that missing SUV.” Roxy stepped closer to the road and scanned the area with scrunched up eyes. She held one hand over her forehead to block out the sun while her head swiveled like a hawk searching for prey.

  The pastor unlocked the door to his white Cadillac. �
��If it’s all right with you, I’m taking off. I just want to put this behind me.”

  Pete nodded and Callahan waved Jones away, saying he was free to go.

  As Pastor Jones disappeared down the road, Roxanne felt a surge of relief. Then she remembered he had the key. “I shouldn’t have dropped it,” she said. “What’ll we do now?

  “We’ll figure out something.” With one last glance down the road Roxy returned to the group. “Right now we should get to our car before we freeze to death.”

  “Where is your car?” Callahan surveyed the area.

  “Down the road a bit. We didn’t think it was smart to advertise our presence,” Roxy told him.

  Callahan began walking alongside Roxanne but stopped when Tiffany called to him. “Hey boss, give me your rifle. I’ll pack them up.”

  He checked the safety on his Colt M4 before holding it out, barrel pointed down. As she came close enough to secure the gun, she managed to slide into Callahan. In a reflexive action, his free arm went around the agent to keep her from falling. She looked up at him and laughed.

  In Roxanne’s judgement, Tiffany remained tight against him longer than necessary. She felt like shoving the blonde into a snowbank. Instead she followed her mother and Conor down the road without looking back. She had no claim to Callahan. If he preferred Tiffany’s obvious flirtation to being with her, then so be it. But she didn’t have to watch it.

  “Wait up!” Breathless, Callahan joined her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, the same arm he had used to hold Tiffany. Roxanne fought the urge to pull away. Instead, she forced herself to smile up at him.

  “When did she get here?” Although Roxanne tried to maintain a neutral tone, the question sounded snarky.

  Callahan tipped her chin up, forcing her to look into his eyes. “You’re jealous.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “I don’t think it, I know it this time.” Callahan grinned, then chuckled as he pulled her close. “I like it.”

  She elbowed him in the ribs. “Well, I don’t.”

  After a fake “Ow”, he lowered his lips to hers for a quick kiss.

  Roxanne became conscious of everyone’s eyes on them, particularly Tiffany’s. She wound her arms around his neck and fused her mouth with his. Let the bitch see what she was up against.

  As they ended their embrace, she felt a little foolish. The agent somehow brought up all her insecurities and flashed them in neon colors. Keeping her voice low, she muttered, “What’s she doing here?”

  “I need another body and she just became available. If we can get a lead on those two Irish bastards before they leave the country, it will be easier than following them across the Atlantic. Do you want me to send her away?”

  “No, don’t be silly. I was just curious, that’s all.”

  Callahan’s grin returned with a vengeance. “Sure you were.”

  Roxy honked the horn, waving at her daughter to get moving. Callahan grabbed both her hands before she could walk away. “Wait at Roxy’s place. I’ll pick you up there tonight.”

  “Where are you going now?”

  “We’re still trying to locate Vicki, and Ron’s at the hospital making another stab at interrogating Clancy. He’s a tight-lipped bastard about his friends.”

  “You’d think he’d be pissed that they left him behind,” Roxanne said.

  “Doesn’t seem to care. He’d probably do the same thing to one of them if the tide was turned.”

  Roxanne racked her brain for something to say to keep him at her side. “Where’d the fancy BMW come from?”

  “It’s a loaner from a dealership hoping to sell the DOS a fleet. Tiffany charmed the mechanic’s into assigning it to her for testing.” Callahan glanced around at the car. “It’s a sweet ride.”

  The mention of the other woman’s name rankled her. She shrugged to show she wasn’t impressed as Roxy honked again.

  “You’d better get going before your mother leaves without you. I’ll see you later,” Callahan said.

  She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he made his way back to Tiffany.

  Roxy eased the car out of the snow onto the road and waited for her daughter to climb in. “Don’t worry about that cupcake. She’s too obvious.”

  “Cupcake? According to Callahan, she’s a top-notch agent.” Roxanne slumped against the rear seat as she attempted to fasten her seatbelt. “But I’m not worried.”

  “Okay, if you say so.” Roxy stepped on the gas and the little rental car cruised away from the campground.

  “What are you going to do now that we don’t have the key?” Conor gazed out the passenger side window.

  Roxanne silently thanked him for changing the subject.

  Roxy hesitated before she answered. “We have two choices. I can beg Jones’ forgiveness and ask him to meet us again or we can search the other spot first.”

  “I doubt that Jones will be in a hurry to go back to the campground,” he said.

  “Yeah, that’s my thought, too.” She swerved around a pothole without slowing.

  “We could easily climb over that chain-link fence,” Conor pointed out.

  Roxanne recalled Pete’s warning. “And you could be arrested for trespassing.”

  “If we don’t find anything at the next place, we’ll have to consider it, though.” Conor looked at Roxy for confirmation.

  “We don’t have to decide just yet,” Roxy said. “The split on our road runs quite a distance. I’ve never been to the end of it. So we have a lot of territory to cover.”

  Conor grunted as he resumed staring out the window.

  “Are you going to need my help again?” Roxanne thought she would only slow them down and she really had no desire to freeze her ass off.

  “It’s probably best for you to carry on with your own business,” Roxy said. “Those morons in the black SUV may be gunning for you, not us.”

  Roxanne’s sense of relief changed to dismay. “Then why did they hide by your place?”

  “From where they were parked they could easily keep an eye on Chester’s place, too.” Roxy turned into her driveway and braked at the rear of the cabin. “Every time a shot’s been fired, you were around, not me or Conor.”

  That had certainly been true the first two times. And this morning, she’d been trailing behind her mother and Conor. The shot seemed to have passed between her and the approaching pastor. Could she have been the target, again?

  “But who would be shooting at me?”

  “Let’s hope we find out soon. This is getting old.” Roxy clicked off her seatbelt and opened her door. “Now let’s get inside and warmed up. I’m seriously considering waiting until the sun is high and the snow gone before we start again.”

  “Really?” Conor’s hand hesitated on the door handle as he turned to Roxy.

  She laughed. “No, of course not. We’ve got to find it as soon as we can. I’m not crazy about the idea but we can’t stop now.”

  The minute they entered the cabin, Roxy cleaned out the fireplace and set new logs in the hearth. She lit them before she boosted the thermostat. After a short while, she and Conor left to resume the search on the nearby road.

  Roxanne checked with Sylvia for the next day’s schedule. Then she let her body go limp in the chair closest to the fire. She could not shake off the realization that someone wanted her dead. How could she ever feel safe until she knew who and why?

  The heat from the burning logs gradually permeated her bones, giving her a feeling of complacency. Mesmerized by the flames, Roxanne let her thoughts drift. At some point, she must have nodded off.

  The next thing she knew, a vehicle crunched into the driveway, its lights flickering through the narrow opening in the curtains.

  - 14 -

  The smell of fried onions, the sight of Roxy and Conor in
the kitchen and the knock at the front door, all competed for Roxanne’s attention at once. Her foggy brain struggled to make sense of everything.

  Someone had flung a fleecy blanket over her as she slept. How long had it been? And when had the two of them returned from their drive? Her stomach rumbled at the prospect of food. But first, somebody wanted in.

  Her mother signaled to Conor that he should open the door.

  As he did so, Roxanne wiped her eyes and finger combed her hair before she put aside the blanket. Her mind was still groggy; no quick fix for that.

  Callahan stomped his snow-covered boots on the welcome mat. After greeting the Irishman and Roxy he focused on Roxanne. “You ready?”

  “Uh, not just yet. Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll drive over in a little while.” Roxanne hoped to scrounge an invitation to dinner at the cabin.

  “You should ride with us,” he said. “Leave your car here for now.”

  “But, I’ll need it in the morning,” she protested.

  “We can always pick it up on our way in, if you absolutely, positively can’t do without it.” Callahan lifted his shoulders then dropped them. “Though, I’d feel better if we took you to the office.”

  “No. I’m tired of being dependent on you for transportation. I want my life back.”

  “I’m only trying to keep you safe.” In two strides, he reached her chair and pulled her to her feet. “I’d hate for anything to happen to you.”

  As they stood in front of the fireplace, Roxanne returned the squeeze of his hands. “I appreciate your concern. But we can’t stay attached at the hip. Maybe when this is all over, we can have a normal relationship. You know, the kind where we’re not constantly looking over our shoulders.”

  “That would be nice. But I’m afraid now’s not that time.” Callahan swung her around toward the hall closet. “Please, get your coat. You should be with us tonight.”

  Roxanne’s stomach growled, loud enough for all to hear. “What about dinner? I’m starving.”

  “We stopped at the diner for take-out and picked up enough for you,” he said. “We need to go before it gets cold.”