Bryce stood in front of the mantel, looking at the picture of Jade and Mia. Mia. His daughter. His daughter. A person, with thoughts and feelings and her whole life ahead of her. She was a part of him, and already he wanted to know everything about her. There was no way he could just walk away. From either of them.
He raked a hand over his head, his decision made. Not that it had been much of a decision. The moment Jade had said Mia was his, he was already making plans to spend time with her. And Jade. Assuming tonight went like it was supposed to.
Just letting you know that all is well right now, Jade texted. In position and waiting.
While he appreciated the update, Bryce wasn’t happy that Jade planned to participate in the sting. Not because he thought she wasn’t capable, but because she’d been injured, and one day off wasn’t enough recovery time. If her job didn’t require her putting her life on the line, that would be one thing, but it did, and she needed to be alert and on top of things.
However, he’d been unable to talk her out of going, so he’d keep himself busy while waiting to hear if she would finally be safe and Frank’s killer was in custody.
He dialed Lisa’s number.
“Hello?”
“It’s Bryce, Lisa. How are you doing?”
“I’m...not good.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s not just about Frank’s death. I found his journal. He left it here last weekend when he stayed with us.”
“He left his journal behind?”
“Trust me, I was incredibly surprised. He would only have forgotten to grab it if he was distracted. Which he was.”
“You’re not the first person to say that. Tony Swift, the owner of the shooting range, said Frank had been in a lot lately and seemed to have something on his mind.”
“Exactly. I left him a message that I had it, but he never called me back. I’d put it in the drawer of the nightstand in the room he uses. With all of the craziness of the last few days, I’d forgotten about it. George went in there a little while ago and found it.” She cleared her throat. “I...ah...opened it up and read a few pages.” She paused. “Bryce, you spoke to Frank a lot since coming home. Did he ever say anything about calling off the wedding?”
Bryce stilled. “No. Why?”
“It’s one of his last entries. He said he was marrying Heather for the wrong reasons and was going to talk to her about calling it off. I think that might be what had him so preoccupied over the last few weeks.”
“It could be, but he didn’t say a word to me.”
“He wouldn’t unless he’d talked to Heather first.”
“Of course not.” Now he needed to talk to Heather. “I don’t think Heather knows, either. She hasn’t said anything. Certainly not to Jade. I’m pretty sure she would have told me. Did Frank say why he wanted to call it off? Other than that he was marrying her for the wrong reasons?”
“I don’t know. I felt so guilty reading it that I shut it.”
“This could be important. I need you to read through it and tell me if there’s anything in there about the investigation he was doing.”
“I... I can’t, Bryce.” Her voice grew tight. “It’s just too soon. We haven’t even buried him yet. I can’t read his journal. Why don’t I bring it to you first thing in the morning and you can read it.”
Bryce hesitated. He really wanted his hands on that journal. Frank might have mentioned something vital about what he was investigating—and whether that something had led to his death. “Okay. If it’s not too much trouble.” He wasn’t sure it would be much easier for him, but he’d do it.
“It’s not,” she said. “See you soon.”
Bryce hung up and pressed his fingers to his eyes, then pulled up Jade’s text. Anything new? he asked.
Still waiting.
Should he say anything about Frank having second thoughts about the wedding?
Gotta go. Someone just pulled up.
Bryce closed his eyes to pray. Then opened them and grabbed his keys. Sitting here while Jade put her life on the line just wasn’t going to happen.
Jade sat in the command van and kept her eyes on the monitor, watching as a white truck pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse. With the earpiece in her left ear, she could hear the captain’s voice like he was standing next to her instead of in one of the unmarked police SUVs now closing in around the perimeter of the warehouse.
“Just got word that Dylan’s family is safe and the three men who were watching the house are in custody,” the captain said. “I sent officers over there, and they’ve been waiting for this moment to move in. If we’d tried to do it too soon, we would have tipped off the ring, but the timing was perfect and it went off without a hitch. Everyone is safe. Dylan? You hear that?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Now it’s time to get the rest of them.”
Dylan rolled in shortly after the van.
“There he is,” Captain Colson said. “Keep eyes on him. And keep the body cams rolling. We do this by the book and take no chances on any lawyers getting these people off.”
Affirmatives echoed.
Jade gripped her weapon and made an effort to control her breathing. This was what she was trained for. Hours and hours. Trained to work as a team, to go in and catch the bad guys. To make her hometown a safer place for the people she loved. For her child—and, hopefully, future children. Gage and Jessica’s sweet faces flashed in her mind. How she prayed her parents were able to adopt them without any glitches holding things up.
“Let ’em get comfortable,” the captain said softly.
The van doors opened, and two men climbed out, then disappeared inside the warehouse.
Tense seconds passed. On the captain’s signal, Jade slipped from the command center van behind two team members and together, they scurried to the door. She took up a position on one side, connected eyes with the officer opposite her and nodded. He twisted the knob and pushed the door in. “Police! Everybody on the ground!”
“Show me your hands!”
Jade wasn’t sure who called the order as she and the others swarmed inside the building like ants on a hill. She held her weapon in front of her, sweeping it to cover the four men in the back of the warehouse. “Down on the floor!”
Two dropped, and two ran.
Jade bolted after the one closest to her. He darted toward the exit, and she quickly closed the gap. “Police! Stop right there!”
Of course he didn’t.
He reached the exit door. Pressed the bar—and went nowhere. The door was locked. Jade slammed into him, knocking the weapon from the back of his waistband. It clattered to the floor and he spun, fist shooting out. She ducked and threw a punch to his solar plexus.
The breath left him and he doubled over. She brought a knee up and caught him in the chin. He cried out and went down. “Stay there and put your hands behind your back.”
Wonder of wonders, he did. Jade snapped the handcuffs around his wrists and hauled him to his feet. He swayed, and she kept a grip on him. Looking around, she noted the others were in custody while yet more officers gathered the evidence. It was over. Before the sun came up, she had no doubt the rest of the ring would be captured.
And she and her family would finally be safe.
She directed her prisoner toward the entrance she and the team had breached and stepped outside to see Bryce standing next to her cruiser, Sasha at his side. Her eyes locked on his and her heart thudded a new beat in her chest. How could she still be so attracted to him when their future was still uncertain?
Grief shot through her, making her swallow a gasp. By the time she had the prisoner in the back of the car, she had her emotions under control.
As she shut the back door, locking the man in the back seat, she found herself watching her fellow officers do the same with the other prisoners.
She just had one question. Which one of them had murdered her friend, attacked her and burned her home, and had basically been making her life miserable lately?
She blew out a low breath. Time to find out.
Bryce stayed put, his fears eased at seeing Jade alive and well, doing her job with the confidence of one who was well trained and comfortable with her position. His respect for her just went up another notch—and it was already high to begin with.
Once she had her prisoner situated in the back of her vehicle, she shut the door and walked over to him. “Couldn’t stay away, could you?”
“No.”
Jade scratched Sasha’s ears and gave him a small smile. “I think we got them all,” she said. “All of the ones at the top, anyway. I’m sure there are a few low-level stragglers still out there, but we’ll catch them soon.”
“You think someone will cut a deal?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“I was scared for you.”
She stiffened and narrowed her eyes. “There’s no reason to be. I’m good at what I do.”
“I know. You have a dangerous job, but seeing you in action helped me. I might be concerned and pray for your safety, but I don’t think I’d be excessively worried you wouldn’t come home at the end of the day.”
Come home at the end of the day? Heat crept up his neck when he realized the way that sounded. Like they were a couple...or something. She obviously wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that and cleared her throat. “Yes, well, that’s good. I guess.”
“I guess.”
He searched for something to say to address his verbal blunder, but before he could think of anything, she patted him on the arm.
“I have to take this guy in,” she said.
He blinked. “Oh, I had something else I wanted to run by you. I talked to Lisa.”
“And?”
“She found Frank’s journal. He kept something like a diary, I guess. Anyway, she said she read some of it. Enough to know that Frank was planning on calling off the wedding.”
Jade gasped. “What?”
“So you hadn’t heard anything to that effect?”
“Of course not. Does Heather know?”
“I have no idea. I wanted to run this by you before I said anything to her.”
“Good. I’m glad you did.” She blew out a low sigh. “Okay, let me take care of this guy and then I’ll find Heather and ask her what was going on.”
“You want me to come with you?”
“No.” She bit her lip and paused. “In fact, now that I think about it, I’m not sure I even want to say anything to her. I mean, if she doesn’t know, why open that can of worms? Why hurt her like that?”
“Good point.”
Jade shook her head. “I’ll think on this after I get this guy taken care of. Just don’t do anything yet, all right?”
“Of course. Lisa’s bringing me his journal first thing in the morning. I’ll read though it, and that might give us some more information or insight into what Frank was thinking. Maybe she misunderstood or read something out of context.”
“Yes.” She grabbed that bit of hope and backed toward the cruiser. “Read it and fill me in.”
He nodded. “Be careful.”
“Always.” She pulled her coat tighter around her neck and grinned. “It feels good.”
“What does?”
“One of these guys is probably Frank’s killer—and the person after me. I think I’m good to go now.”
“Yeah. Still, watch your back until we know for sure, okay?”
“Of course.”
Jade climbed into her SUV and glanced in the rearview mirror. Her prisoner glared at her, and she shot him a tight smile. He looked away as she pulled out of the parking lot. At least tonight, the citizens of Cedar Canyon didn’t have to worry about a drug ring.
Tomorrow might be another story, but tonight the leaders were in jail. It felt good. As she drove, her thoughts turned to the questions just raised by Bryce.
Frank was going to call off the wedding? Why? Had he met someone else? Surely not. Then—again—why? And had Heather known about Frank’s cold feet?
No way. Heather would have told her. Right?
Then again, like Bryce said, it could have just been a misunderstanding on Lisa’s part. She continued to mull over what the right thing to do would be. Ask Heather...or not? By the time she had her prisoner processed into the jail, she still hadn’t come to a decision.
But it sure was nice not to have to look over her shoulder anymore.
At least until she caught sight of the headlights in her rearview mirror. They were closing in—and fast.
Jade frowned, tension threading from one shoulder to the next. The driver was going way too quickly. She flipped on her blue lights and slowed. The headlights grew brighter, and her stomach dipped as she realized the person was going to hit her. She jammed the gas pedal and shot forward. However, the car behind her stayed right on her tail.
And then the lights disappeared.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
The slam into her rear bumper threw her forward against her seat belt, and she hit the brakes out of reflex. The wheel spun under her grip and the SUV whipped sideways. She jerked against the seat belt and slammed her head on the window. Stars flashed. The vehicle tilted on two wheels then crashed onto the asphalt.
Stunned, she hung suspended by the seat belt. Her only thought was that she and her fellow officers had somehow missed a drug dealer. The most important one had gotten away. The one who wanted her dead.