“Okay then.” She set the duffel down. “How are you both feeling?”

“We might’ve been exposed, but I can’t be sure,” Dakota said.

“Wait.” Dr. Stevens waved a hand. “Exposed?”

Dakota nodded. “To whatever killed Mrs. Johnson.”

“And the dog.” Josh pointed to where the animal lay.

Doctor Stevens blew out a breath, her gaze on the animal. She pulled a phone from her jacket pocket and tapped, then swiped the screen. “I’ll let the vet know. If we have to run tests he may get answers faster than I’m able to. Especially if we’re dealing with a contaminant.”

Dakota led her to the house and showed her the body from the safety of the front porch. “Could be a simple poisoning, the dog maybe getting ahold of whatever it was she ingested.”

Doctor Stevens’ brow furrowed as she studied the body in the hallway. Then she bent and pulled a flashlight from the duffel, which she shone at the dead woman. “What makes you think it’s some kind of pathogen?”

“She coughed.”

It was the first thing out of Dakota’s mouth and the second she said it, she realized how ridiculous it sounded.

Josh to the rescue. “Plus the fact we found a lab at the compound.”

“Yes.” She pointed at Josh in agreement. “That too.”

Doctor Stevens glanced at her. She reached up and touched the back of her hand to Dakota’s forehead. “Your face still hurts?”

She said, “Yep.”

“I’d wager you have a slight fever, also. Did you take the meds I gave you?”

Dakota glanced at her watch. “I might be due for the next dose.” Where had she even put them?

“You should be resting right now, not out here working. But I’m not going to argue with you when I have other things to do.” Doctor Stevens shot Josh a look. “Another stoic federal agent determined not to let on that they’re in serious pain?”

“No, ma’am.” Josh touched a hand to his chest. “Hurts like judgment day over here.”

Doctor Stevens chuckled.

Dakota spun around. “Why didn’t you say something? Go sit down.”

“I will when you do.”

Doctor Stevens said, “Both of you should go take a nap. I’ll call you when I’m done here.”

Dakota didn’t like that idea when it meant leaving someone at an unsecured scene with no law enforcement experience.

Acknowledging their silence, the doctor said, “Okay, I didn’t figure you’d actually do it.” She chuckled and stepped inside the house. “Worth a try.”

Dakota said, “Be careful in there.”

Another vehicle pulled in. Dakota stepped past Josh and down the front walk, purposely not looking at the dead dog on the drive over by the garage.

The vet was gray-haired with rough hands. Josh went with him to the spot where the dog lay. She watched them talk. Saw the reaction on the veterinarian’s face at the sight of a dead dog. The vet felt the loss of an animal like a physical blow.

Dakota glanced back over her shoulder at the front door and could make out Doctor Stevens inside. Professional. Like Victoria, she kept her emotions divorced from her work.

The constant grind helped Dakota tamp down the hot ball of frustration and anger in her stomach. It whirled, slithered like a snake curling into a circle, and threatened to send her breakfast back up. Part of her wanted to know why she even cared about a dog and a dead woman she didn’t know. The other part of her couldn’t get past being tied to that chair.

It was done. She’d survived it just the way she’d survived everything else. And just like every time and with everything else, she was left with anger. Rage, actually, over the fact she’d been helpless. Frustration that she couldn’t fight hard enough to have freed herself before the pain started.

“You don’t look so good.”

Dakota shrugged. “It is what it is.”

He moved to touch her forehead like the doctor had done. Dakota shifted her head and stepped back. He frowned. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “Don’t make it worse.”

Josh leaned close and spoke low, so only she heard him. “Perhaps if you’re barely hanging on, you should let go. You might be surprised to find that the people around you are here and ready to catch you.”

 

 

. . .

 

 

She looked at him like he’d grown two heads. Josh sighed. It had been worth a try, at least.

He wasn’t an expert at relying on the people around him. He would much rather be fine on his own. The reality was that most of the time he wasn’t fine, and it wasn’t realistic to try to be either. Eden had encouraged him to share what was on his mind. To find someone to speak to who knew the kinds of things he’d seen and done.

Dakota seemed determined to ignore her feelings. To push aside any attempt he made to sympathize with her, because she didn’t think it worked. Like she thought feelings were a weakness, instead of one of the best parts of living.

Another vehicle pulled onto the property, this time a sheriff’s deputy. The vet had agreed to look over Neema as well, just to make sure she hadn’t come into contact with anything nasty. An older guy, and nice it seemed, who clearly cared about the animals under his care.

Neema stared at him through the window of the car while Josh wandered to meet with the deputy sheriff.

The man retucked his shirt and shook his head as he ambled over. “Feds?”

Dakota called out, “I’m Special Agent Pierce. This is Special Agent Weber.”

Never mind that they were with two different agencies, and she worked with a counter terrorism task force. Right now he did as well, but was that the point?

The deputy didn’t seem all that impressed. “You’re gonna have to explain to me how this isn’t harassment. Cause last I heard, Mr. Johnson didn’t want y’all at his house.”

Josh said, “If you can find him, I’m happy to apologize.”

Dakota came to stand beside him. “I won’t. And not only because he’s probably dead.”

The deputy blustered. “He…what?”

“We’ll let you see for yourself,” Dakota said. “Mrs. Johnson is dead.”

“So is the dog,” Josh said.

“And Mr. Johnson needs to be located.” She waved at the house with a sweep of her hand. “Whether or not he’s still breathing, we have no idea. But we’ll leave finding him up to you. After all, we wouldn’t want to be harassing him.”

Josh bit down on his molars to keep from smiling. The deputy sheriff muttered a string of expletives under his breath and made his way over to the house. “I don’t think you made him happy.”

Dakota shot him a look, a gleam of humor in her eyes. “Not part of my job.”

She really did look like she needed a hug. And a nap.

He sighed instead. He had no idea if Dakota was even attracted to him. But really, how could she be immune? The sparks between them were obvious enough to him.

From the look on her face when he’d nearly kissed her in the hospital, he’d say she knew. But maybe she was in denial about this, the way she was in denial about certain dogs. Maybe that was why she’d stopped him from touching her forehead this last time. Definitely in denial—at least, he hoped.

The deputy strode out, pink-cheeked. “The doc says it looks like poison. Some kind of chemical killed her.”

“Any sign of the husband?”

“Kitchen.”

Josh said, “Dead?”

The deputy nodded, looking a little sick. “Same as the wife.”

“So someone else did this to them?” Josh glanced between the deputy and Dakota, not necessarily looking for an answer.

Dakota said, “I got the vibe the husband might’ve been the kind to snap and hurt his wife. Maybe even kill her. But it’d be a spur of the moment, grab what’s handy. Beat her, or strangle her.”

The deputy swallowed.

“Both of them dying like this, plus the dog, though?” Dakota paused to let her question hang in the air. “They were targeted.”

Josh said, “Getting rid of loose ends?”

“Pretty drastic way to do that. Why not just shoot them?”

If they’d done that, they wouldn’t have had to kill the dog. Josh chewed on it, then said, “So they’re testing a substance, seeing how effective it is. Using it or getting rid of it. Or both.”

“Two birds?”

He shrugged.

“It’s a good idea,” she said. “I’m interested to know what Doctor Stevens comes up with as far as the substance. See if we can trace its source.”

He turned his body to face her. “And it’s what they were working with at the compound?”

She nodded, doing the same so they were face-to-face. “Some kind of drug, or chemical weapon maybe.”

“Excuse me—the compound?” the deputy cut in, his tone incredulous.

“Yeah,” Dakota said. “Clare Norton and her posse.” She pointed at her face, with its patchy purple spots. “The ones who did this to me.” Then she pointed at Josh. “And shot this DEA agent. Any idea where they are?”

The deputy blustered. “They’re God-fearing folks. Live off the land types. Not like bikers or vagabonds, who get their kicks out of breaking the law and hurting good people.”

“Right.” Dakota dragged the word out. “God-fearing or not, we need to know where they are.” She stepped closer to the deputy. “And if I find out you have a way to locate them, or even a clue where they are hiding, and you didn’t share that information with us…” She blew out a breath. “I’ll have you charged with impeding a federal investigation.”

“Now you…” He flapped his mouth open and shut. “Listen here…”

Dakota put one hand up, then drew out her vibrating phone with the other. “One sec.” She stepped away and answered it, the look on her face inordinately pleased at the timing of the call.

Josh studied the deputy. “Any inkling whether Clare and her people have been up to something lately?”

Give or take throwing a grenade at his truck, kidnapping Dakota, shooting him and maybe also killing Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, of course.

The deputy blew out a breath and scratched at his stubble-free chin. “They’re not exactly your run of the mill residents.”

“No bake sales, or church potlucks?”

He didn’t react to that. “I see them at church. And maybe they’re a little rough around the edges, but poison?” He shook his head again.

“Right now we have agents at the compound combing through everything they left behind after Dakota escaped. Do you have any idea where they might’ve gone?”

It was clear enough to Josh they intended to keep what they were doing a secret. But how many others were going to get hurt before this ended? For the first time since he walked up behind Dakota at the orchard on Friday night, Josh didn’t care about going back to his desk. This weekend had been exhausting and painful—not to mention the biggest test of his life so far—and it wasn’t even over.

“I don’t know where they’d go.”

Dakota strode back over, done with her phone call. “I think we might be on track to finding out.”

“Talia?”

“Gotta roll. Time to track down one of Austin’s friends.” She motioned to the house and asked the deputy, “You got this, right?”

“Uh…”

“Great.” She walked away, and Josh figured that was his cue to follow. At the car, she said, “You think I hurt his feelings?”

“I think you blindsided him.” He glanced at the vet, who had already loaded the dead dog into his truck. Then said to Dakota, “Do you have a problem with local law enforcement?”

“Generally, no.” An expression washed over her face, and she shot the deputy a look. It was almost like she was mad at herself. She sighed. “Let’s go find that teen.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16

Dakota shifted in the seat and realized that not only was she back in the car, but she also had fallen asleep. The car was parked in the lot outside the gym, and she was in the passenger seat. Alone.

She moved some more, wincing when her bruises and aching muscles made themselves known. She hardly remembered what feeling “fine” felt like right now, she was so uncomfortable.

Josh stood by a grassy area to the left, his attention half on the front door of the gym and half on his dog. Neema sniffed around the base of a scrawny tree, then squatted.

Dakota shoved the door open and clambered out. Ouch. She tried to walk like her whole body didn’t hurt, all the way to where he stood.

Josh saw her coming. “Hey.” His voice was soft.

She was still pushing away the remnants of sleep when she said, “Hey back at you.”

His lips twitched. “You feel better, then?”

Or she was just off her guard enough she was acting weird. “How long was I asleep?” She looked at her watch. It wasn’t even noon yet. On a Sunday.

“Thirty minutes or so.”

“Why does it seem like that breakfast we had yesterday morning was weeks ago?” She tried to stretch, but it just hurt more than it made her feel better, so she gave up and huffed out a breath.

“I know what you mean.” A smile teased the corners of his lips.

“Did you get anything on Austin’s friend?”

“He’s still in there working out. I called the front desk, pretended to be his parole officer and got the guy to confirm he’s checked in.” Josh pointed at a rusty pickup truck. “That’s his car.”

Dakota nodded. Same kind of pick-up truck as Austin. The letters on the back had been picked off, leaving, “YO.”

Neema wandered over, so she pet the dog on her head just to be polite. When she looked up, Josh was studying her. “What?”

He opened his mouth, then shifted. “There he is.”

They closed in on the teen. The guy strode to his truck in basketball shorts, tennis shoes, and an oversized sweater.

Josh called out, “Gavin.”

He didn’t turn.

Dakota closed in enough to tap his shoulder. He spun around, elbow first. She shifted out of the way. He saw her and flinched, then pulled the headphone from his right ear. The white cord trailed to a bulging sweater pocket. “What?”

She pulled her badge out and flipped it open, giving him a nice view of the gun under her arm. Josh did the same. Gavin’s eyes widened, taking them both in as well as the slender but imposing dog.

“Turn the music off, Gavin.” She waited until he complied, then said, “I’ll cut to the chase, no beating around the bush. Where’s Austin?” She paused half a second then said, “Now you do me that same respect and answer.”

She watched the battle take place on his face. Who were they? Why were they asking about Austin? How much trouble would he be in if he didn’t answer? Why did she look like she’d had the crap kicked out of her?

She said, “Speak.”

His mouth opened. Jaw worked side to side. “Fine.” He shook his head. Disappointed in his friend? “His dad has a hunting cabin up in the mountains.”

“His dad is dead.”

“If Austin is hiding, that’s where he’d go.”

Josh said, “And if Austin is with his brother, his aunt, and all of the rest of them, where would they go as a group?”

“Not the cabin. It’s tiny.”

Dakota said, “Any other properties you know of?”

“I don’t know where they'd go. I’ve never even been to that compound.” Gavin sniffed. “Austin’s changed. They’ve got him doing stuff for them. He’s different, you know? Maybe it’s better he split town. Makes it easier to get on with my thing, if I don’t gotta explain why I can’t hang. You know?”

“Uh.”

Dakota ignored Josh’s reaction and nodded. “You don’t have to worry about letting down your friend, because he’s not here. And you telling us where he is could save his life.”

Gavin studied her.

“Give me the location of that cabin, and you can get on with your day.”

Soon as he did they watched him drive off, then headed back to the car. Dakota sighed, tried to roll some of the tension out of her shoulders. She didn’t want to empathize with the guy, but her emotions were on a knife-edge right now. Since she’d seen Mrs. Johnson dead on the floor of her hallway, she’d been having a hard time keeping them contained.

No good was going to come of it if she let go of the hold on her emotions. Last time proved that.

She just couldn’t help commiserating with a teen living in a small town with little prospects for the future. Friends falling victim to things they weren’t equipped to handle—whether that were family pressures, drugs or alcohol.

This whole case hit entirely too close to home. As much as she wanted to believe she’d lived life past that point, coming here felt a whole lot like walking back in time. Different town. Different Dakota. She wasn’t that scared kid anymore.

Still.

She called Talia and explained about the cabin.

Her friend sighed. “Let me get to my computer. I’ll pull up an image and get you some pictures of the area so you know what you’re walking into.”

“Thanks. You’re a doll.”

“Remind me of that when I tell you what I want for Christmas.”

Dakota laughed. “I’ve created a monster.” Wait a second. There had to be a reason Talia thought Dakota owed her big. “Are you at the compound? Wearing your purple boots?”

Josh frowned at her from the passenger seat.

Talia said, “We have a winner.”

Dakota groaned, a smile on her lips. “Sorry.”

“Really?” She sounded suspicious. “Are you okay?”

“Are you?”

Talia chuckled. “We’ll be talking about that later. After I’ve washed this backwoods dirt from my life, and I’m at home in my fabulous condo sipping a Nespresso latte.”

“Maybe I’ll fall into a coma before then. Or drop dead.” It should have been funny, but her brain decided to remind her of that dead dog on the driveway. And the dead woman with white foam on her lips.

“I’m not laughing,” Talia said.

“Neither am I.” Dakota leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Sorry you have to do the dirty work.”

“You got me back on my computer, so I’m hardly going to say no. But seriously. Someone should have taught these rednecks to take care of their PC. It’s like they were living in the Stone Age with this thing.”

“Will you be able to get anything from it?”

“Looks like they were off the grid for the most part. No internet connection here,” Talia said. “They might’ve used it for record keeping, but it’s so old it’s taking forever to get into the files. Someone had a healthy appreciation for Minesweeper though.”

Dakota laughed. “I don’t know why they would. That game is boring.”

Talia chuckled. “I’m sending you images for the cabin, but it’s just Google Earth. There isn’t time to hack a satellite, and I try to only do that when they owe me a favor, so—heads up—there could be an army there and I wouldn’t be able to see them.”

“Thanks.”

“Better start saving for Christmas, chickie.”

The call ended with Dakota laughing.

 

 

. . .

 

 

Humor changed everything about Dakota’s face. Josh didn’t pull out of the parking lot. He just wanted to look at her. She’d brightened. Her eyes wide and gleaming. Her cheeks with more color than he’d seen since he met her.

“Are you gonna go, or will we sit here all day admiring the scenery?”

A semi passed them on the highway, spraying gray muck on the front of the SUV. Josh pulled out behind it and ran his windshield wipers. “Are you going to try and nap again?”

“Probably not.” She shifted to face him more. “Did you want to sleep? I could drive.”

He shook his head. “It’s distracting me from how much my shoulder hurts.”

She looked at the images on her phone. “There’s a hole in the roof. Though this image could be from months ago, so it might have been fixed.”

“Months?”

“Like when you look up your house on Google Earth and the car in the driveway is someone you haven’t dated in weeks.”

He felt his eyebrows rise. “That happen to you a lot?”

“I mean…” She shifted again.

“I’m just teasing.” Mostly. “Unless you want to share. I wouldn’t say no to learning more about you.”

She shrugged one shoulder as he drove the winding highway. “Not much to know.”

“Pretty quick on that reply. If you keep repeating it often enough, then even you will start to believe it.” He pressed his lips together. “You could just tell me you don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’m not currently dating anyone.” She said it like he’d forced a terrible confession from her.

“Neither am I. And I haven’t for a while now. Between DEA training and my first post, there hasn’t been much time. Before that I was deployed.” It had been him and Neema.

Maybe that was why he’d fought so hard to get her back after he’d been accepted as a federal agent. She was all he had that truly belonged to him. A big part of what made him the man he was.

“The job takes up a lot of time,” Dakota said. “Most guys don’t understand that. Or they do similar jobs, which makes scheduling a date next to impossible.”

“Favorite date of all time.”

She chuckled again, a flash of that lightness he’d seen on her face when she’d been talking to Talia. “Gosh. The county fair…maybe, what? Twelve years ago?”

She had to have been in high school then. “He hit all the targets and won you a big prize?”

“As I recall,” she said, “I’m the one who hit the targets and won the giant panda. So cute. I think I still have it in my closet. He got pissy and took off, met up with some friends. Only he’d given me a bunch of dollar bills. So I paid for all the other attractions with his money and then rode the Ferris wheel with Mr. Fluffy.”

Josh nearly choked on his laughter. “I’m glad you made the most of him ditching you for his friends.”

“Oh, I did.”

“And the rest of your dates?”

She made a noise that sounded like a snort. “Not all that much different when I think about it.” She was quiet for a second, then said, “Huh.”

“That sounds like an epiphany about your dating life.

“Maybe.”

“I had one of those.”

“Yeah?”

He was heading them out of humorous-life-story territory, and firmly into things that were honest. Real. But maybe that was a good thing. “I’ve dated a few women. I’m twenty-eight, so that was bound to have happened.”

When he glanced over, he saw her nod. He didn’t want her to think he’d been alone, but it wasn’t like he’d had a flourishing romantic life either.

“But it never lasted that long. It seemed like I was giving everything I could, but it wasn’t enough. You know?” Maybe she didn’t know. “Like I couldn’t do enough, or be enough, to make them stick around. It wasn’t like they were waiting for me to ask them to marry me, more like they just…got bored.”

It hurt to admit it, though he figured it was also a good thing. Josh understood the value of sharing things that made him vulnerable, even painful. It was part of what he’d learned. No one could be stoic and unfeeling forever. Eventually you had to let someone into your life and hope they would stick around.

No one had so far. Except Neema, and maybe Eden. Would he get there one day with a woman? Find someone who stayed long enough to build a family—and make it a forever thing?

He didn’t want to hope that was going to be what happened with him and Dakota. Life didn’t work out that way. Or at least, it hadn’t so far. Hope only gave him a side of heartache to go along with being alone. Neither was fun. Both together were seriously painful.

She was facing him. He could see her study him out the corner of his eye. “You ever think…maybe it’s you?”

Josh swallowed against the lump in his throat. “I did what I could. But sometimes I wonder if it wasn’t enough.”

“That’s not it.” She shook her head. “I just wonder if…maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m what’s wrong. Like there’s something broken in me.”

“There’s nothing broken in you, Dakota.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. He desperately wanted her to hear him. To take his words on board. “You might be different than any other woman I’ve ever met in my life, but that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.”

And maybe that difference was going to be the thing that made this—whatever relationship they could have—unlike any other relationship he’d had so far.

Maybe she didn’t want that with him. But that thought wasn’t enough to stop hope from birthing in him. Warm, glorious hope that saw no problems. Just promise.

He sighed. The pain would come later.

It always did.

“Okay.” Her voice was soft.

They drove in silence for a while, and then she needed to direct him from her phone. He followed the turns and they ascended the mountainside up a thin dirt track that was mostly sharp corners and switchbacks. Anyone not familiar with the area probably got lost pretty frequently.

“Thank God for GPS.”

Dakota nodded. “Right? This place is a maze.”

Houses and cabins were scattered up the hillside. Their destination was the farthest end of the dirt “road.” When he pulled up outside, he grimaced. “Mud.”

The car was covered with it.

“No smoke from the chimney.” Dakota motioned to it with her finger. “Could be laying low, or no one is here.”

Josh climbed out and angled left, seeing something around the side. His boots quickly got caked in mud. “His truck is here. Looks like he pulled it around back.” He glanced at the ground in front of the cabin. “Must’ve rained since.”

Dakota shivered.

“Not a fan of rain?”

“Not when I’m anywhere except on my couch with a book and a mug of hot water.”

“Hot water?”

“Don’t knock it till you try it.”

He smiled, one hand still braced on his holstered gun just in case. “I’ll take your word for it.”

She glanced up at the overcast sky. “I don’t like getting caught out in the rain.”

Josh climbed up the porch steps and knocked on the front door. When no one opened it, Dakota said, “See if it’s locked.”

He turned the handle and pushed it open without entering. He’d already been shot once this weekend.

Dakota gasped. “Austin.” She rushed across the cabin’s bare wood floor.

The inside was threadbare, not much more than a bed, one chair, and a tiny circular table with two chairs. Austin lay on the floor like he’d been trying to drag himself to the bed.

Pale. Sweat-stained shirt.

Another victim of whatever killed the Johnson’s? “Is he…”

She pressed two fingers to his throat and blew out a breath.

“He’s alive, but only barely.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 17

Dakota leaned forward in the hospital chair. Austin’s hair was matted to his forehead with sweat. His eyes were glassy, but they were open and he was coherent.

The teen shook his head. Those glassy eyes were wide with fear. Of dying, or what would happen if he talked? Whichever one it was, she had to figure out a way to use it. To leverage his fear in order to get him to talk.

Might not make her an especially nice person, but it made her a good agent.

“You’re gonna make it,” she said. “You’re gonna live, but the quality of that life is up to you. If you wanna spend it doing twenty-five years in federal prison, that’s up to you. Or you want to go to college. Get a job, maybe meet a girl and have a family? That’s up to you as well. The rest of your life is entirely up to you, Austin.”

She heard Josh shift behind her, but didn’t break the connection she had with Austin.

“It’s about the choices you make right now.” She paused. “The rest of your life starts right now.”

His gaze shifted to Josh, then the TV. A local channel was playing a rerun and she’d muted the volume as soon as she came in, just before one-thirty. The day was marching on.

Tomorrow Josh would be gone—back to his desk. The alternative wasn’t something she had time to entertain right now.

Dakota was pretty sure they hadn’t been exposed to anything. They would have been showing symptoms by now. But what was it? What did Clare and her posse have?

And what did they intend to do with it?

“You went to that cabin to hide out. To get away from them.”

Austin said nothing.

Josh said, “Didn’t know it was too late, and you’d already been exposed.”

Austin scrunched up his nose.

She said, “Where did they go?”

“Does it matter when you can’t stop them?” Austin’s voice was quiet. Broken. A single tear rolled from the corner of his eye.

“They got their hands on something. A drug, a virus. You could be dead right now, but you’re not.” She did think things happened for a reason. That he was still alive for a purpose. “It’s my job to stop them, and you get to help me.”

It wasn’t an invitation. She wasn’t going to waste her own time, appealing to whatever sense of nobility or duty he might have. That would take too long.

She said, “Means you tell me where they are, what it is, what they’re going to do with it and who sold it to them. And you’re going to tell me right now.”

He had to know this was time sensitive. But a teen who had been screwed up in more ways than one probably wasn’t going to think logically about any of this.

“I left. They didn’t tell me where they were going.”

“In the lab it looks like they were conducting a science experiment.”

He nodded stiffly. “It has to be doctored. They have like…a concentrate. It’s in a tiny vial, with instructions on how to mix it to make more.”

“What are they going to do with it? Is it a virus?”

“They’re gonna make a statement.” Fear washed over his face. “That’s all I know.”

“So you’ll trade your ignorance for a life in jail? Because I can have charges brought up on you. Accessory to kidnapping, assault, the attempted murder of my friend here.” She motioned to Josh with her finger, but didn’t turn around. “Because you’re telling me you’re so honorable you never eavesdropped. Maybe you heard something you weren’t supposed to have.”

Austin sniffed. Pressed his lips together.

“Where did it come from?”

“Terry picked it up.”

“Why was Maggie killed?”

“She was going to leave. I heard them arguing. She said they were going too far.”

“You dumped the body.” She let that statement hang in the air for a second, then said, “Who told you to do that?”

He swallowed.

“Who?”

“Aunt Clare.”

“Did your aunt kill Maggie?”

Austin nodded.

She sat back and breathed against the persistent ache in almost every part of her body. Her head was the worst. “You want to be dragged down with them? They’re your family. I get that. More than you’ll ever know, I understand the pressure you’re under to be part of who they are. How they get in your head and twist everything you think about yourself and the world. But maybe that’s not you.”

“They’re good people.”

“Are they? Or do you just not think you’re any better than them.”

He sniffed and scrunched up his nose.

“I get that you want to belong. You feel like you’re supposed to be part of it, because it’s what you were born to do—to be part of that legacy, right? But you know what? That thing they’re building—”

He said nothing.

“—they’re going to hurt a lot of people. Good people who didn’t ask to be dragged into your family’s war. People trying to live their lives right and honest. And your family is going to destroy what they’re building. That’s what they are set to do. Destroy.”

“Maybe those people deserve it.”

Dakota shook her head. “They don’t. They never do. Just like you don’t deserve jail time just because you were born into their family. That’s why you’ve got to choose. Like I had to choose when I walked away to live the life I wanted. Not the one I was told I should have.”

Talking about it made a lump stick in her throat. She had to swallow it back down while she ran through those opening lines of the Declaration of Independence, just to get the past to dissipate. This case was dragging so much garbage back up in her head. Stuff she’d buried and laid to rest. Stuff she had no interest in dragging out to deal with again.

The door to the hospital room opened. Dakota saw a flash of uniform—the state police officer stationed outside—before the doctor stepped in. “Your chat is over. You’ve had long enough.”

Dakota stood, and the gray haired MD moved past her. At the door, she turned back to Austin. “Think about what I said, okay? The choice is yours.”

Josh followed her out. She glanced at her phone but didn’t have anything new from Talia, who had swung by and picked up Austin’s phone. Hopefully their tech would get something from it, and it wouldn’t be a wasted trip.

In the hallway, Josh said, “It’s not really a choice, is it?”

Dakota shrugged. “Jail or betrayal.”

“You really think it’s betrayal.”

“I think he’ll see it as that.” She blew out a breath and ran her hands through her hair, wishing for a hairband so she could secure it in a ponytail. Get it out of her face.

“What did you have to walk away from?”

The question was quiet, but jarred her out of her head as though he’d shouted it at her. Dakota lowered her hands.

“There’s something, isn’t there?”

“We all have past experiences we wish we’d never lived through, right?” She shrugged, trying to pretend it wasn’t a big deal. “Mine is no different.”

“What did you survive?”

Everything inside her wrenched. Contorted. Like a blow to the stomach. She wanted to bend over and succumb to it, but forced herself to stay upright. “Who says I survived it?”

 

 

. . .

 

 

Josh had never in his life been more tempted to run his own background check on someone. The desire to learn about Dakota’s past, that thing she’d lived through but hadn’t necessarily survived, ate at him the whole way down to the morgue.

They exited the elevator and he shivered. “Whoa. Cold.”

“Brr.” She glanced at him before she wrapped her jacket tighter around her. Not exactly happy, but at least the trace of sadness was gone. He didn’t want her to be swallowed up by things she refused to tell him.

The urge to hug her was still there. Plus the nap. The almost-kiss from Friday night. He sighed as they strode down to where the music was coming from. Some kind of soft rock, but it sounded like the kind you’d hear on a street corner in New Orleans.

“Why are you being weird?”

He glanced at her. “Long day?”

“Long weekend.” She smiled ruefully. “I swear you’re not meeting me at my best.”

“You think I care about that?” He tugged on her elbow before she stepped inside the room where Doctor Stevens was performing an examination on Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. “I’m just glad we’re both okay.”

“Define, ‘okay.’”

“Point taken.” She’d been beaten, and he’d been shot. “Maybe we’ll just have to meet up after this is over, get to know each other when things return to normal.”

She eyed him. “Not sure my life is ever actually normal, to be honest.”

“True.”

“And if this case turns into another case? If we end up working together for a while?”

Josh frowned. He had repeatedly felt like they were testing him. Was this whole thing, him being here, some kind of interview? Was this how Victoria scouted out new team members?

“We’re a team member down since we had a guy get injured and retire before Christmas.” She made a face, like she didn’t approve of anyone quitting. For any reason. “Now he’s licking his wounds in Alaska.”

“So you’re having me tag along with you just to check me out for Victoria?”

“And to keep you from getting into the kind of trouble we can’t get you out of.” She shrugged. “With the added bonus that I get a break from Sal and all that ‘cupcake’ stuff.”

Josh smiled.

“Are you two gonna stand out there all day,” the doctor called out from the examination room, “or will you actually come in at some point?”

He turned the corner and stepped in. “Hey.”

Doctor Stevens glanced between them. “Did you two figure it out yet?”

He said, “Figure what out?” Dakota glanced at him, but he shrugged.

“This thing happening between you.” Doctor Stevens motioned between them with her finger. Gloved, and smeared with dark blood.

Dakota said, “Nothing’s happening between us.”

Josh nodded. “Right.”

He couldn’t let anything happen. Not if they really were interviewing him for the open position on their team. Even just dangling that possibility in front of him gave Josh an additional level of pressure he hadn’t needed. But he was glad Dakota told him—or at least she’d inferred it was on the table.

If he could get a job with the Northwest Counter Terrorism Task Force, that ruled out the possibility of something happening between the two of them. Fraternization wasn’t against the rules, but it also wasn’t encouraged. Agents with relationships got distracted. Emotions affected choices. In the heat of a tense situation, people diverted from training and regulations because someone they cared about was at risk.

It definitely made things sticky.

The doc said, “If you say so.” And turned back to her body, shaking her head. “Shame.”

“Mrs. Johnson?” Dakota wandered over to look at whatever Stevens was looking at.

Josh didn’t particularly want to stare into a dead woman’s chest cavity. “What did you find about the substance that killed her?”

“I was right about the vet helping,” Stevens said. “He was able to run the test much faster, and we’ve already confirmed what he discovered. It’s a form of the chemical weapon, VX gas.”

Dakota gasped. “What?”

The doctor nodded. “This is different, and likely they ingested it. But from the test results we have, someone took VX gas and did something with it. Tweaked it.”

“You know all that, already?” Dakota asked.

Stevens’s eyes darkened. “I worked with the Red Cross in Bosnia and Sarajevo. Saw some awful things used on people. This is very similar, though it’s far more sophisticated now compared with what has been used previously.”

“But not a gas?” Josh asked.

“No.” She shook her head. “Not anymore. Someone who knows what they’re doing worked with it. The end result is similar, but it’s not airborne. Deaths are targeted with this, because you have to inject the person directly. Or get them to ingest it in some other way.”

Josh said, “And the dog?”

“Must have come into contact with it.” Doctor Stevens motioned to Mrs. Johnson, then beyond her to the table where Mr. Johnson lay. “Because these two were injected.”

“What about Austin?” Dakota said.

“Who?”

“The teen upstairs who got infected. He’s being treated.”

“He’s alive?”

Dakota nodded. Doctor Stevens said, “I’ll speak with his doctor. See if there are any injection marks.”

“I figured he got exposed when they were working with it. That can happen, right?”

The doc shrugged. “Possible. With VX, clothes are contaminated for a time. The two of you are watching for symptoms?”

Josh nodded.

“I’ll find out how Austin got sick.” Dakota shook her head and blew out a breath. “I just assumed he was exposed to the same thing, since he looked pale and clammy.”

Josh said, “It’s the most likely scenario.” Thinking about the set up at the lab they’d found in the compound. An amber-colored liquid, purchased by Clare Norton to do serious damage. But who did she buy it from?

The doctor said, “I can help whoever is treating this Austin person, and they can potentially shed some light on it for me.” Stevens pulled off her gloves. “But at least we know it’s not an airborne contagion.”

Josh nodded. If it had been, he and Dakota would likely be dead by now.

“And if Clare has a way to make it into one?” Dakota glanced at both of them in turn.

Josh said, “You think she has mass casualties in mind?”

“Buying something like this is overkill if you’re just looking to murder a couple of people. She might’ve killed these two to tie up a loose end, but in the process also exposed what substance they have and plan to use. And we know they’ve got something planned. It’s just a question of figuring out what it is.”

“So they tipped their hand.” Josh shrugged one shoulder. “So what?”

“Just seems dumb is all.”

He was inclined to agree with that. People were people, some were smarter than others, and criminals weren’t that different. Still, he’d expect a little forward planning. He said, “Could be a measure of how smart they aren’t.”

“I’m not betting on that.”

“Or an indicator of something else.” What, he didn’t know.

Dakota shook the doctor’s hand, and Josh did the same. “Austin needs to tell us what he knows.” She shifted and pulled out her phone. The screen lit with an incoming call. “Or maybe his phone already has.”

She answered the call. “Yeah, Talia.” After a few seconds of quiet, her gaze flicked up to his. “We’ll be right there.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 18

Dakota led the way inside her and Talia’s motel room, where the whole team had gathered. Josh shut the door behind them. Dakota had zero energy. It was way past the point where she could pretend otherwise.

She walked to her bed, sat down and flopped back with a moan.

Sal’s horchata-smooth voice said, “Rough day at work, dear?”

“To be honest, it’s been a rough couple of decades.” She smiled but didn’t open her eyes. Not that there was much to smile about. She might not have been willing to share with Josh, but that didn’t mean she’d quit thinking about it. Sal and the others knew some. Not all of it.

Only Victoria knew everything. And yet, the director had her father transferred to the local federal prison, and she’d been about to send Josh to speak to him.

“Whatcha got for us, Tal?”

“For real?” her friend said. “Don’t call me that. Ever.”

Dakota cracked one eye open. Across the room Talia stood with her hand on her hip, looking down her nose. Josh covered his laughter with a cough.

“Sorry.”

“It’s official,” Talia said. “You’ve lost your marbles.” Her eyes glinted behind her tiny designer glasses. How they were even functional, Dakota didn’t know.

She rolled over, grabbed a pillow and pulled it down the bed to stuff under her head. “You learned something from Austin’s phone?”

“Don’t I always?”

Niall opened the bathroom door and stepped out. “What’d I miss?”

“Nothing,” Dakota said. “She didn’t start yet.”

“Do you want me to drain your retirement accounts and change the password to access your bank account online?”

Dakota grinned. “Again?”

“Last time was just a taste.” Talia linked her fingers, then stretched her arms in front of her and cracked her knuckles. “You have no idea what I can do.”

“I don’t wanna know.”

The motel room door lock clicked, and Victoria entered.

Sal muttered, “Attention on deck.”

Dakota glanced at him, already halfway to sitting, before she realized what she was doing. Josh had snapped straight and looked at Sal as well.

Victoria shot him a look. “Funny.” She took off her coat and laid it on the back of a chair. “Talia?”

The NSA agent spun to the TV, which she’d linked by a cable to her computer. “From Austin’s phone, we were able to get all of their numbers. Email addresses. We even got into Terrence Crampton’s bank account, since the brothers’ accounts are linked.”

Several images flashed across the screen, too fast for Dakota to read anything but a blur of numbers. Josh had been standing by the TV. He wandered over and plopped down on the bed with a good amount of space between them but not too much it was weird. One of several things she’d found worth appreciating about him.

Talia continued, “From there we got a warrant to get into Clare Norton’s email. It was pretty sparse. As in she’s barely ever used it even though she signed up, like, ten years ago. From the contents of her junk mail, I’d say either Terrence or Austin—or both—use it to access all kinds of um…entertainment. On the internet.” She glanced around. “And I don’t mean Netflix.”

Sal said, “We get it.”

Dakota made a face, because that was gross no matter who was watching it. She’d seen the ugly side of the sex industry and could rarely watch movies anymore because there was so much nudity in them. It wasn’t about taking the moral high ground. It was about not wanting to be reminded of things she would never be able to unsee.

“Anyway,” Talia said, “There was an email a few months back that piqued my interest. A link. The address is for an online file server on the dark web. You log in with the credentials provided, and you can access whatever is there.”

Dakota said, “Like read whatever message they left you?”

Talia nodded. “Easier to control than a message board just anyone can see, because they’re alerted whenever someone logs in. And they don’t have to speak in code. Whoever set it up knows who accesses it, when, and from where.”

“Can you get into it?” Josh asked.

Niall tipped his head to the side. “And is it worth revealing your IP address just on the off chance it’s related, and not something that has nothing to do with all this.”

Talia clasped her hands to her chest. “Did you just say, ‘IP address’?” She wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of her eye. “My baby. He’s all grown up.”

Dakota snorted. Everyone looked at her. She cleared her throat. “How do you know if it’s related? Could be they bought the contagion online, and this server thing has nothing to do with it.”

Talia said, “I would put money on the fact it’s whoever they bought the VX from.” She turned back to the TV and clicked on her wireless mouse. “The email address the link came from is too good. It’s a ghost. Doesn’t even exist as a domain now.”

“And that makes sense to you?” When Talia nodded Dakota said, “What about the login?”

“All I can say is that Clare Norton didn’t receive the credentials by email. The phones are all unregistered, and we can’t access anyone’s but Austin’s. How she got the username and password for the server, I can’t say with certainty at this present moment.”

Which meant that later was an option. Talia was severely hampered being this far from their office in Portland and away from her good toys. The mobile version of her system that she’d—in her words—pared down and packed into the laptop she traveled with was, “woefully understated.” Whatever that meant. Seemed to Dakota she always managed just fine.

Victoria said, “As soon as you access, or even attempt to access the file server, you’ll be detected?”

Talia nodded. “Past a certain point, yes. I could maybe mask my penetration from the office a little better, but even that would buy me…maybe a few minutes. However I do it, the person who set it up will get an alert that someone is trying to get in.”

Victoria lifted her hand and ran her index finger across her top lip. Supposedly it was her, “thinking” face, but since she never ate until the afternoon, mostly Dakota figured she was deciding what to eat later.

Finally, Victoria said, “Okay, go ahead.”

Talia’s eyes widened. “Hack the server?”

Victoria nodded. “Use Dakota’s computer.”

Dakota said, “Hey—”

“Actually, that’s a great idea. It essentially has no personality. It’s perfect.”

She turned to Talia. “What—”

“The added anonymity will give me more time.” Talia paced the small space between TV and bed, tapping a pen on the palm of her hand. “I can create a persona that he’ll discover first. Until he realizes it’s a smoke screen. After that…” Her words drifted off into silence as she thought some more.

Victoria picked up where she’d left off. “Figure out a way to track him the moment he starts to track you. Turn the tables. Find out who it is and what that server is.”

Talia nodded slowly. “Okay.” Still nodding—her version of a thinking face. “Give me an hour to get set up.”

“Good.” Victoria turned to Sal. “What have you got?”

Conversation continued around her while Dakota put the pieces together in her own head. An online, dark web server. A chemical form of VX gas that had already been used to kill. Militia—anarchists. Not the usual kind of people to deploy a chemical weapon.

The target? She had no idea. Could be anything.

The one thing she knew for sure was that this was far from over.

Beside her, Josh pulled out his phone. He typed on the screen and then bent it so she could read. His notes app.

Could Harlem Roberts help us?

 

 

. . .

 

 

She covered her reaction well, but something was clear enough to him. Once again, Josh had pushed her too far. Enough to where she hit that place where she shut down. Kicked him out of the car. Screamed in his face. Walked away.

Kidnapped his dog.

Thankfully he’d left Neema in his room, sleeping off her morning outing in the car. Adventure was a dog’s life and his appreciated the best of them, so long as they featured sausage. And pancakes. She’d been snoring by the time he left the room.

Now he had only one adventurous woman to contend with. And she was pulling away.

Josh waved his hand, dismissing the idea, and stowed his phone. She didn’t need to worry about a mere suggestion. It wasn’t important if it was going to birth this kind of reaction in her. She could just forget he mentioned it in the first place.

Only, there had to be a reason Victoria had gone so far as to have the guy transferred to a local federal prison and arrange for Josh to go see him. Visiting time had passed, but surely he could use his badge—and Victoria’s pull—to get in.

Sal, Niall and Victoria were talking about what they’d found in the trash at the compound. A package had been delivered by courier. It could’ve been the VX, or not. A small vial of the amber liquid concentrate could have been easily transported. It was likely far easier to move the smaller it was, and maybe they had just sent it in the mail. Could even be carried on a person, in a small cylinder, like a travel mug. One vial could get to its intended destination basically anywhere—even through some airport screenings. A little doctoring and that small concentrate could turn into a huge batch of killing agent.

Was it going to be converted into a gas and dispersed in a populated area? Or added to the city’s water treatment tanks?

Either way meant multiple casualties.

Josh leaned over to Dakota and spoke quietly. “Sorry, but Victoria planned enough to move him local. I just wanted to know if it’s an option.” He shrugged.

“Don’t bring him up again.”

Did it have something to do with what she’d survived? Clearly her past wasn’t on the table as far as topics of discussion. Dakota wasn’t interested in lowering her walls and letting him get to know her. Maybe he should take that as a sign. Even with the most traumatic of circumstances, trust was pretty crucial between two people. To be vulnerable with each other. The fact she wasn’t willing to do that should tell him what he needed to know.

She wanted to keep things professional between them.

Well, that was fine by him. They had enough to do today without either of them overcomplicating it with messy emotions and distractions.

She pulled out her own phone, occupying herself while conversation continued to swirl around him.

“I’m in,” Talia said. She hadn’t been sitting at Dakota’s laptop for ten minutes.

“That was fast.” Josh felt his eyebrows rise.

She winked at him. “What can I say? I’m good.”

He opened his mouth to fire a quip back, but saw Dakota glance at him. Josh figured that wasn’t a good idea.

Victoria said, “Let us know when you get something.” Then she turned back to Sal. “What about targets?”

“Within a hundred miles? The usual soft targets like churches, shopping malls. Schools.” Everyone shuddered at the idea of a school being a target yet again. “Farther out you’ve got stadiums and concerts.”

Niall picked up the thread. “Then you’ve got federal buildings. State facilities.”

Like the federal prison Harlem Roberts had been taken to?

Josh shook his head at his own idea. That was way too out there. Especially if Clare and her posse didn’t even know Roberts. Josh had no clue how the man fit, other than with Dakota.

She shifted beside him and handed over her phone. He took it on a reflex, then said, “Wha—”

“That.”

He looked at the screen.

Local man arrested for murder.

Josh’s stomach flipped over, then settled far lower than it should’ve been. The victim was Imelda Packer, fifteen years younger and Roberts’ girlfriend. Shot in the chest and head. The only witness a seven-year-old girl.

Roberts’ daughter, Katie.

Josh looked up.

“I changed my name.”

Dakota Pierce was Katie Roberts. A little girl who had witnessed her father shoot his girlfriend.

Josh took a breath, not even knowing what to say. She was a survivor…of one of the worst kinds of violence a person could do to another person. At seven years old she’d seen that, and it had shaped everything about her—as much as she’d tried to shove it down. Deny it. Forget about it.

He knew with everything that was in him that Dakota had changed her name and separated herself from who she had been, and what she’d seen, as the next step of her survival.

He realized the room had gone silent. Josh looked at each of them.

It was Victoria who said, “You told him?”

Dakota lifted her chin. “You didn’t really give me a choice. I don’t want to talk about him, or to him. Not even if it’s one of you.”

“I thought—”

“I know,” Dakota cut in. “And I want to say thank you, because you care about me. You want me to face it and move on, but that’s not going to happen. I know you mean well.” She shook her head. “I’m not even at the place where I can appreciate the fact you had good intentions.”

Victoria pressed her lips together. Like she wanted to apologize, or cry.

Okay, maybe not tears.

The depth of respect between them, forged through years of working together, was plain for Josh to see. They did care. Even if they went about things entirely differently and had completely different personalities. They’d made a friendship work. But professionally, they were a family.

All the people in this room were.

The family Dakota had never had for herself.

And Josh had never wanted more than to be part of it.

Conversation wound down. Sal and Niall headed back to the compound. Victoria headed to her room to continue working. He checked on Neema, made a few calls from the classifieds online—asking around about a truck. Nothing much came of it, except he had a guy who was going to text him photos of an F150.

He knocked on their door again, but it was ajar.

Inside, Talia paced in front of Dakota’s computer. “Anything yet?”

She shook her head. “All quiet, except the layers of security that keep coming up. And when I get through one, there’s nothing behind it. Literally nothing. Not even a trace of something that used to be there.”

Behind her on the bed, Dakota was curled up. Fast asleep.

“So weird.”

Shoes clipped the concrete walk outside. He spun around just as Victoria trotted in, out of breath. “The prison.”

“What is it?” Should he wake up Dakota? Was this going to make her mad again?

Victoria squeezed her phone tight enough her knuckles went white.

Talia came over, pulling off her wireless headset. “What is it?”

“There was an incident at the federal prison thirty minutes ago. People foaming at the mouth, seizing and then collapsing.”

Josh said, “The VX?”

She nodded. “Can’t be sure, but it’s too similar to be a coincidence.” She took a breath. “Guards. Prisoners. It’s chaos, and communication is spotty. But there’s been a breakout. Some of the inmates escaped, and a contingent of guards took off.”

Josh knew why she’d come in like this. He opened his mouth to ask but not before a voice behind said, “Harlem?”

He spun to see Dakota sit up. Hair mussed, and with a crease down the side of her face.

Victoria said, “The whole place is a mess. Total chaos.”

“Tell me.”

“They have no idea where your father is.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 19

Dakota couldn’t stand. There was no strength in her legs. “Are you kidding me?”

He was loose? Fear slithered through her like frost creeping across a window.

“That was my reaction.” Victoria ran slender fingers down her hair. A nervous gesture. Not sure how Dakota was going to react.

Dakota shifted on the bed and tried to shove away the fatigue in her muscles. She could practically see her boss’s thoughts race. Focusing on that enabled her to still enough to suck in a full breath.

Josh’s attention was on her, unlike Talia who was fully focused on her computer. Dakota didn’t want to look at him, though. She didn’t need to process this one aloud. It was her deal, and no one else’s. What Harlem had done wasn’t anyone’s problem.

It was hers, and she didn’t share. Besides, she’d dealt with it. This was just an understandable hiccup in the process of getting on with the rest of her life.

There was just one other hiccup she had to deal with first.

She pinned Victoria with a look. “Did you do this?”

Her boss seemed surprised more than guilty, but she had been planning on sending Josh to talk to Harlem. Wasn’t it logical for Dakota to wonder if Victoria had planned this?

What if Josh had “happened” to be there, right when a prison break took place? Dakota would never put something like that past her boss. Victoria did whatever it took to get a result on a case. And everyone knew it.

Josh said, “Seriously?”

Dakota made a face like, What? She turned back to her boss. “Victoria, did you plan for Harlem to be loose in order to gain his assistance on the case?”

Her boss pressed her lips together and blew a breath out her nose. “Special Agent Pierce—”

“Answer the question, Victoria.”

“This is going in your file.”

“If I do it right,” Dakota said, “It’ll go in yours too. And I wonder which of us can’t afford to get written up about something else.”

Victoria sighed. “I did not plan for a modified version of VX to be released at the federal prison. I have nothing to do with these militia people.”

“And Harlem?”

“I didn’t take steps to get him released, or to somehow break him out,” Victoria said. “And anyway, we don’t even know if he escaped. Right now he’s just missing.”

“He escaped.”

“Perhaps we should go and find that out for certain before we continue jumping to conclusions.”

Dakota reached for her boots. “Fine.”

“Marshal Alvarez is headed to the prison already. He’ll be spearheading the hunt for whoever is missing.”

She stood and grabbed her jacket.

“Hold up.” Talia held up one finger but didn’t look away from her computer screen. “Seriously?”

Victoria had one hand on the door handle already. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Talia blew out a breath and sat back in the chair. She shifted to face them. “Okay, so this is weird. I got in there, right? But there was nothing. So I look around. More layers, more logins. Every time I think I’ve broken into the server, on the other side there’s nothing.”

Dakota didn’t know what that meant. “So they’re hiding the information.”

“It’s more like a Russian nesting doll…with nothing in the middle. Like I’m being strung along.”

Josh was the one who said, “Are they onto you?”

“Possibly.” Talia thumbed her lip with a gold-tipped nail. “I’ll have to look around. See if I can find a trace of whoever is giving me the runaround.”

“Like a distraction?” Dakota asked before she’d even really thought it through. “Which is interesting, considering it all broke loose at the prison around the same time.”

Victoria nodded. “Very interesting timing.”

“So they’re connected?” Josh asked. “Because I can’t really see a militia being all up on technology.”

“Maybe they have a guy…or know a guy.”

Talia said, “Or it’s the person they got the VX from. Someone smart enough to modify a chemical weapon.”

Josh nodded. “The server was connected to where they got the drug from.” He looked at each of them. “So it stands to reason that whoever’s behind what they’re doing is the one giving Talia the runaround.”

“No one is controlling them.” Dakota shook her head. “At the most, it’s a partnership but even that is going to be loose. They don’t get into bed with anyone. Its family, or you’re not a part of them.”

“So they bought it and whoever they got it from is covering their tracks,” Josh said. His eyes were a little too knowing. It wasn’t a secret now. She’d shown him the article. He knew that Harlem had killed his girlfriend, the woman who would have been her step-mother in a few weeks.

The flash of light erupted across the screen of her mind. A single gunshot, the sound so loud it was like a firework she could still hear even after all these years. Dakota’s body flinched. She couldn’t control the reaction. For a second she shut her eyes, but that only made the images more prominent.

She hadn’t even liked Imelda. The woman had never said anything nice and when Dakota’s dad wasn’t around, she had slapped her frequently. Not that he’d have cared if he had been there to see it. Harlem’s parenting style wasn’t all that different.

The foster family she’d been sent to had been the opposite—they’d never touched her at all. Dakota had spent most of her time alone, while the family went out to dinner or to the movies. She’d been shuffled through families and homes and by the favor of God hadn’t gotten caught up in anything she couldn’t control. She knew the horror stories, but the worst she’d suffered was the gaping loneliness.

Something she still felt, but had learned how to manage.

He said, “They’re making it so Talia can’t access their stuff?” His voice a whole lot more gentle, as though he didn’t want to disturb her from her thoughts. He was looking at her like he had in the doctor’s office—his face close. Soft.

“Yet.” Talia shifted in her chair. Her fingers flew over the keyboard.

“Let’s go.” Victoria led the way outside.

Dakota zipped up her jacket as she moved through the door.

Josh said, “Got your key?”

She nodded and called out, “Bye Talia!”

In reply she got a distracted, “Yep.”

Josh pulled the door shut. “You okay?”

She opened her mouth to dismiss him, but what was the point? “No. I’m not okay, not really.”

Josh made a sound, deep in his throat. Like a pained moan. He grasped her elbows and pulled her into his chest. “C’mere.”

Dakota frowned. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She lifted hers and wound them around his waist. She supposed she probably did look like she could use a hug. Who couldn’t? Hugs were nice. But maybe that was just Josh.

Victoria honked the horn.

Dakota pulled away and turned to stare down her boss. Behind her, Josh made a choking sound that came across a whole lot like laughter. She turned back to him, “I’m learning your noises.”

“My what?”

“You don’t need words sometimes. You make noises, and you’re very expressive.” She studied him. “I’m figuring you out.”

“Then I’ll have to endeavor to be a whole lot more mysterious.”

She snickered. “Please don’t. I’m not sure I can handle it.”

He grinned, and she realized he’d successfully pulled her out of her head. She’d been in a funk. He had brought her out of it. And he knew it, judging by the gleam in his eyes.

Then reality crashed back in, just as relentless as ever.

Dakota headed for the car. “Get your dog and let’s go.”

 

 

. . .

 

 

Victoria had been right that the prison was in chaos. Sal stood at the center of a circle of people, all with those silver star badges of the US Marshals hung from chains around their necks.

Dakota opened the rear door of Victoria’s SUV. She pulled off her jacket and strapped on a vest that said POLICE, with the letters HSI underneath. Homeland Security Investigations. She handed him one. “Put this on.”

He looked at the front—just POLICE written across it. “Thanks.”

Victoria strode over to Sal and his group, her trench coat billowing around her hips.

Dakota nodded towards Victoria. “Watch what happens.”

Josh frowned at her, then glanced at the men and women with Sal. Most of the men had their mouths hanging open. The women stared, too. Not Dakota. Her brow had furrowed, her lips pursed. Jealous at her colleague’s reactions?

“She has that effect on people.”

“Huh. I guess. If she’s your type.” Josh turned to Dakota.

That was it? He wasn’t going to give her some kind of reassurance?

Maybe he thought his lack of reaction said enough.

He sat on the edge of the SUV to relace his boot. Neema hopped over the seat to lick his ear. “Hey.” He pushed her away, and she came back to try again. Josh chuckled.

Dakota strapped on her weapon. She used a hairband to secure back her hair, then slipped her ponytail into a ball cap. Josh strapped up Neema so everyone would know she was working.

“Bulletproof?”

He nodded. “Didn’t help last time, but we don’t take chances. Plus it’s a mental thing, you know? If she’s wearing it, then she knows we’re working. Watch her. You’ll see the change.”

“Business face?”

He smiled. “Something like that.” And then got up. “Hier.”

Neema hopped out and trotted to sit beside his leg. He gave the top of her head a scratch and checked his weapon while Dakota shut the back doors of the SUV.

He pulled his DEA badge out and used the Velcro to strap it to his chest. “Let’s go find out what’s happening.”

As they approached, Victoria began to shake her head. The other Marshals had broken off to look at a laptop someone had set up on the hood of a car. On the screen was a map.

Sal saw them coming and said, “It’s been confirmed. The VX was in an aerosol can and released during visitation.” He must have anticipated their reactions, because he quickly said, “How they got it in there is anyone’s guess. I didn’t believe it when they told me that we had to wait out here until the poison dissipated.”

Dakota paled. “And Harlem?”

“Looks like in all the confusion, they purposely beelined to grab him,” Sal said. “I watched the footage myself. They took him specifically. Handed him a gas mask before the gas reached him. They got a transport bus that hadn’t left yet and fled the prison while the others were dealing with what they believed was the outbreak of a deadly virus.”

Josh said, “How many dead?”

“Eight inmates and three guards. More in the infirmary—or what’s left of it. They started a fire also. The whole place is in chaos.”

Victoria sighed. “I feel like I played into their hands. Brought him right to them.”

“You can’t know that.” Sal didn’t sound like he was placating her. “It isn’t like you served him up.”

That they knew of. Seemed like it was possible that that was exactly what’d happened. But they didn’t know who Dakota was. Or, at least they hadn’t known she was Harlem’s daughter when they kidnapped her.

Maybe, figuratively speaking, Victoria had left the door open. “You didn’t know they’d go in there and release the gas.”

They hadn’t even known Clare had a canister. The Johnsons had been contaminated a different way.

Dakota spoke up, “But it can’t be denied that someone took advantage of the opportunity to grab him.”

“Maybe the prison was part of the plan,” Josh suggested. “After the orchard, maybe that was next on their hit list?”

Sal shifted his weight. Like he was ready to get out of there and get on the hunt. “And Roberts was a bonus?”

Josh shrugged. Dakota said, “What about Talia’s hack? Was that related?”

“Seems like she’s being purposely distracted.” Josh took a minute to think it through all the way so the pieces coalesced in his mind. “And the same with us.”

“One real, one virtual,” Victoria said, her voice distant. “Leaving them time to get set up with whatever they’re going to do with that contagion next.”

So someone knew about Harlem Roberts and his connection to Dakota? And whoever it was had to have passed the information on to Clare.

“You think there’s a larger plot yet?” Josh didn’t like that idea, even while he understood it was likely the reality. Maybe he already knew the answer to his question. But he still needed to ask it.

“I do,” Dakota said.

“Me too.” Victoria’s agreement didn’t seem to make either of them feel better.

“Something else.” Sal’s comment drew all their attention. “Terrence and Clare were both on the footage. Gas masks over their faces, but they got in during the confusion. They’re the ones who took Roberts, along with three inmates who we believe were linked to them before they were sent here.”

“So they got their people out also using the gas as a distraction?” Dakota asked. “We had no idea where they were before they exposed themselves here. Now we have a way to track them. And they’ve got extra people, which means it’s harder to stay under the radar because now they’ve got to control Roberts as well.”

Did she have an idea what her father would want to do when he got out? Maybe that would help them figure out where he would go. Then again, if he was under Clare Norton’s thumb—because of duress, or cooperation—they were running her plays. And who knew what she was up to?

“Austin.”

He said the kid’s name before he even realized it.

“You think he has an idea where they’re going,” Dakota said.

“I think he might.” Josh shrugged. “Worth a follow up conversation?”

She nodded. At least it put her elsewhere and not on her father’s trail. It seemed that Dakota might be a whole lot better able to deal with the source of her life’s pain running loose if she wasn’t anywhere near him. If she didn’t have to potentially face him.

Josh considered everything. “So maybe they knew about Roberts, or someone told them to go and get him?”

“Maybe Talia can find out how after she’s done with the server,” Victoria suggested. “In the meantime, Alvarez you go with the marshals. Track the transport vehicle. Find those inmates.”

Two attacks.

Josh tried to think it through while she continued to dole out assignments. But he couldn’t find a connection between a dark web server and a grass-roots militia apart from the sale itself. The two were completely different. There had to be a link between them—someone calling the shots. Not that he thought Clare Norton would take orders from anyone.

She turned to him and Dakota. “Go talk to Austin again. And then sit on Talia. I don’t want her exposed. We need to have her back.”

“What’s Niall doing?” Dakota asked.

“Finishing at the compound and handing the scene over to the sheriff’s deputy who is supposed to work with state police,” Victoria said. “They’ll let us know if they find anything we didn’t.”

An extra layer of protection? Josh figured these might be the first federal agents he’d ever met who were willing to admit they were humans. Fallible. Victoria might want her people re-tasked to more important assignments, but she also wasn’t assuming the search of the compound and all its buildings was complete.

A new surge of respect for all of them rolled through him. The chance to be a part of this team would be great for his resume. It would also put him in the position to do what he had wanted to do when he’d applied to the DEA and with people he could learn from.

He turned to Dakota. “Austin?”

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 20

The front doors to the hospital slid open. “Do you think they planned to test the VX at the prison by breaking out their friends?”

Dakota hit the button for the elevator, wondering how long this would take. Talia was going to hang tight until they got to the motel but had no backup until they arrived.

Dakota wasn’t certain their teammate was in danger. Still, worry coalesced in her stomach, making her nerves sit on edge.

“Not really a test,” she said. “More like a plan.” They stepped inside the car, and she jabbed the button for the floor where Austin’s room was.

“Like they had it figured out all along, that they’d cause a panic at the prison and stage a break out?”

She shrugged. “Guess we’ll see if Austin wants to tell us.”

“The alternative is running their backgrounds, right? Getting the case files that exist on each of them and going through them all in order to find a link between Clare’s people and whoever else they might still have a grudge with.”

“Seems to me like they manage to tick off basically everyone they meet.” She shot him a wry smile. “It’s going to be hard to tell who they hate the most.”

“True. And that’ll take days, right?”

She nodded.

“All for some kind of vendetta.”

She didn’t miss the tone in his voice. “Maybe whoever they target isn’t so innocent.” They had no idea what Clare was going to do.

“We still need to stop it. Those guards didn’t come in to work today expecting to die from exposure to VX. I understand it. Mentally I comprehend the fact they need to be stopped. Your father needs to be found. But whoever they’re going after, they could be worse than Clare and her people for all we know.”

“So we let the bad guys kill each other?”

“No, because there’s always fallout.” He stepped out of the elevator first, and they headed for Austin’s room. “Innocent people will always be caught in the crossfire.”

She nodded, glad he understood that. And that he didn’t feel like he had to hide from her. He was thinking it through. Coming to a conclusion. And he was using her as a sounding board—something partners did.

“And your father.”

She paused at the door to Austin’s room. Exactly what did he think her father would add to the mix that changed things? It wasn’t like he knew—

She opened her mouth to retort, but Josh beat her to it. “Don’t bite my head off.”

“Do I do that?”

His eyebrows rose.

“I need access to a heavy bag if you want me to not yell at you on a regular basis.”

He snorted. “Your people skills are astounding.”

She grinned.

“All I wanted to say was that his presence adds a level of risk.”

“For other people, or Clare and her gang?”

“All of them?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Hopefully yes, hopefully no. I don’t know his state of mind. I don’t know him. Not to say with any certainty what he might do. Or what he’d want to do. He could go along with her. She could force him to take the blame for what they’re going to do. He could be in charge. And he could kill them all and take the VX.”

She blew out a breath just thinking about it.

“Let’s find out what Austin knows.”

She nodded, because the alternative was too frustrating to think through adequately. They needed information. The officer at the door noted their names on his pad and confirmed no one had been inside except hospital staff. And Austin had had no contact with anyone else.

Josh wandered into the room, moved to the far door, and scoped out the bathroom. The teen studied him as he turned back to them. “I’m going to go get Talia while you two talk.”

Dakota nodded, wondering when he’d decided that. He thought Austin was more likely to talk openly if she was the only one here? Or maybe he wanted to make sure Talia was protected, and let Neema out of the car in the process.

He glanced at Austin once. Shot the kid a look that said a lot. He expected the teen to be respectful and to not try anything with Dakota. He made it clear she was under his protection, even in his absence.

Then he stopped beside her. “I’ll be back.”

Dakota nodded. He didn’t touch her, but she saw the desire to do so on his face. After he shut the door behind him, she sat in the chair she’d used before. The one pulled close to Austin’s bed.

“I’m not saying anything.”

“You look better.” She skimmed her gaze over his face. “Feel okay?”

He mushed his lips together.

“There was an incident at Inland Federal Prison. Multiple people are dead. Your aunt and brother broke Samuel Filks and Belvedore Staves out. They’re in the wind.”

The skin around his mouth tightened.

“No one came back for you, right?” She let that hang, then said, “They cut you loose, or did you leave of your own accord?”

“I’m done.”

“You should tell Gavin. He’d probably be happy to hear that.”

His gaze slid to meet hers.

“You didn’t want to be mixed up in this?” She could see in his eyes that she was right. “That might be the smartest thing I’ve heard all day.”

Dakota sat back in the chair. “Now, it could take me days to comb through their lives, and their criminal backgrounds, to uncover the connection. Who is it they hate enough to enter a federal prison and break their friends out using VX? You could just tell me right now. Save me the hassle, and maybe some lives in the process.”

She didn’t figure he cared about innocent people. Not the way Josh did. But she needed something from Austin, or you bet she would make good on her promise to drum up every charge she could against him. And make them all stick, too. He would have a legal battle ahead, but a good lawyer could argue duress, and there would be minimal consequences.

He had to want to be free. He didn’t have the look of someone whose hope had died.

She knew what that looked like. Because she’d seen it in the mirror.

“Rough Riders.”

“The motorcycle club?”

He nodded and looked away from her.

“Do you know who Harlem Roberts is?”

Austin frowned. “I…maybe I’ve heard the name before. But I don’t know who that is.”

She stood. “He was before your time.”

The teen sniffed, disinterested now. “Okay.”

Dakota wasn’t going to thank him. That would only highlight the fact he’d just betrayed Clare and his brother.

Instead, at the door she said, “Sort your life out, Austin. It’s never too late.”

She didn’t wait for his reaction. Just strode out, leaving him with that to chew on. The kid needed to make something of his life. Go to college.

She’d joined the police academy. Some cops had degrees, but education hadn’t been her thing. She was too hands-on to be satisfied stuck behind a table, surrounded by books. She’d made her own way. Like she did with everything in her life.

She glanced at the cop on duty outside Austin’s room. “Coffee?”

He nodded. “Black.”

“My kinda guy.”

She headed for the elevator, her steps in time to the sound of his laughter echoing down the hallway. Who didn’t love coffee? Well, logically she knew some people didn’t. But that didn’t mean she understood it.

The elevator doors opened. Dakota didn’t have time to gasp before the man inside grabbed her.

 

 

. . .

 

 

Josh knocked on the door before he used the keycard to let himself in.

“Yep!”

He opened the door mid-word. The sound of crunching circuit board made him stop. Talia lifted her foot and stomped the thing to bits.

He felt his eyebrows lift. “Problems?”

“Fixing them.” She looked up. “It’s not only part of Dakota’s job description, but mine too.”

Josh grinned unable to keep from being captivated by her sheer personality. “Ready to go?”

“One second.” She put one strap of a giant gold shoulder bag on her arm, then lowered things into it. An iPad. Phone. Keys.

He gaped at the pieces scattered on the table. “Is that Dakota’s laptop?”

“She won’t care. She hates the thing anyway.” She lifted a slim computer and slid that in as well. “I’ve done her a favor, and he can’t track me now.”

They walked to the car, where she eyed Neema. “Does she need a walk?”

“Do you need to walk?” Josh figured Talia would want some air after being at her computer for much of the day.

She looked down. “In these shoes?”

She lifted one—also gold—a slender, strappy shoe with a high heel.

“Okay, maybe not.”

She chuckled.

“I’m not really a fashion kind of guy.”

She placed one hand on her breastbone, fingers splayed out so he could see her manicure. “Really? I’d never have guessed.”

Josh laughed. “Yeah, yeah.” He walked around the car and opened the passenger door for her. When he had Neema settled on the backseat, he turned the car on. “I threw the ball for her some, before I knocked on your door. She’s good with short spurts of exercise.”

“Roger that.”

Josh drove back to the hospital. The entrance was considerably busier than when he’d left. “What on earth?” He dropped Talia at the door and found a space across the lot. She was tapping her index fingernail on her phone when he sprinted over to find her in the lobby. “What’s going on?”

“I was just filling in Victoria. Apparently Dakota killed a guy in the elevator.”

They took the stairs up to the third floor. The hallway outside Austin’s room was packed with state police officers, though the officer on guard at the teen’s door had kept his position. In the center of the commotion was Dakota, blood at the corner of her mouth.

“You okay?”

She glanced over. Pissed. “He’s in there.” She motioned to the open elevator doors.

Josh figured that was his cue to not get in her space and ask how she was doing. Right now she was in work mode, like Neema when he strapped on her vest. Surrounded by local cops, Dakota didn’t want to be asked about her feelings.

He moved to the elevator, getting out of the way of investigators, and looked in.

Terrence’s friend, the one who’d been at the orchard that first night, lay on the floor of the elevator. His chest was covered in blood. Black covered the area around the hole. Doctor Stevens was crouched over him.

Josh said, “Close range.” Inside the elevator, there was nothing else it could be.

Stevens glanced at him. She lifted a tiny unlabeled bottle between two fingers. “On his person, he had a vial of what I’m going to surmise is the VX.”

To kill Austin.

“Phone?” Josh asked.

“They retrieved it already.”

He walked back over to Dakota. Talia was beside her, back-to-back, typing on her laptop she’d opened on the nurse’s desk. A cord from her USB port was plugged into a phone.

“Is that his cell?”

Dakota said, “Yes.”

“Anything?”

“Read it for yourself,” Talia said, waving at it. “There’s no passcode. Just a single text. Get A. bring him to breakers.”

Talia pulled up a map. The state police officer with lieutenant stripes on his shoulder pointed at the screen. “Right there. Three mile hike from the parking lot. State land, popular with outdoors people. Breakers is a campground.”

“Bring him?” Josh asked. “Not kill him and then meet us.”

Dakota shrugged. “Maybe he wasn’t good at following orders.”

“Looks like we might be going for that walk after all.” Josh glanced between the two women.

“Have fun.” Talia shot him a grin. “Get me a souvenir.”

“You don’t want any of what Neema’s going to leave behind.” Josh waved a hand in front of his nose. “Stinky.”

Talia laughed. Dakota said, “What are you guys talking about?”

He shook his head, then turned to the Lieutenant. “Can Special Agent Pierce leave, or do you need her here longer?”

“She’s good.” The older man nodded. “We have what we need.”

“And if I want to stay?”

“Do you?”

“No, but—”

Josh nodded in the direction of the stairs. “Then let’s go.”

The task gave him a focus point, one he used to push aside the pain in his chest. Dakota shifted as she walked and held her left forearm with the right hand. She stretched out her shoulder.

“Dislocated?” Maybe the doctors had put it back before he got there, but seriously? That would make her some kind of bionic woman.

She shook her head. “He slammed me into the wall. It’s just bruised.”

“I think we both used up our quota of allowable injuries for this year. No more fights until next year.”

She grinned. “I’ll add that to my list of goals.”

Josh had a few things he’d like to add to his, like more hugs and maybe even a real kiss this time. But he didn’t think she wanted to hear about that right now. He was going for baby steps. Introducing her to the concept of togetherness in a way that made it seem natural.

He’d never wanted to achieve a resolution more than he did the goal of getting something going with her.

Job or not, this was what would make him happy. Her too, if he did it right. The rest would fall however God allowed.

The ride to the park took forty minutes, the hike to Breakers another hour. Most of it was incline. A steep rise up the side of a mountain, along a winding trail probably used by animals more than people.

Both of them were breathing hard when they got to the campground—inaccessible by car—but Neema didn’t seem fazed. The dog bounded to a tree, sniffed around. Squatted. So much for that business face. Then came back over to him, long enough to lick his fingers before she raced away again.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Off the beaten path,” Dakota said.

He nodded. It took a certain kind of person to haul their belongings from the car to a place like this. Most would rather drive to the site and hook their trailer up to electricity.

He’d never understand why people needed air conditioning and Wi-Fi when they were supposed to be enjoying the outdoors.

“Think we missed them?”

Josh shrugged, turning his attention to Neema. Her body language had switched. “She caught something.”

“Like a mouse?”

“No,” Josh moved to follow his dog. “I don’t think it’s a mouse.”

Neema barked once, then sat.

Beyond her was a body.

“Guess we should go and take that cadaver dog training course.” He ran a hand over her chin, down past her collar to scratch her front while she leaned against his leg.

“Seems to me she could probably teach the course.” Dakota stepped around the man, sprawled on the dirt. “That’s two bodies in three days.”

True. “Who is it?”

“I’m getting there.” She moved to see the face that was angled away from him. She looked up, something in her eyes he couldn’t decipher. “Is it bad that part of me doesn’t want to know?”

He took a step toward her. “Let me—”

“I got it.” She crouched. “Terrence.”

“They killed him?”

Dakota sighed. “Pretty big knot on his forehead. Maybe he fell.”

“You really think that?”

“No,” she said. “I really don’t.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 21

Tears threatened. And why? This guy had beaten her. Now he was dead. How was it that she even cared?

Dakota stood up. Her shaky legs took her away from the body. The scene. In this state she was bound to miss something and wind up compromising evidence.

She leaned her hand against a tree and hung her head. Sucked in breaths.

“Dakota?”

Those tears threatened to spill out. Why did he have to sound so gentle? Like he actually cared about her. That had never happened before.

She’d always kind of assumed that a deep level of concern was something that came after years of a relationship. Why else would she never have experienced it?

He took a step closer. She held up one finger then pulled out her phone and sent Talia a text letting the team know where they were and what they’d found. Then she stowed the phone away. “I’m okay.”

He had the decency to not call her on her fib when they both knew she was far from all right. Neither men had been good. Not the friend—whatever his name was—she’d killed in the elevator. And not Terrence, either. But death was death, and it was always ugly. There was nothing noble about it.

“Hey.” His hand slid under her hair, and his palm touched the skin of her neck.

Dakota sucked in a breath. “Cold.” Enough to jog her out of her deep descent. She grinned. “Yikes.”

Josh rubbed his hands together, then blew on them. “Sorry.”

“Thanks.” Even though it had felt like an ice cube down the back of her shirt. But the problems she had weren’t going away. Terrence still lay there.

Tears threatened again. Josh tugged on the elbows of her jacket and pulled her in for another warm hug. Dakota sighed against his chest. Her breath broke in the middle a couple of times, but she managed to get the air out and back in without dissolving into a puddle of emotion.

His hand rubbed up and down her back. Probably warming his skin.

“Where are your gloves?”

He smiled down at her. “Lost them somewhere, I guess. Thanks for warming me up.”

Dakota shook her head. “You’re like a kid who got caught with one hand in the cookie jar.”

“I make pretty good cookies. Eden gave me her recipe.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe next time I make them, you could come over and be my official taste tester?”

She felt the corners of her mouth curl up. “Depends. What do you put in your cookies?”

“Not a raisin fan?”

“Actually I love raisins. But they do not belong in anything except cereal.”

“Good to know.”

He leaned closer, and his lips touched hers. Thankfully warmer than his fingers were. Dakota tilted her head to the side and the kiss continued. Tentative, like a gentle exploration. And then his forehead was touching hers. She pressed her lips together, eyes closed. Still feeling the ghost of his touch against her mouth.

“Hmm.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You sound very satisfied with yourself.”

“Maybe I should double check. Just to make sure—”

“Really guys?” Niall’s voice rang out. Twenty feet away he stopped, cheeks red from exertion or the cold. Or both.

Dakota shifted back, like that kid with the hand in the cookie jar she’d just mentioned to Josh. Oops. His hand snagged her gloved one. She wound her fingers with his, just to warm them. Not because she liked the feeling of his hand around hers. That was hardly professional.

Niall dumped a bag on the far side of where Terrence had died. “Guess I’m on evidence collection duty. You want the camera?”

She shook her head. “You have the scene. Josh and I need to follow a lead.”

His eyebrow crept up. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

“Niall!”

“Dude.” Josh shook his head. “Not cool.”

Dakota said, “What is it?” Something had happened, and it had nothing to do with her handing him this scene. She knew. She could see it in him. There was something wrong with Niall.

Her teammate sighed. He unzipped the bag and pulled out a camera. “Did you move anything?”

As if she didn’t know not to do that? “I only touched him to check for a pulse.”

“So you’re off again? Leaving a trail of bodies behind you.” Niall’s jaw shifted. “Must be a Tuesday.”

“It’s Sunday.” Josh wandered to where Neema had laid down on one of the few patches of grass not crusted with snow, resting in the afternoon sun.

“Need me to do the paperwork so you can save the world?”

“Yes,” was Dakota’s reply to his ridiculous question. “Actually, I do. Austin gave me the name of a group of bikers who could be Clare Norton’s next target. Apparently there’s history there. A grudge.”

“And your father?”

It was getting harder to ignore his tone. “He ceased being my father when he shot a woman in front of me. You don’t get to do that and still call yourself a parent.”

Something crossed his face and she knew she’d hit a mark. “I wouldn’t know.”

Sore subject, apparently.

He crouched by the body and began taking pictures.

“Josh and I are going to head out.”

“You need to stay for a bit. Help me.”

That wasn’t it. “You’ve done this yourself before. What’s different today?”

He stood, and out the corner of her eye she saw Josh move. Covering her. A reflex as he read Niall’s body language?

The subtle twitch of Niall’s hand toward his gun gave her enough information. Dakota’s heart sank. “Who got to you, and what did they say?” Clearly he’d bought it.

His face twisted.

“Your sister?”

“And my niece.” His voice broke on the last word.

Josh stilled his approach. Beside him Neema leaned forward, her whole body alert.

“I can’t let you guys leave. Not yet.”

“And if we try?” she asked.

“They’ll kill them.”

Dakota said, “Are you going to shoot us?”

“Of course not, but—”

“Goodbye, Niall.” She knew he wouldn’t shoot her, or Josh. Dakota was willing to bet their lives that Niall wouldn’t go against everything he believed and hurt a fellow agent. Not even to save his sister and niece. “I’ll have Victoria take care of Patricia and Siobhan.”

He shifted.

She lifted one finger, fully aware that Josh was about to give the command. Then there would be nothing to stop Neema from launching herself at Niall and taking him down to the ground.

As satisfying as that might be to watch.

“Don’t.” Dakota lowered her finger. “This is already bad enough. But if you want to do the right thing, then give Talia all the information on how they contacted you, so she can expose them.”

“And if they kill my family before then?”

“You’re the one putting their lives at risk.” He was an agent. He knew the threat, even to extended family. Measures could be taken to protect loved ones. Surely he’d put those things in place already.

Not everything could be prevented. Still, he should have at least done what he could to minimize the risk.

Niall twisted to look at Josh. “Can I move, or is that dog going to take me down?”

“You can stay right there until we’re gone.” Josh clicked his fingers and the two of them circled toward Dakota. “Then I suggest you get on your phone, call Victoria and figure this out.” His tone was one she’d never heard before.

Protective. Angry.

As he neared her, Josh put his hand out. She led the way. His palm touched the small of her back. The kind of cover she’d never experienced before.

Despite the circumstances, Dakota realized she’d like to have more of it. Uncertainty filled her. Was that what Josh wanted?

 

 

. . .

 

 

They still wore their vests, and when he pulled up outside the gated compound where Rough Riders lived, Josh decided it had been a good idea. These were bikers. Rough Riders was enough of a clue as to the kind of people they were.

He went around to the back of the SUV and opened the door. “Platz.”

Neema, about to jump out, laid down instead. Chin up, ears perked.

“Stay.”

He pulled his vest off, then removed his sweater. Rolled up both sleeves.

“What are you—” Dakota touched his bicep and the tattoo there. “Ah. You’re going to appeal to their sense of duty?”

“I’d rather they shoot me because I’m a Marine and not because they saw two cops walk in their front gate.”

“We are cops,” she said. “And I thought you were a Marine, not that you are a Marine.”

“Same thing.”

“It is?”

“Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

She smiled at him, like she thought that was cute and not supremely masculine. “You’re going to freeze.”

“I’ll live. They need to see my tattoo, because if they’re going to make a split second decision about who we are and why we’re there, then I’m going to give them as much information as possible.” He reached into his bag and pulled out two patches. He slapped the one that said explosives detection on the side of Neema’s vest, but stowed the narcotics one back in his pack.

“Good idea.”

He grinned. “How about you?”

“I’m a cop. There’s no way to spin that.” She gave him a wry smile. “Unless I wear a sign that says, ‘grew up in a compound exactly like this.’ Oh, and ‘my dad’s an escaped murderer.’ That should go down well.”

That was incredibly sad. But considering her tone, he said, “Might be too wordy.”

Dakota laughed. “Shame.”

He leaned in and kissed her, because he wanted to make her feel better. The smile she shot him when he moved back told him he’d achieved his goal.

“Neema, hier.”

She hopped out of the SUV and came to his side. Josh said, “Ready?”

Dakota nodded and headed for the gate. A faded “No Trespassing” sign hung there. A camera had been mounted to a pole and was angled down, pointed at them. “You really think they’ll just shoot us?”

He shrugged. “They’ve got to assume someone knows we’re here. It isn’t like we can simply disappear and no one will show up to ask questions.”

She flipped the latch. Josh closed the gate behind them, and they headed down the lane. There was no way to tell what kind of bikers these were without meeting them. The deputy sheriff on duty hadn’t returned their call asking for intel.

Josh said, “I’m praying they’ll take the fact we’re here to warn them about a possible threat as a good thing, and then we can get in and out peaceably. And without too much fuss.”

“Amen to that.” Dakota said, “I might not get to church as often as I’d like, but anytime I can pray I don’t bleed any more than I already have in the course of an investigation, I do it.”

“You seem better.”

“Maybe you being here helps.” She shot him a smile. “Or I’m so tired that I’ve gone crazy.”

“Eden calls it, ‘punch drunk tired.’ Don’t ask me what that means. Other than you’re dizzy and falling down.”

“I get it.”

He wanted to kiss her again. Or hold her hand. Josh shoved away those urges—plenty of experience doing that this weekend—and surveyed what amounted to the front lawn. Minus any actual grass.

Tire tracks rutted the dirt that had frozen from the chill in the air. A big building stood to the left, one of those metal constructions that was shop underneath and rooms above. Some kind of meeting place. The house was huge, two stories and seemed to have been added onto several times over.

Two motorcycles were parked under a pop-up awning beside the house. A fire had been built about fifteen feet to the right at some point. Now it was a pile of charred wood and ashes.

“Where is everyone?”

Josh had been thinking the same thing. Before he could reply, a single man wandered out of the house. Baggy jeans secured with a belt, a chain hanging against his leg. T-shirt. Leather vest. His gray hair was pulled back, secured behind his head. Amid the sleeves of tattoos, Josh could make out the letters USMC in red on his arm.

Josh thought he saw movement at a window in the house. Everyone present had hunkered down. They’d seen Josh and Dakota, and they’d answered in kind. Sending out a Marine as their emissary.

“Can I help you folks?” Like they’d wandered up to his grocery stand on a Sunday afternoon.

Josh shifted, his body slightly in front of Dakota’s. Not enough to cover her but enough to make a statement. She was here under his protection. It might be sexist, but bikers had a code. Women weren’t subservient but they definitely didn’t hold the same authority a man could exercise.

“You know Clare Norton?”

His head jerked back. Not what he’d been expecting.

“Heard word she might be on her way here. And not for a friendly visit like this.” He gave the guy a pointed look.

He bit off a swear word. “That woman.”

“What about Harlem Roberts? You know him?”

The man’s gaze flicked to Dakota. Surprised she’d spoken. “This an interrogation?”

Josh said, “Do you know him?”

“Did.” He didn’t elaborate though. Just said, “Got a brother in lockup with him now.”

“You’re gonna want to check on your friend,” Josh said. “There was an incident at Inland this morning. Several people, inmates and guards, were killed by a deadly substance that Norton managed to get her hands on.”

He frowned. “Like a virus?”

“Not airborne as far as we’ve seen, but it’s a gas in its usual state. It’ll kill you. And she’s using it. She started a fire at the prison. In the confusion, she broke two of her friends out and took Roberts with her as well.”

Clare had also killed Terrence at the spot where Austin was supposed to have been taken. Or had him killed. But why? Perhaps there’d been a fight. Terrence fell and hit his head. Or he was hit over the head. Or he’d tripped.

Only time—and the medical examiner’s assessment—was going to give them an idea of what had happened. Part of him was frustrated the group had been gone before Josh and Dakota got there. Then again, neither of them were one hundred percent. It was probably the grace of God they’d missed the group.

The man yelled, “Bunny.” Over his shoulder.

A younger man, six-four at least, bounded out of the house. His leather jacket looked brand new. The old Marine whispered in his ear. Josh saw the moment the kid understood the gravity of what was happening.

He raced back inside.

“If you see a posse roll in that includes Harlem, Clare, or either of two men in a jumpsuit, I expect you’ll want to call the US Marshals. Let them know where to find her.”

“Um…sure.” The man nodded.

Josh didn’t buy it. “Good. We’d appreciate your input, and the chance to make sure everyone here is safe and remains so.”

That got him a sincere nod. “Noted.”

Josh handed over his card. Clicked his fingers for Neema to come.

The sound of gunfire erupted across the compound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 22

Dakota’s whole body flinched. Her knee hit the dirt, weapon already drawn. But she couldn’t stay out in the open. She raced for the metal building, keeping her head as low as she could.

Praying she didn’t get shot.

Praying Josh and Neema didn’t either.

Men sprinted from both the house and the other building. A rush of heavy boots and jingling keys. More chains attached to belts. Angry shouts rang out, as frequent as the gunshots.

Rifles. Not automatic. More than one person. The source was concentrated to the west, behind the cover of trees.

She moved to go after the men. A shot hit the side of the building and embedded itself in the metal. She backed up, rounding the corner of the building. A man stood there, his gun aimed at the trees where his friends had gone. Brothers. That’s what the old Marine had called them.

These people were a family.

She pressed her back against the wall beside the guy. Rough looking but that was to be expected. His eyebrows crawled together like fuzzy caterpillars. “Help you?”

She shook her head and tried to see Josh. “Is there a German Shepherd out there?”

Had either of them been hurt? Were they taking cover by the house?

“The dog ran with the other cop.” He pointed east. “That way.”

“I’m not going to arrest you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Who says I’m worried?” He disappeared around the corner, and she heard a slew of gunshots.

Dakota moved to the corner of the building and peered around. They didn’t need to get in the middle of this war. She and Josh had been here to warn the Rough Riders. Now their job was to detain Clare and her friends.

It bothered Dakota that they’d been too late. The old Marine lay on the dirt, blood pooled out from underneath his chest. Dead.

The Rough Riders would be out for blood now. Clare was going to regret coming here and starting something.

If she lived through it.

Dakota moved to the back of the building. She could skirt the perimeter and come up on the gun fight from the flank, hopefully staying out of sight and the line of fire long enough to see what was happening.

The shots continued as she made her way around the back. Behind the buildings was essentially a parking lot. Motorcycles. Trucks. Even an RV had been parked back there.

A woman lay between the closest vehicle—a beat up car—and the back door of the building. Dakota sank to her knees beside the woman and pressed a hand to her stomach.

The woman’s glassy eyes widened, and she gasped through the pain.

“Easy.” Blood seeped between her fingers. “I’m Dakota.”

She pulled out her phone with the other hand and touched her thumb to the home button. With voice commands, she called Victoria, then put the phone between her ear and shoulder to explain what was happening.

“I’m on my way with emergency services. Hang tight.” Victoria hung up.

Dakota looked toward the trees. Where she should be going.

“I got towels!” Another woman, barely more than a girl really, ran out of the house wearing what appeared to be the uniform for female bikers—tiny denim skirt and halter top, with teased hair and heavy makeup. She saw Dakota and froze, nearly tripping over her feet.

“Give me those. Now.”

The girl stumbled but came close enough to throw the towels at her. “Is Misty gonna be okay?”

“She will if you help her.” Dakota snagged the girl’s hand and pulled her the rest of the way over. She planted her hand on the towel, above where Misty had been shot. “What’s your name?”

“Sunny.”

“Press right here, Sunny. Harder than you want to,” she told her. “And don’t let up. Not until the paramedics get here. That is the only way she’s going to make it.”

Sunny let out a sob. Dakota didn’t blame her. It was plain to see the woman on the ground was in a bad way. God, will she make it? He didn’t answer back but sometimes she needed to ask the question anyway.

Dakota set her hand on Sunny’s shoulder. “Got it?”

“Y-yes.”

Dakota clambered to her feet and headed for the woods.

 

 

. . .

 

 

The second bullets started to fly, Josh ran for cover. Two guys rushed out of the building so fast he nearly ran into them.

Guns lifted.

He said, “Whoa.” Praying in that split second that they didn’t just drop him and go. He watched it register on their faces the second they realized who he was. POLICE. Josh moved around them, going for cover against the building. “Neema.”

His dog was already at his side as he pressed his back against the wall and whipped his head back and forth. Finally he caught sight of Dakota’s dark hair as she rounded the back of the building. Heading for a flanking position.

“Let’s go.”

It took a second to realize the guy was talking to him. What did he expect Josh to do? “Cover fire?”

The biker shook his head. In that second, Josh decided this guy was the man in charge. Older than him but younger than the Marine sent out to talk with them. He had a look about him. There might be a civil veneer, but it was pretty thin. “You’re with us.”

Bullets flew across the spot where he’d stood with Dakota just minutes ago. Maybe seconds.

Someone screamed. A window smashed, and gunfire answered. The sound of rifle fire. And if he wasn’t mistaken, that make and model wasn’t available to buy in this country.

They wanted him out of their space but where they could keep track of what he was doing.

Josh went with them, one guy in front and one behind. Skirting to the side. Coming around to the source of the gunfire.

“Foos.”

Neema hadn’t left his side. Giving the command for her to heel was a comfort to both of them. A shared plan. They were going to stick together in this, even though they had no idea what they were running into.

And maybe Josh was ascribing a whole lot more cognition to a dog who ate, slept, played and worked, but other than that, wasn’t interested in much. But she was his dog. She was happier when she knew he was happy. Just like he was happier when he knew she was content.

“Two o’clock.”

Josh saw one guy in a jumpsuit who stuck out between the trees. “How many?”

“One.” The guy gave a hand signal. They slowed, then dropped to a crouch. “Dax, swoop around. Holler if there are more.” Definitely in charge, his face maybe mid-forties but lined with experiences that could never be erased.

Dax whispered away through the trees.

“What do you say, Mr. Federal Agent? Wanna get your hands dirty?” The fire in his eyes preceded low growled words. “These people killed Sie. That means they pay.”

“The jarhead?” Was Sie the older man now lying in the dirt?

The biker nodded.

Josh had seen the older Marine drop. If he was dead, and this man wanted to exact revenge, what could Josh do about it? Interfere and risk his own life? Maybe he should head back to the compound and find Dakota. Help her.

Regroup.

After that they could see what was left of Clare and her people. Clean up the mess.

Trying to decide what his mentor agent would do—write a report while drinking green tea—wasn’t any kind of help.

“You need to let me take the escaped inmates back in.” And Dakota’s father. And Josh needed to arrest Clare. “They have VX, and they’re going to use it. That needs to be contained.”

The man almost smiled, but it settled into a kind of sneer. “When I’m done, you can have what’s left.”

Before he could object, the man raced away. Not good.

Josh moved into a crouch, still mostly undercover. He called out in the direction the man had gone. “This is the DEA. Lay down your weapons and surrender—”

Two shots hit the tree right by his head. Josh ducked so fast he lost balance and landed on one knee.

Someone yelled, a low roar that could only come from a man threatened. Gunshots. Three. Four. Josh lost count as his heartbeat thumped in his ears. Neema barked, way too close to his head.

Two dogs ran toward him. After them came a man he’d seen at Clare’s compound. Then another man he didn’t know. Josh yelled again. “Stand down!”

They lifted weapons. One fired at him, while the other fired to the side. Someone fired back. One man went down with a cry, blood spraying from his shoulder. Josh was going to run out of bullets.

The dogs pounced on Neema. Teeth snapped. Low snarls.

He pulled on one collar. The dog must have weighed more than a hundred pounds.

Neema yelped in pain.

Josh kicked at the dog closest to him. He fired over the other’s head, barely missing it, then lifted up. Landed his weight on the dog and forced it into submission under him.

It let go of Neema’s shoulder and snapped at Josh.

He put his arm up in defense and the dog latched on. Josh twisted off Neema, who was at the bottom of this pile of man and animals. He swung his leg around and kicked the dog until it let go of him.

Then he launched at it, praying the dog took notice.

It backed up. Josh didn’t stop himself until the last second, making sure the dog wasn’t going to retaliate.

He held his gun ready just in case. Ouch. His forearm stung, and he could see the red on his bare skin. Josh lost balance and landed on his butt.

The man who’d fired at him yelled, “Dumb dogs.”

An assessment of their having backed down?

They broke off from snarling at Neema and went to the man. Called by their master using the most frequent name they heard. The man loped on, leaving Josh here with his dog.

He sank to the dirt beside her, blood dripping from his arm. The gunshot wound in his shoulder screamed but he ignored it. He watched each sharp rise of her chest. Blood seeped from her shoulder down onto the earth. He touched her muzzle, her eyes glassy with pain.

“Oh, baby.”

Josh looked around, half expecting to get shot at any moment.

Where was Dakota?

 

 

. . .

 

 

She headed for the source of the sound—a gunfight between Clare and her people and the bikers she’d seen run. She slowed before she could even make them out. Was Harlem here? Duty warred against the fear he’d put in that scrawny girl with the ratted dark hair and too big eyes. Most of the time she still felt like that little girl. It was why she’d tried so hard to push out the memories, to forget.

A shot whizzed past her. Dakota crouched, shoulder against a tree. All her aches and pains decided that now was a good time to remind her she wasn’t at a hundred percent capacity. Like she hadn’t known that? Where was Josh, and Neema?

Maybe he’d been hit. Maybe she was out here, alone. The way she’d been when her father kicked her out every time he decided that’s what she needed. Out of the house and outside the fence. She’d seen the looks on the faces of her father’s friends. Associates. She didn’t know what the relationship had been, just that other guys had hung around the house.

That one scrap of sympathy was something she’d never forgotten. Not because it had happened often, but because she had sucked up every smidgen of connection she could get her hands on.

Now she just tried to avoid it.

Not that it had worked. She had more of a family now than she’d ever known. And then there was Josh.

Where was he?

The gunfire had died down now. Dakota made her way over to the source, expecting carnage. She found one man dressed in a jumpsuit, clutching his leg and moaning. Across from him was a dead biker.

Two men stood over the injured escapee. Bikers from the compound.

“Easy fellas.”

“Not hardly,” the older one said. “He killed Sie. And now he’s killed Smalls.”

Dakota said, “There’s a woman back there as well. Shot in the stomach but she’s alive. Misty, I think the other one said.”

The shorter of the two men spun so fast she took half a step back as he tore past her, back toward the compound.

Evidently Misty meant something to him.

“Guess it’s just us,” the other one said. His mustache shifted up and then down as he moved his lips in thought. “Means I could kill you. Blame him and then walk away.” As if for emphasis, he kicked at the wounded man on the ground.

The inmate moaned, eyes wide and glassy.

She wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, considering his face gave nothing away. “My team is on their way.”

“Guess we’re going to have to figure out what they’ll find when they get here.”

“Preferably not my dead body.”

She held her gun in a loose grip, pointed at the moaning inmate. But not too far it would take her more than a split second to train it on the biker if she had to.

She lifted the other hand up, palm out. “If I get a vote, that is.”

The biker flashed his teeth in what was probably a smile. “The committee is gonna take it into consider—”

He dropped to the ground. A hole blossomed blood on his forehead.

The inmate started laughing, still a half-moan as he bled out from his leg. Dakota spun around. She wanted to kick herself for not noticing anyone else approach. Her father strode over, a rifle in his arms. Clare Norton beside him. Her smile turned to a cackle as they neared. That was the only way to describe the noise she made above the rush in Dakota’s ears.

“Gun down.”

Everything in her stilled. Did he even know who she was? It had been years since they’d seen each other.

“You’ll have to shoot me.” She knew full well what he was capable of. “I’m not going to let go of my gun.”

Clare sidled up next to him, her mushed nose red from the cold. “Or I could just jam this down your throat, and we can all watch you squirm.”

She lifted the vial in her hand, a gleam in her eyes. She knew what she had. And she was prepared to cause maximum damage with it.

Her father didn’t take his attention from her. “No, you won’t.”

His words had been directed at Clare. Which of them was in charge? Or was this simply a battle of wills, and one would die before they figured it out.

“Why?”

Dakota didn’t even know what she wanted an explanation for. Something. Anything.

All of it.

It wasn’t like he needed her. What did he care if she was dead?

Maybe he wanted to be the one to put her out of her misery himself. Had he been nursing dreams of revenge all these years? It wasn’t like she’d said one word about what happened. They only knew she’d witnessed it because she hadn’t moved from the time he fired the gun to when the sheriff had shown up.

Drawn there by someone’s frantic phone call.

Just like then, Dakota was frozen to this spot right now.

There was no way she would let go of her grip on reality as well. Or her hold on the strength of what her training gave her.

His face was pitted, the bottom half peppered with the shadow of a gray beard. His stomach stretched the front of the jumpsuit. Never a small man, he’d always seemed so imposing in her mind. Now she was taller than him, and he seemed almost tired.

And angry.

“How’d you end up hooked up with her.” Dakota motioned to Clare with the barrel of her weapon.

He kept a straight face. “Happy circumstances.”

Clare said, “Money.”

“And Terrence?”

“Waste of space.” Clare rolled her eyes. “Good riddance.”

Not exactly a confession. “Both of you put your weapons down and your hands up.”

“I’m not going back to prison.” Her dad didn’t move the rifle at all. “You’ll have to kill me.”

She saw the intention in his eyes and cut him off before he lifted his gun. “Fine,” she said. “Dad.”

His eyes flared, and he held his aim on her. Dakota watched the anger surge in him.

Finger to the trigger.

He was going to shoot her, center mass.

Her father wanted to kill her.

In that split second between decision and the squeeze of his finger, Dakota fired.

 

 

. . .

 

 

Harlem’s gun moved on impact. His bullet went wide, into the escapee who’d been shot in the leg. The man slumped to the side.

“No!” Josh raced toward her. He’d seen the tail end of the conversation after he carried Neema part way, then left her close, curled up at the base of the tree.

She needed help.

Dakota dived to the ground.

Harlem’s body landed with a thud.

They all needed help.

Clare squealed and raced away.

Josh ran to where Dakota lay. Don’t be dead. God, please don’t let her be dead. His boot hit a twig and snapped it. Dakota sat halfway up, gasping. Pointed her weapon at him.

“Easy.” He dropped to his knees beside her. “I saw you go down.”

She blew out a breath. “That was close.”

Her eyes darkened at the sight of her father. She stared, emotion washing over her face for the first time he’d seen. This evidently strong enough to break through that shell.

He spoke gently. “You killed him?”

She nodded, then looked away from Harlem as tears filled her eyes.

“I saw it,” Josh said. “He gave you no choice.”

She said nothing more

Josh motioned to the trees. “Clare got away.”

“With the vial containing the VX.” She paused a second and then said, “Go after her.”

He shook his head. “Neema is bleeding, and so am I. We need to regroup.” He sucked in a breath of his own, adrenaline still pumping through his system.

Dakota couldn’t stand without help. Commotion drew both their attention. Sal and a team of marshals rushed through the trees. Vests and rifles. Sal wore aviator sunglasses that Josh thought looked ridiculous.

He slowed when he saw them and scanned the area. “You okay, Cupcake?”

Dakota called back. “Yeah, Puddin’. I’m fine.”

One of the marshals snickered. Sal shot him a death glare over the top of his glasses.

“Clare Norton went that way—” Josh pointed southwest. “—if you’re interested.”

Sal tore off with his marshal friends.

“Guess that answers that.” He heard a whine and spun around. “Neema?” They made their way to the spot where he’d placed her. She was breathing low now, and it was sporadic.

“She needs a vet.” He looked over at Dakota and saw the wet in her eyes.

“Let’s go then.”

He had her call the vet and tell him they were on their way. Josh carried his dog, despite the screaming pain in his arm and shoulder. The vet could look at him after he saw to Neema. They reached the SUV, and he laid Neema in the back. There wasn’t even time to reassure her.

He trotted to the driver’s seat and climbed in.

Dakota was already buckling up when Josh shoved the car into drive. He was about to pull out onto the road when the cold barrel of a gun pressed against his neck.

“You go where I tell you to go.” The voice belonged to a man. “Or both your brains are on the dash.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 23

Dakota twisted far enough to see the beige of the man’s inmate scrubs. The one she hadn’t left dead in the woods from Harlem’s gunshot.

The tattoo on his neck shifted. “Want your head blown off?”

All she could think of was her father falling to the ground, dead from her shot. “Not especially.” Dakota bit the words out.

“Drive.” The inmate jerked his gun to the left.

Josh flipped a U-turn and got onto the highway. “Where are we going?”

“Just go. I’ll tell you when to turn.” He shifted to speak to her. “Pull out all the weapons you two got on you and hand them over.” The inmate touched the gun to Dakota’s shoulder. “Or you know what will happen.”

She said, “I’m reaching for my weapon.”

“Nice and slow.” He pointed his gun at Josh while Dakota pulled her Sig out with two fingers nowhere near the trigger.

“Backup?”

“In my boot,” she said.

“Hand it over.”

She pulled out the tiny revolver and handed it over the exact same way. The guy tossed it to the floor of the backseat.

In the very back, Neema whined.

Dakota said, “That dog needs medical attention. She has a serious injury.”

“You’ll have a serious injury unless you shut up.”

She pressed her lips together. Josh’s hands were on the steering wheel, both sets of knuckles white with tension as he drove.

“Get his gun.”

She reached over and pulled it from the holster on his belt.

The inmate said, “Backup?”

“Not today,” Josh said.

“I’m supposed to believe that?” The guy shifted in his seat. Not overly stressed, or freaking out. Just tense. The situation was tense, and he knew it.

“It’s the truth,” Josh said.

“You’d better hope so.” He rested the gun on Dakota’s shoulder. Josh saw it. “Just drive. No one moves, and we won’t have any problems.” He shifted and she heard him root around in the back seat.

Dakota glanced at Josh. He kept his gaze forward, lines around his taut mouth. She wanted to say something. Look at me. She didn’t like there not being a connection between them. But was it worth being shot, just for a glance?

Fear reared its head again. Curled up in her stomach, it shifted. Unfurled. Slithered like a snake until it filled her throat, trying to choke her.

The beige outfit was discarded, and he pulled on clothes. Stinky workout clothes, judging by the smell. Who did those belong to? She figured Sal. If they were Niall’s then this guy was going to look ridiculous wearing high waters and a crop top.

“It doesn’t matter how far you get,” she said. “The man whose clothes those are is going to catch you. He’s the best tracker I know.”

“I’ll be long gone by then.”

But would she and Josh be alive? And Neema? She said, “Do you even have a plan?”

He needed money. Transportation. Were friends waiting for him? Anything he said now, Sal could use to track him down.

If Sal didn’t catch up to them the second the SUV stopped.

Was he wondering where they’d gone? Talia would have their GPS. Both she and Josh had their phones with them in the car, and she was wearing her watch. Plenty of ways to track them if anyone decided they might need to be found.

They could be dead before the team thought to look.

“What do you care?” He shifted to bring the gun between the front seats again. “It’s not like I’m gonna to tell you where I’m going.”

“Then tell me what Clare is up to.” She wanted to shift and look him in the eyes, but didn’t risk it. “You’ll have a better shot at getting away if we’re all distracted looking for her.”

“Crazy woman.” He bit off another comment. “Don’t want to be under the thumb of the government and then take a job doing some guy’s dirty work he doesn’t want to do? And for what?”

Dakota remembered the woman’s comment. “Money, apparently.”

“I don’t care how good it is. You don’t give away your freedom. That only makes you someone’s slave.”

“She broke you out.” Dakota glanced over. Out the corner of her eye she saw Josh reach down between the door and his seat, slowly. Carefully.

“She owed me. Now we’re square.”

“So she’s following someone’s orders?”

He snorted. “You think I’ll tell you who?”

“Could help. When the marshals catch up, you’ll need leverage right? Get a deal.” She paused for a second. “But if you kill us, there’s nothing you could say that will make things easier for you. Not a single thing.”

He shrugged. “So I keep one step ahead of the cops. Don’t get caught.”

“Forever?”

“All I gotta do is get out of the country. Get somewhere they don’t make deals with America. Not that hard to find a country that doesn’t like us, considering we’re ticking people off left and right these days.”

And this was different than any other time of history how, exactly? Dakota had paid enough attention in school to be able to graduate, and then she’d gotten out of there. Still, it wasn’t like “world peace” had actually ever been a thing. From what she’d heard on the radio—that time she’d stumbled upon a pastor talking about end times—the idea and possibility of peace was literally a sign that “the End” was coming.

But how did knowing about that stuff help her right now?

The same way she’d purposely tried to forget the past, Dakota didn’t usually worry about what was going to happen tomorrow. Or five years from now.

She could be dead by then.

Right now there was a gun pointed at her and Josh, and that was her priority. Not setting the goal to drink more water next month.

“How about we pull over,” she suggested. “We’ll get the dog and get out. You can take the vehicle.”

“And get followed because this thing is equipped with GPS?”

“Then you get out.” She bit off the words, frustration a poisonous strike of that snake. “Because we have things to do.”

He chuckled. “Feisty. Maybe you should come with me.”

Josh said, “That’s not gonna happen.”

“I’m the one with the gun.”

Josh swung the wheel hard to the right. Dakota caught herself before her head hit the window. A concussion on top of a concussion wouldn’t help anything.

The escaped inmate didn’t do the same. She turned fast enough to see him fall almost all the way to the floor.

Dakota grabbed the hand holding the gun.

Josh slammed on the brakes. There was no time to say, “Thanks.”

She swayed toward the dash. With her hold on the inmate’s hand she pulled his arm hard in the wrong direction.

The gun went off. The front windshield shattered. In the confines of the vehicle, the noise was deafening. Her whole body flinched, and it was like her ears shut off…to a roaring noise like a waterfall.

He sat up.

She still had a hold on his hand. She tried to point the gun away from either her or Josh. The driver’s door flung open and Josh dived out.

He was running away?

 

 

. . .

 

 

Josh raced around the car. Neema barked from the back, but there was no time to wonder if she had moved or was bleeding still. Or more.

He hauled open the back door of the SUV and grabbed the inmate. His ears rang through his head, like someone had stuck hot pokers in both. Gritting his teeth, he pulled against the pain in his arm and shoulder.

The man slid out onto the ground, his arms and legs flailing. Josh let go, then kicked the guy in the head. It wasn’t nice, but he didn’t want to shoot him. This fight needed to be over. Right now.

The man’s head lolled to the side and he slumped. Out cold.

Enough of running for their lives. Enough of being shot and beaten. Kidnapped. Enough escaped prisoners, deadly substances, and having to face off with bikers who would kill anyone who threatened one of their people.

Dakota touched his face. Josh’s whole body flinched, but she didn’t let go or step back. He sucked in a breath and pushed it out slowly. He pulled her in, placed both hands on the sides of her face and touched his forehead to hers.

His breathing didn’t slow. Adrenaline still too high, his blood pumped at a fast pace, lighting synapses and making his muscles twitch. He needed to run. To expel this energy somehow.

He started to move, but Dakota held onto his arms. He opened his eyes and shifted his face down.

“You saved us.”

That, he heard. The sound was muffled, whispered against his lips. The ringing in his ears was still there, though not as loud. He wanted to smile. But exactly what was there to be happy about? She lifted her face closer, relief in her eyes.

He looked at the inmate again. Just to make sure he was out, and they weren’t going to get blindsided.

Again.

He should have checked the backseat. He should have—

Dakota tugged his face around and pressed her lips to his. The buzz of thoughts in his head dissipated, replaced by silence. Her touch was like closing your eyes against the sun. The best kind of peace. Of rest. Like coming home.

She pulled back and bit her lip.

“What?” He heard his own voice more in his head than out loud. He needed to check on Neema.

She said, “Sorry.” He started to shake his head, but she spoke again before he could. “I probably shouldn’t have done that. I’m just so glad that we’re all right—”

Josh kissed her back.

When he’d made his point, that she had nothing to apologize for, he pulled back. “I need to call the vet. Get him to come here and see to Neema.” He dialed.

Dakota shifted to pull out her own phone. “I’ll call Victoria.” She glanced at the unconscious man. “We should find some cuffs.”

Josh dug around in the SUV and found a pair, which he tossed to her while the phone rang.

“Thought you were headed here.”

“Got sidetracked.” He was more thankful than he could say that the vet was on the same page. “Any way you can come to me?”

“How is she?”

He looked over the dog. “Pretending she isn’t hurt as badly as she really is.”

The doc chuckled. “That’s a Shepherd for you. Got a first aid kit?”

“Good idea.” Josh gave him their location and hung up. He dug out gauze to hold onto the nasty wound on her side and climbed in the back of the SUV to be close to her. Dakota was on the phone still.

He saw her shift.

Josh lifted up so he could see the inmate. Hands cuffed behind his back. His right leg was bent up toward his hands. It appeared she’d tied the laces of one of his shoes to the cuffs.

Josh called out, “Did you tie him up?”

She moved the phone away from her mouth. “Better safe than sorry.” She spoke for a few more seconds, then hung up.

One hand close to her weapon, she circled the man on the ground and came closer to the SUV so they at least didn’t have to yell to hear each other.

“Victoria is sending Sal and the other marshals.”

“Is that guy awake?”

She nodded, keeping her attention on the restrained escaped prisoner. “How is Neema?”

He smiled at her, even though she wasn’t looking at him.

Then she glanced over for a second and caught him. She looked back at the inmate, shaking her head.

He said, “You like her.”

“It’s not nice to gloat.”

Josh laughed loudly before he could hold it back. He glanced at his dog.

Dakota said, “The doc will be here soon, right? He’ll fix her up.”

Josh figured the vet would take her with him back to his office. Neema needed stitches and medicines. She didn’t need them dragging her all over the countryside looking for Clare.

Sal and the vet turned up at almost the exact same time. Both climbed out of their vehicles, but the vet went to the back of his truck and pulled out a duffel.

“Let me see.”

Josh petted Neema’s nose, then slid out and went to Dakota and Sal.

“…take him in,” Sal was saying.

One of the marshals untied the inmate’s shoe from the handcuffs. Then he and another one lifted the man to his feet. The inmate glared daggers at Dakota and Josh as he was escorted away.

“One dead and the other is back in custody.” Josh couldn’t help the satisfaction. “Now we just have to find Clare.” He folded his arms across his chest, mostly to keep from touching Dakota.

Now that they’d shared several kisses, he wanted more. He was past the point of trying to convince himself there was nothing going on between them. It was far more than nothing, and he wasn’t going to disrespect whatever it was—or her—by pretending otherwise.

Maybe it wouldn’t go anywhere past this. And what a shame that would be. They at least needed to acknowledge the fact it existed. Still, Dakota might not need to have that conversation now, or any time soon.

She had killed her father earlier today.

Sal glanced between them.

Dakota said, “What?” She also folded her arms.

Josh put his hands in his jeans pockets, just so they weren’t standing the same way.

“You guys are weird.” Sal didn’t say more. Not before one of his marshal friends came over.

“We’re headed out,” the marshal said. “Are you going after Clare Norton?”

“Yes.” Sal motioned to them. “I have a ride.”

“Copy that.” The man jogged off, and they pulled out. Headed off to return the inmate to the prison. Or wherever they were putting the escapees, considering the facility had dissolved into chaos.

Josh helped the vet carry Neema to his vehicle. He told her bye even though she was a dog. That wasn’t the point, was it? And then the vet left as well.

“The SUV is a mess.”

Sal said, “Was that inmate wearing my dirty gym clothes?”

“Yep,” Dakota said. “Clare Norton?” Her smile quickly dissipated. “How do we find her?”

“She headed west, so we have people searching the woods between there and the next town. And we have roadblocks on the highway.”

Josh said, “Roadblocks?”

“She released VX and set free three dangerous inmates. You think we won’t use roadblocks?”

He shook his head, not sure what he was thinking. His arm really hurt. “And we have no idea where she’s going now.”

Dakota’s phone rang. “It’s Talia.” She tapped the screen. “You’re on speaker. Sal is here with me and so is Josh.”

“I think I know where Clare went.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 24

Both guys shifted closer to the phone. Dakota gripped it, held out in the middle of their huddle. “What did you find?”

“I was listening to the police band. There’s a guy. Has a farm east of the compound. He came home about thirty minutes ago to find his wife killed and her car gone.”

Dakota’s heart squeezed. That was the only way she could explain her reaction. Probably being so close to Josh before Sal showed up was the reason. Why else would she care that a man’s wife had been murdered? It was her job to find and stop Clare. Not to get all emotional about another dead person.

She’d seen enough of that today. Maybe too much death. Some she’d killed herself. Like her father. So what did she care about one more?

But she was only kidding herself.

Josh’s attention was on her when he said, “And Clare?”

Dakota didn’t want either of their attention on her. Not when her eyes burned hot with tears.

Sal had been her friend for four years now. Then there was Josh, who had somehow gotten under her skin the past two days. Seriously, she could hardly believe they’d only just met on Friday night. Now it was nearly Sunday evening.

All kinds of insane stuff had happened, she could hardly process it all. Least of all the fact she’d killed her own father. Josh had stuck with her through it. Even when she ditched him, he’d forced her to explain why.

He made her care.

Because she cared about him.

Whether that would end up being a good thing remained to be seen.

Talia said, “Clare is at large. We have a BOLO out on her description and the car to all the local entities. Considering the level of police presence within fifty miles of Dakota, I’m thinking it won’t take long to get a result.”

“Wait, what—Me?”

Talia chuckled. “Honey, you’re a walking disaster.”

“I didn’t make Clare break those people out of prison.” Just like she wasn’t responsible for all of the deaths that had occurred today. “And I didn’t sell her that VX.”

Sal said, “Let’s get in the car. You guys can argue about whose fault this is while I drive.”

“It’s Clare Norton’s fault.” Dakota pulled the passenger door open.

Josh grinned at her, though she could see the pain on his face, and he climbed in the backseat. “It’s also the responsibility of whoever sold her the VX.”

“Certainly not mine.” She knew she was grumbling.

Sal turned the engine on and the call connected to the Bluetooth. Dakota set her phone on her leg and said, “Which way is she heading, anyway?”

Talia said, “East on highway eleven.”

“So, toward Spokane,” Josh said from the backseat.

“Or anywhere between here and there.” Dakota pressed her lips together. “Or nowhere in particular. Maybe she’ll just drive until she runs out of gas. Then she’ll kill someone else and take their car.”

Not a happy thought, especially considering Talia’s jab that this was Dakota’s fault. They’d been following the intel. It wasn’t like she’d been able to stop their plans, and Clare hadn’t jumped on this just because Dakota showed up.

Maybe she’d escalated the timeline a bit. They had dragged her father into this—with Victoria’s “help.”

Could the speed up in their plans have been prevented? The fact she’d forced Clare to accelerate things might have meant more people died than was necessary, but it also meant Clare was reacting instead of working through a calculated to do list. She was more likely to make a mistake if she was changing things up on the spur of the moment.

Dakota’s mouth tasted bitter at the idea that any of this had happened because of her. That anyone had been hurt because of a decision she’d made. Mrs. Johnson. A farm wife, hopefully happy at home, was now dead. Misty had been shot. Josh had been shot. Neema was hurt. Her own teammate had tried to stop her and Josh from moving forward with the case.

She said, “Have you heard from Niall?”

“Not since he sent me all the photos from the Terrence Crampton crime scene.”

“He wrapped up there?” She saw Sal glance at her for a second before he focused on the road again.

“The medical examiner picked up the body. Niall marked himself as off duty about thirty minutes later.”

“He probably headed to Portland.” Dakota explained about the threat to Patricia and his niece Siobhan. Basically the cutest Irish name ever. As well as being one of the more pronounceable ones. Dakota enjoyed saying, “shuh-vawn.” It was as cute as the girl was. She said a little prayer in her head for their safety.

Sal bit back a curse word.

Dakota grinned. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“Every time I see her, cupcake.”

“Gross.” She shook her head. “Talia, can you check on them?”

“I’ll notify local FBI of the threat. Have a detail put on them.” She paused. “Why did he tell us they were being threatened?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Dakota said. “We’re here to help, aren’t we?”

Josh leaned forward and squeezed her shoulder. She was thankful for his reassurance, but didn’t want Sal to know how close they’d gotten. She could tell him later. Talk to Josh later. Right now there were other things on their priority list.

He said, “Maybe one of Clare’s people is still working, trying to cover her escape?”

“Or the same person who sold Clare the contagion in the first place is the one covering for her. Trying to slow us down,” Dakota suggested.

“The one who runs that dark web server?”

She nodded, even though Talia couldn’t see her. “The inmate we took down said she was doing his bidding, taking his money and working for him. For whatever reason, I don’t even care why.”

Unless knowing Clare’s motivation could give them a clue as to what she was going to do with the rest of the VX.

Dakota continued, “But if he’s waiting for her to complete a certain task, then it stands to reason he’d be helping her. At least somewhat.”

“Maybe.” Sal worked his jaw back and forth.

“It’s the best suggestion we’ve come up with so far.”

“But taking down the seller doesn’t stop the threat. It just stops the money. And anything else he’s planning.”

“Or she.” Dakota fired at him, just because he was right. “You’re right that Clare should be our priority right now. But finding the seller could help us.”

Talia said, “I’m looking into her financials, but I can’t do everything at once.”

“So tell Victoria. Punt some to the FBI.”

“I’ll have to explain what I’m doing. Then I’ll have to make sure they’re doing it right. Then, after they’re done, I’ll have to check what they came up with.”

Dakota frowned. “That sounds exhausting.”

“Now you feel my pain.”

“Just not with the heels you wear,” Dakota said. “That, I’ll never know.”

“Don’t remind me. I’ve just about gotten over it.”

The phone beeped, call ended. Dakota stowed it. “So we wait?”

Sal huffed. “Guess you’d better figure out how to do that. At least quietly enough Josh and I don’t murder you for being annoying.”

Murder you…In Dakota’s mind she saw her father’s body jerk. The surprise that registered on his face the second before he fell back.

Dead.

 

 

. . .

 

 

Josh shifted in his seat. If she’d been determined to keep the beginning of their relationship from Sal, she was about to be disappointed. He unsnapped his seatbelt and leaned between their seats, turned to face her.

Josh put his hand on her face. “Eyes.”

Her gaze shifted up to meet his, her gaze full of tears.

“He doesn’t know. But that isn’t an excuse for him to be insensitive.”

“Hey—”

Josh turned to Sal. “I don’t need your help.” He turned back to focus fully on her. “Just take a breath. This has been a long, stressful weekend. It’s not over yet, but you are allowed to take a second for yourself.”

It would take her longer than that to get through all that had happened. But he knew for sure she was capable. This weekend wasn’t what would break her. Not a woman like Dakota, who had been forged in the hottest of fires. Forced to survive so many things, some she would never ever tell him.

He said, “You will find peace with this.”

“How do you know that?” Her voice broke in the middle, but she got the words out.

He wanted to remind her that they both knew the Prince of Peace. But how could he do that without it sounding totally corny? “I’m going to pray.”

“And so am I.”

Hopefully they could do it together. After this he’d need some serious refocusing. Time to assess where he was at. Where he was headed. What he wanted moving forward. Some people might find that stuff hokey but it was what he’d been taught to do. Talk to God while you figure out what you want, and then watch for His direction as you figured out how to get it.

Otherwise he’d have floundered for years in life. He’d have wandered through every day with no direction and no purpose.

“Thank you.”

He let go, reluctantly. At least he could admit to himself that it was reluctant. Now wasn’t the time to go over all that in his head.

“You’re welcome.” He sat back and pulled out his phone because it was vibrating. Re-buckled his seatbelt.

“The vet is calling me.” He answered the call. “Weber.”

“Hey. Neema is resting now. She was pretty agitated after we left you, but by the time I got her cleaned up, stitched and bandaged, she was drowsy. I’m hoping you can be here when she wakes up tomorrow. I don’t want her moving before then.”

“I can try.” But the reality was that he had no idea what would be happening tomorrow. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“Good enough. She’s not going anywhere, and I’ll have someone here to keep an eye on her tonight.”

“Thank you. I appreciate you taking care of her.”

“Wait till you see my bill,” the doc said, partly laughing. “Then we’ll see how appreciative you are.”

Josh hung up, grinning.

“Say that again.” Dakota hit a button on her phone. Josh shifted but couldn’t see what was on the screen. He hadn’t even realized she answered her own phone.

The call connected through the car’s speakers.

“State police spotted the Nissan with Clare driving.” It was Victoria.

Dakota said, “License plate?”

“They called it in, and it was confirmed. They were ordered to pull her over.” Victoria sighed. “After that no one heard from them. So another pair of officers headed to the location. They found the state police car, one officer dead from a gunshot and the other wounded.”

“She killed a cop?” Sal’s voice was low. Deadly.

Even Josh was concerned about the tone. Not scared, though. The guy was a cop, which meant he operated within a set of rules even though marshals were a law unto themselves. That didn’t mean Josh wasn’t concerned as to the man’s drive to catch up to Clare Norton and bring her to justice. And what that might entail.

The marshals had been policing America for more than two hundred years, making them the oldest federal agency. Still, even Sal had to obey the law. Procedure.

“She killed a cop.” Victoria’s voice resounded through the interior of the SUV. “The wounded officer said she took off, heading east.”

Josh said, “To Spokane.”

Dakota said, “What’s happening there?”

“On a Sunday night, not much.”

Josh said, “If she’s intending to make some kind of statement, then she’ll need a target where there are a lot of people. Maximum damage gets maximum news coverage.” And wasn’t that a horrible thought?

“Leave it with me. I’ll get you a list of what I come up with.”

“Copy that.” Dakota pressed the button on the dash screen and ended the call.

Josh sighed. He stared out the window at the trees to try and get his brain to process everything. To push past the pain and focus. He’d wiped off his skin where the dog had latched onto his forearm. Not as bad as he’d thought. An older dog with not many teeth left. It was the bruise that hurt. Enough he was surprised he hadn’t suffered a broken bone from that powerful bite.

“I guess we’re going to Spokane, then.” Dakota shifted in her seat.

He was only partly aware of her now. Fatigue and the pain in his shoulder and arm washed over him like a wave. He wanted to moan. Couldn’t even remember where he’d put his pain meds. Or when he was due for another dose. Was Dakota feeling her injuries?

He shut his eyes.

Spokane. He tapped his phone against his thigh and thought about that city instead of his injuries. His office was there. The office he was supposed to be at tomorrow morning. Instead he’d be bringing down Clare. And then he would be driving back to the middle of northern Washington state to pick up his injured dog.

After that he was going to have to talk to Eden. Explain about Maggie. How her death had exposed and helped extinguish a serious threat. That was good. He should go with that in his attempt to give her some kind of peace in her grief. It might not help but maybe eventually.

And then what? He would have to go back to his desk at the DEA office in Spokane. Pretend none of this had happened. That it hadn’t changed him or made him realize he could find what he needed on a different team.

He hadn’t made the wrong choice, going for the DEA. He just wondered if God hadn’t used that move to direct him to the next step.

Joining Victoria’s team.

He wanted to ask the boss lady about a transfer. Dakota had said they were low one team member. Would she let him join? Should he tell her that he and Dakota had feelings for each other?

He had felt like they were testing him this weekend. Everything had erupted but that didn’t mean the option was off the table.

What if he had to choose between the Northwest Counter Terrorism Taskforce and having a relationship with Dakota? Could he work alongside her, all the while denying his growing feelings for her?

“I got the email.” Her voice was low. Like she thought he was sleeping, and she didn’t want to disturb him.

Josh cracked his gritty eyelids open. “What does it say?” His voice was gravelly.

“There’s a Senator hosting a town hall tomorrow. Big chain hotel, downtown Spokane. It’s top of the list.” She read off the senator’s name.

“Big proponent of more government oversight, not less,” Sal said. “A figurehead for ‘the man,’ trying to get everyone on federal programs. Beholden to government help just to get by.”

Josh remembered that as well. Just not fast enough to have mentioned it before the marshal. “She thinks that’s where Clare will release the last of the VX she bought?”

“Yes,” Dakota said. “We think it’s the most likely target. Make a big splash.”

“And it lines up with her worldview. Anti-government.” He figured they would know what he was talking about through the fog of his pain and fatigue.

“Yes, it does.”

He heard the edge in her tone and figured she would know best. Her father had been exactly that type. She’d grown up as one of them. In any other time, Dakota could have been Austin—groomed to take over. Brainwashed for the cause.

Raised to fight as one of them.

A terrorist, threatening America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 25

Dakota desperately wanted to sink into a chair. It wasn’t even seven in the morning and she’d gotten about four hours of sleep. No police agency had caught sight of Clare, either late last night or this morning.

Josh stood beside her, the two of them providing legitimacy to the claim a possible terrorist was planning an attack on today’s town hall meeting.

Across the suite at a tiny circle table, Senator Eric Walden ate a bite of his eggs. He’d tucked a napkin in the collar of his shirt, so he didn’t get hollandaise on his tie. His dark hair had been styled with strategic use of hair dye, and his wedding ring wasn’t on his finger.

Did he offer them a cup of coffee? No, he didn’t. And at this point Dakota would have gnawed off her hand for some caffeine. Silly them, they’d considered a threat to the senator’s life and the lives of innocent people to be a bigger priority than breakfast.

“And you think she’ll bring this…gas or whatever it is with her?” He waved his fork in the air.

“Yes, sir,” Dakota said. “This event is at the top of our list.”

“Hmm. Aren’t I lucky?” He shot a look at his aide.

The slender woman sitting across from him was on her iPad. She probably should have been eating. She looked like she needed some cheesy eggs in her life. She didn’t smile. Just went back to her screen and whatever she was reading. Maybe the morning news report.

Josh took a step toward him. “With all due respect—”

“You know, Special Agent…what was it?”

“Weber.”

The senator continued, “When people use the phrase, ‘with all due respect’ it usually doesn’t mean anything good. Mostly it would indicate the fact you think I’m an idiot and you’re about to say as much, but you wouldn’t want me to get offended.”

“I don’t think you’re an idiot.”

Dakota wasn’t sure if she agreed with the senator, or not. Josh was a nice guy and all. How a person treated animals said a lot about them. At least it was all she needed to know.

He had a good job. He hadn’t whined when his truck was blown up. He hadn’t minded when she took a handful of his fries last night. And his kiss?

Dakota felt her face flush.

Honestly, what else was she expecting? No man was perfect. Waiting for the perfect man was pointless because “he” didn’t exist. But the man right in front of her? This man might just be perfect for her.

“I do think you aren’t appreciating the potential danger here. Especially the lives of people who are looking to you as their duly elected official. For leadership and protection.”

The senator’s eyes narrowed as he considered Josh’s words.

Josh continued, “Then there are those who didn’t vote for you. I’m sure they’re planning on attending this morning just to get in your face. Which group do you think will be more impressed that you’ve taken heroic steps to protect them? Those who already think it’s your duty to do so, or the ones waiting for you to mess up so they can jump all over you?”

“Hmm.”

“Yes.” The aide didn’t lift her attention from her screen. “Hmm.”

What that was supposed to mean, Dakota wasn’t sure. “So you’re willing to cancel?”

The senator glanced at her as though he was surprised she was still there. Apparently he didn’t consider her noteworthy enough to remember she was in the room.

His eyes also flared, along with his nostrils. As though he was just now remembering when she’d initially come in and he’d practically gasped. He’d asked her what on earth happened to her face.

“No,” he said. “I won’t be doing that.”

“You’d rather a deadly contagion was released in a room full of people?”

“You yourself said there’s a ‘list.’ Who’s to say I’m even the actual target of this back-woods woman?”

Dakota was beginning to think about putting this guy on her list of targets. And she would start with punching him in his smug face. Josh might not approve, and Victoria certainly would not—bad for task force PR—but it would certainly make her feel better.

Her father had forced her hand, and she’d had to kill him.

Sadly, it hadn’t improved her life any.

Thankfully Josh stepped in again. “Is it really worth the risk to you?”

“Perhaps it is,” the senator offered back. “Perhaps the work I do is worth the risk, even the loss of life. What if my work is important enough that it justifies the potential loss of life?”

Dakota folded her arms. “If you think—”

“We understand, senator.” Josh nodded. “It is important to see the bigger picture.”

She had a new person she wanted to punch. His face wasn’t smug. But if he wanted to kiss her again, he was going to have to disinfect those lips. She didn’t want to kiss him when he’d just been kissing someone else…on the backside.

She shot him a death glare no one missed. But Dakota didn’t care. Diplomacy wasn’t her forte. “I’m calling my director. You want to have your little meeting? That’s fine. You go ahead and try. Because when Victoria Bramlyn says no, it means no.”

The senator’s face flushed red. “Victoria…” He blustered out her last name in a jumble. “That’s what this is about? She’s trying to sabotage my town hall meeting!”

Josh came back with his diplomatic tactics. “You have something with Director Bramlyn?”

“The woman hates me.” He shot out of his chair, sloshing milky coffee on the white tablecloth. The aide frowned. The senator pulled the napkin from his collar and threw it on the table.

The aide shifted his coffee cup and got a drip on her finger, which she sipped between her pursed lips.

“Victoria Bramlyn? I should have known.” A vein appeared on the senator’s temple. “I should have known she would try to sabotage this. Get out. Both of you.”

Josh shot Dakota a look. Probably because she’d used the same words on him.

“I didn’t mean to kidnap your dog.” Why that came out right then, she wasn’t sure.

But it made Josh laugh.

Beyond the handsome display of humor the aide began to gasp.

“Uh…ma’am?” Dakota wandered between the two men.

The aide glanced up, the whites of her eyes completely red. She jerked a few times, and Dakota realized she was trying to breathe.

She coughed the last of the air in her lungs and white foam appeared on her lips.

Josh yelled, “Medic!” All reflex. The ingrained muscle memory of years serving his country in a place where they needed medical personnel on hand at all times. At least, that was what she figured.

The aide slumped to the side of her chair and kept going. Dakota reached out to catch her, then thought about the VX and recoiled. She didn’t want to risk getting some on her.

The woman fell to the carpet. Dakota knelt by her side. Whatever her name was, she took her last choking breath and then the life was gone from her eyes.

Dakota looked over at the senator. “She’s dead.”

Two uniformed paramedics came in.

“There’s been a murder!” The senator’s voice was practically a wail. “My aide has been killed.”

“It was in his coffee.” Dakota held out a hand before the first one could touch the aide’s face. Even with a gloved hand they needed to know. “Her clothes could be contaminated. So far it hasn’t been transmitted, only directly administered. No one should touch that coffee cup.”

She explained what she knew about the VX.

“The doctors at the hospital need to know everything about it that you do.”

She nodded. “I can have it sent over…”

“And in the meantime?” the senator wailed again. “What do you expect me to do?”

Dakota stood and faced him. She ignored the wary look on Josh’s face. He didn’t have to worry about what she was going to say. Because there was no way for him to stop it.

“You’re going to have to call a speech writer,” she said. “Because it’s time to make a statement.”

 

 

. . .

 

 

The door to the senator’s suite opened and Sal strode in. “She’s still here.”

Dakota spun to greet him. “Here?”

Sal nodded. “In the hotel.”

The senator took a step back. One more, and he’d be sitting on the table where he’d been eating casually just a moment ago. Now his aide was dead, the room was crowded with first responders, and he was…

What? Certainly not affected by anything that was happening. At least as far as Josh could tell. It almost seemed like he was trying to figure something out. Maybe how he could spin this?

He reached for the aide’s iPad.

“That’s evidence. And it could be contaminated.”

“Well it’s not like I have my own.”

He wasn’t worried about dying? Josh said, “Yeah, they’re pretty pricey.” Which was dumb, but it was what came out of his mouth.

The senator shook his head. “No. I just only have a phone and a computer. If I’m going to go ‘live’ on social media to announce the tragic murder of my aide, then I’ll need to use something with a faster processor.”

Wow. This guy talked a good game. What was it Eden called it? The “gift of the gab.” Anytime this man smacked his lips together, the words that came out made Josh want to shake his head in disbelief. Though the senator likely would’ve preferred Josh to jump to support, or into action. Not sit by in an incredulous stupor.

There were so many problems with what he’d said that Josh didn’t know where to begin. “First of all, that’s going to be collected as evidence. You want to use your phone, go get it. But don’t go making announcements of any kind until it’s been cleared by us. First thing we’re going to do is make sure the next of kin is contacted.”

Josh motioned to the dead woman, though she was surrounded by cops and the paramedics. “Does she have family?”

The senator made a face. Like a preschooler trying to solve multiplication. “Um…maybe?”

So he had no idea.

“We’ll find out.” Dakota folded her arms. “I don’t want you breathing without permission until this is sorted out. There’s a woman in this hotel who wants you dead and obviously has the means to get a deadly substance into your coffee. Who knows how she’s going to try again when she discovers it failed? So if I were you, I wouldn’t go making social media posts. All you’re doing is inviting another murder attempt.”

Josh waved Dakota and Sal over to the corner of the room. “Unless that’s exactly what we want her to do. You know, draw her out? Set her up and then take her down…” He registered the looks on their faces. “And you guys already figured that out.”

A look washed over Dakota’s face, but she didn’t share. He was intrigued enough he’d have to ask her about it later.

Sal said, “All our scouring the footage in the hotel paid off.” That was good to hear, since Josh had been doing it at two in the morning. They’d taken shifts to get through all of it.

The marshal continued, “We saw her enter. Tracked her movements in the hallways. And we found the waiter she drugged, dead in a closet. She delivered the food to this room herself.”

“And then never left the hotel?”

Sal nodded in answer.

Dakota shifted her weight, a thoughtful look on her face. “So she’s hanging around to see if the job was completed? Or she left, and we just didn’t catch it?”

Josh didn’t know how they were supposed to be able to answer that question. “Do you have a photo of Clare?”

Sal pulled out his phone and swiped to a picture.

“Can I borrow that?” Josh went to the senator and held it out. “Have you ever seen this woman before?”

“Is that her?” He squinted at the screen, then moved across the room for some reading glasses which he slid onto his nose.

“Please answer the question.”

He studied the phone. “I’ve never seen her in my life.”

“So you have no idea why this woman might want you dead?”

He shrugged. And yet, Clare Norton had delivered his breakfast. She’d been inside this room.

If the VX had been sold to her from a third party, and she was working on orders as her friend had suggested, that made her no more than a hired gun. Maybe it wasn’t personal. Could be Clare had nothing against the senator, and this was just a means to an end.

Josh moved back to Sal and Dakota. Both of their faces indicated they felt the same as he did. “He’s got nothing.” He kept the words quiet, not wanting the senator to hear. Josh didn’t want to get suddenly audited by the IRS for no reason, or whatever put-out government officials did to get revenge.

Dakota pulled out her ponytail, flipped her hair forward and ran her fingers through it. When she stood upright she retied it, not meeting either of their eyes. Biting her lip. When she did look at Josh, he could see her eyes were wide. Her breath coming fast.

He stepped between her and Sal, shifting so she had to move with him toward the door. “We’ll check in with Talia and see if she has anything new.”

Dakota strode to the door and out to the hallway. She waited until he shut the door behind them and then set her hands on her thighs to lean forward.

“What is it?”

She said nothing, sucking in breaths.

“Walk with me.” He tugged on her arm and led her down the hall to the elevator.

“I don’t—” She gasped. “—want them to see.”

But she was okay with him being the one who was with her? Josh didn’t have time to truly appreciate what it meant that she would rely on him instead of her own team.

He hit the button for their floor. She handed over the card to her room, and he let them in. Talia was at the table. She looked up from her computer and saw Dakota.

“Give us a minute?”

She glanced at him, then took her laptop and shut the bedroom door behind her.

“Sit down.” He led Dakota to the couch.

She wrung her hands between her knees. Josh knelt in front of her. “What is it?”

She blew out a breath. “I don’t even know.”

He guessed all of her emotions were crashing down on her after having been pushed aside for too long. She was wrung out physically and now emotionally as well. “Having feelings isn’t a bad thing.”

“Well, it’s never been a good thing either.”

“It is now.” He planted a kiss on her forehead. “It’s cleansing to get it out.”

“It’s exhausting. And now I have a headache again.”

He moved to kiss her. She waved her hand and then grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table. Blew her nose first. “I’m all gross and puffy.”

Josh thought it was cute. “I don’t know how this will all shake out, but I know I’d rather be with you than without. I want it all. The job—the career—I had dreamed of. The one where I’m making a real difference. I want that. But I also want a relationship with you. The best kind of relationship.”

Dakota stared at him. A little bit of shock, a little bit of hope.

“What do you want?”

The door lock clicked. From behind him, Talia said, “Sorry. I couldn’t make them wait.”

Victoria strode in. She caught sight of them and immediately a gleam birthed in her eyes. Josh hadn’t figured any of them were confused about what was happening between him and Dakota.

And it wasn’t a job interview for the open spot on this team.

But there wasn’t time to talk about any of that right now.

The director said, “We found Clare.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 26

Victoria used a key in the elevator control panel, then hit two buttons. Eight was the floor for the senator’s suite. And the basement.

The motor whirred and they descended. Dakota tried to shove off the embarrassment at being caught in the middle of an intense conversation with Josh. One she wished they could have finished. Especially considering he seemed to think the conversation needed to involve kissing.

She wanted to answer his question. Not that she knew exactly what she was going to say to him. What she “wanted” and what she actually got were usually two different things.

Maybe this break was good. The chance to think it through. To get it right, when they finally did finish that important conversation.

Was this going to be the one time that would be different?

Hope swelled, like the rest of her emotions had. So hard and fast it threatened to choke her they were so overwhelming, like life had caught up with her. Though it was more like it had crashed down on her.

She wanted to trust the hope she had in God and in what she knew of Josh. To believe that maybe, for once, there would be something good in her life.

She understood salvation and the grace she’d been given. The wonderful gift of redemption. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t lonely. That she didn’t want to belong to someone. To find a family that had nothing to do with work.

Though, if it did turn out to be Josh, then it would be partly about work.

If he joined the team.

Victoria tipped her head to the side. With Josh behind her, she caught Dakota’s attention and then motioned to him with her eyes. Without moving her head. What was this, junior high? The woman seemed to think it was noteworthy that she’d caught Dakota and Josh having an emotion-laden conversation.

Dakota rolled her eyes. Victoria might be all business most of the time, but she was also a hopeless romantic. Dakota still remembered the disappointed look on her face when she’d explained to the director that there was nothing happening between her and Sal. And that nothing was ever going to happen. When she’d explained it, Victoria had understood.

Evidently she had her heart set on Dakota and Josh now.

Would she wind up being disappointed?

It might not be the normal environment for a lot of federal agencies, with their rules about employee fraternization. They would have to fill out the change of relationship paperwork. Make it official—if it happened. But also Victoria had determined to establish a close team. One that was a family. In her mind, this meant couples. Teams who supported each other, who worked in pairs, watching each other’s backs.

Never mind the fighting. The distraction. The divorces. How did Victoria know it would all work out perfectly? If she wanted relationships in the team so badly, then maybe she should find one herself.

The elevator doors slid open on eight and Sal stepped in. “She’s downstairs?”

Victoria nodded. “In the laundry facility.”

A huge hotel like this probably had massive machines. Multiple rooms. “How are we supposed to find her?” Both of them looked at her. Josh shifted to stand closer, a welcome solidarity.

“Split up.” Victoria pulled a paper from her pocket and handed it over. “I’ll go with Sal, you stick with Josh. Work your way, room to room.”

The paper was a map. The layout of the hotel basement—laundry facilities and storage closets.

“We’ll work our way back to the middle and hopefully flush her out along the way.”

“Sounds good,” Josh said.

The unspoken hung between Dakota and her boss. Given what the woman had pulled—or attempted to pull—with trying to send Josh to speak to her father, she wasn’t sure how she felt about Victoria. It had been messed up and ended with Dakota shooting her father. They were going to have to talk about that, just like she and Josh needed to talk.

And then there was the whole team meeting they needed.

Not to mention all the paperwork there would be after this weekend.

The elevator sped down to the basement. “What is happening with Niall?”

Victoria said, “The agents at his house, watching his family, said he showed up there. They’re going to detain him until I can take over.”

“Will he get fired?”

“There will be a full investigation into what happened.”

He hadn’t pulled a gun on her and Josh. But he had attempted to stall them so Clare had a better chance to kill yet more people. They had been fully aware of what he’d been attempting to do. Yes, his family had been in danger, but that would never excuse his actions.

If he continued with the team, there would be legitimate trust issues. A definite disrupt to their team dynamics.

“Look, it’s been a long weekend,” Victoria said, “for all of us. Right now we need to bring in Clare Norton. When it’s done and the paperwork is submitted and we’ve all had a solid week of sleeping ten hours a night, then we can have a meeting. Hash everything out.” She paused. “Okay?”

Dakota nodded.

“Good,” Sal said. “Cause we’re here.”

The elevator doors slid open. Victoria removed her overcoat, revealing a bullet proof vest that matched Josh’s—giving no specific designation of federal agency, just the word POLICE. She dropped the coat in the elevator while Dakota gaped. She hadn’t noticed.

Victoria wasn’t wearing a skirt.

She was wearing pants.

“We take west.” The director stepped out after Sal and glanced back at the two of them. “Watch each other’s backs.”

Dakota nodded, still stunned.

Josh said, “We will.”

He nudged her out of the elevator. They headed in the other direction, down a long hall of concrete floor. Pipes lined the ceiling, and Dakota heard rushing water.

She pulled her gun and lifted the map with one hand. She shook out the paper and checked the layout. “Dryer facilities are in front of us, end of the hall. Washers are in the room to the left.”

“And the direction they went?” Josh dipped his head close, looking at the map.

“Supply rooms. And the kitchen.”

He nodded, then stepped past her. Gun out. Leading the way. The sight of him made her heart swell. None of her teammates would ever presume to stand between her and the bullets. She was strong and capable. Many times she’d met the threat ahead while no one stood beside her. She’d been alone, no back up.

Interestingly enough, she thought she liked it. But now she could admit there was a sense of camaraderie, having a partner.

As long as he wasn’t hanging out with her just to buy time before he went to speak to her father. But she didn’t have to worry about that now.

Harlem was dead.

“I’m glad I killed him.”

Josh kept moving, but she saw the hitch in his stride when she said quietly, “I’m glad he’s dead.”

They continued down the hallway.

“Maybe that makes me a horrible person. I’m not sure that I care.” She paused. “Should I care?”

“I think it makes you a human being,” he replied, equally as quietly. “What counts is what you do now.”

“Like ask for forgiveness?” Did she want to do that?

“Maybe.”

“Maybe,” she repeated, not sure there was much to say about that. She needed to think more.

Victoria had been right about one thing.

It was time to find Clare.

 

 

. . .

 

 

Josh kept going, headed for the door in front of him. The sign next to the door read “Washing Room.” In a hotel like this, it was probably running all day. The door was ajar.

He had to keep his focus. Not get distracted by what was going on with Dakota. This definitely wasn’t the time for relationship stuff. She probably needed to talk to a professional. Someone who could give her the tools to process her pain.

Her life had been affected by major trauma—some of it just yesterday, when she’d faced down her father. There was likely a lot more emotion to work through before she could find an even keel again.

Josh would like to help her. But half the time he wasn’t perfectly sane, given everything he’d seen and done. He was definitely not perfect. Nor did he have all the answers for her.

He would have to leave that stuff up to God.

Funny that it had taken something like this to get him to face the fact there were things he couldn’t do himself. Is that what being with Dakota is going to be like, Lord? Maybe she was put in his life so that he would grow. To show him where he needed God even more. A relationship that actually spurred him on to grow spiritually wasn’t something he’d ever considered.

Evidently when he’d said he wanted “it all,” even he hadn’t realized the extent of what that could look like.

Help us find Clare, Lord. Help us keep everyone safe.

Then they could work out all those other things.

Josh paused at the door and listened. He could hear the whir of washing machines. The circular rotation that made the sound go around and around in a rush.

He couldn’t see anyone inside, staff or Clare Norton. Was she in there hiding out, up to something?

“Come on.”

He nudged the door open and stepped inside. Dakota stuck close, and they quickly fell into the rhythm of partners working together. So much had changed in his life in just a couple of days. He could hardly believe how different he felt.

How different his life was after such a short time.

A short, round woman in a maid’s uniform scurried around a corner carrying a stack of towels. She froze and gaped at them.

“Is anyone else in here?” Josh asked in a low voice.

She nodded vigorously and shifted the towels so she could point a shaky finger at the corner. She mouthed, “Over there.”

“Get to the hall and go upstairs.”

She rushed past them.

He looked at Dakota. She used hand signals to communicate. He nodded, and they split up.

Came at the corner from two different directions.

Clare Norton had her back to them, doing something.

Dakota called out, “Turn around, put your hands up.”

Josh held aim on her while she jerked at the sound of Dakota’s voice. Busted. Clare whipped her head around, and then turned. Sweat lined her forehead and upper lip. Her dirty clothes hung on her, and in her hand she held…

“Drop—

Dakota yelled at the same time he did.

But Clare only lifted it higher. Neither of them fired.

It was—

“A dead man’s switch.” Josh said it even before he realized they were in a much tougher position here than he’d imagined.

Clare shifted, and he saw what she’d been working on. Attached to the wall behind her she had been arming a bomb. A vial of amber colored liquid was wired into the circuit.

In her hand was a switch. If she released it, the bomb would detonate.

“You didn’t kill the senator, so now you’re going to destroy the building?” By releasing the last of the VX.

“My finger even twitches,” she said, “and this whole building falls in on itself. If that doesn’t kill everyone, the VX will.”

They were about center in the basement. The elevator was on the south side, and they’d walked to about the middle of the hotel.

Was she right? Could the hotel come crashing down on top of them?

Dakota said, “Another task from whoever you’re working for?”

Good question. Was Clare acting alone now or still under orders?

“He has the money to provide all kinds of toys,” Clare said. “Now, the two of you are going to back up and let me walk out of here, or we all die.”

The minute she was gone she would detonate the bomb—with them still inside. There was no way to give the order to evacuate and have everyone leave in time to save lives. And if he found a fire alarm—and pulled it—would she let go of that switch?

“Kill me, and the hotel falls on all of us,” she said. “I’m walking out of here. No one is going to stop me. You’re going to make sure of that. But either way, I will make my mark. In life, or in death.”

They weren’t going to dissuade her on the basis of ideology. They would never be able to convince her that what she believed was wrong.

Austin had been different. A young man would have doubts about the worldview he’d been taught, just like every other young man. Learning the world. Figuring out for himself what he believed, apart from what he’d been taught.

Josh had hit a point in his life where it’d been necessary for him to choose whether or not he agreed with his parent’s faith. He’d had to decide to take it on board for himself.

With Clare he tried a different tactic instead. “Whatever he’s paying you, I’ll give you more. Name your price. We can guarantee you’ll get out of here alive to collect what you earned.”

They could catch her later, when she was comfortable in her riches, leaving a trail of spending behind her. Not that he had a pile of money or anything, but he could hopefully get her to comply anyway.

Maybe Victoria could use her government contacts to help him out.

While he spoke, Dakota moved closer to Clare, picking something up off a dryer as she went. What was her plan? The woman’s attention was fixated on him, and he kept it by moving slightly to the left. Enough to make Clare twist around toward him, determined to keep him in her sights.

Clare laughed. “Good one. Like feds have money.” She shot him an incredulous look, full of mirth. “You guys don’t make that much.”

“I have an inheritance. But if you don’t want it…” She could decide whether he was telling the truth.

Clare narrowed her eyes. She spun around, and the realization that she’d been distracted flashed upon her face before she turned away. Toward Dakota.

But it was too late.

Dakota lunged at Clare and grabbed the hand holding the dead man’s switch. In her other hand she held a roll of duct tape she’d swiped from the table.

Dakota held the end of the tape and wound it around their clenched hands so fast his brain had to catch up with what was happening.

Clare moved. He saw her hand reach for Dakota’s gun. What was about to happen played out in his mind. She would pull the trigger and Dakota would die.

Josh didn’t hesitate.

He aimed, tugged on the trigger and put a bullet in her thigh.

She turned the gun on him and fired.

Dakota screamed his name.

Sparks of light set off like fireworks at the edges of his vision. He fell back and hit the ground.

Everything went black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 27

Dakota caught Clare’s gun hand before she got off another shot. Her other hand was useless, taped around Clare’s grip on the dead man’s switch. She shoved the older, heavier woman back and then kept going. Their momentum shoved Clare’s head against the breezeblock wall and knocked her out.

She slumped in front of Dakota and tugged her down so Dakota fell to her knees with the woman.

“Josh!” His name was a wail. A scream that seemed to split her head open it was so loud. So painful.

Hot tears ran down her face.

She’d seen him fall. That close, his vest would work. But there were so many other things that could go wrong. Was he okay? She clambered to her feet and ran to him.

Got two steps, then felt the pull of the unconscious woman.

Dakota fell to her knees again, one hand still attached to Clare’s body.

Sal appeared in front of her.

She tried to speak. All that came from her mouth was a whimper. A wordless cry.

He sank to his knees. “Oh-kay.” He ran his hands down her arm to the tape that was wrapped around two hands and a switch that would level the building on top of them. “Oh-kay.”

He spoke the way she would’ve done to Neema, hurt and wanting to know where Josh was. When the pain would stop.

Victoria called out, “Ambulance is on its way,” her voice strained.

Dakota didn’t see her.

“We need the bomb squad, too!” Sal called back. Looking down at Dakota, he said, “She’s with Josh. But don’t worry about him. Our job is to worry about you.” He answered the question she hadn’t asked yet.

“Bomb.”

“Yes, the bomb.” He slid out his phone and called the local police for SWAT. Past that, her ears just quit working.

He jostled her so she could lie down.

Someone walked close to her face. Dakota tried to focus. She was shifted into someone’s arms and then lifted. The world spun.

“Clare…”

“She’s cuffed. They’re dealing with the bomb.” He walked.

Dakota blinked some more but couldn’t see clearly. “Josh.” He would know what she meant.

Sal walked past a bustle of people. She opened her eyes to see them crouched over something. Moving. Talking.

They all sat back.

“Clear.”

The man between them lifted off the ground, then flopped back down.

An electronic voice said, “Pulse detected.”

“Let’s get him out of here.”

“See.” Sal spoke close to her ear. “He’s going to be fine.”

Dakota shook her head. Pain reverberated through her skull, threatening unconsciousness at the edge of her vision.

“Does she need a doctor?” She thought maybe that was Victoria.

“She needs to get out of here.”

He kept moving. Being in motion wasn’t helping. Sal needed to put her down, but she was pretty sure her legs would simply collapse under her.

She knew what she needed. “Josh.”

He’d been too close. Those people. Clear. The bullet’s impact into his vest must have stopped his heart. It would’ve kept the bullet from cutting straight through the middle of that all-important organ, but it also would’ve impacted with such force…

Enough it had stopped his heart.

“Josh.” His name was a moan from her lips.

“Seems like you have a soft spot for him.”

Maybe. That was the word she’d said to Josh. “Yes.”

Sal knew and that was enough for now. Would she get the chance to tell Josh her answer? God, I don’t want him to die. I want life. With him. And yet, just yesterday she had murdered someone.

No, not murder.

She’d killed an escaped prisoner who had been about to kill her. It was justified, no matter who the parties were.

She had pulled the trigger. Part of her screaming, wanting it all to end. The rest of her burning in rage at what he’d done. I killed someone.

Would she ever be free of it? He was gone from this world now. Her father was answering for his life. The same way she would have to answer for hers.

What counted in the end was what she did with the time she had left.

Time she wanted to spend with Josh.

More tears ran down her face. Had she stopped crying? “Doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?”

“Not going to call me Cupcake?” Did she want him to? She hardly knew what she was saying right now.

“Don’t joke.” He said, “Just tell me what doesn’t make sense.”

Had she been joking?

“Dakota.” He stepped out of the elevator, still carrying her. “Tell me what doesn’t make sense.”

Josh. “Met him on Friday.” How could there possibly already be so much between them? It had been only a weekend. Three days, given it was Monday now. “Monday,” she said. “Right?”

“Payday.”

Dakota shook her head. Like she cared about that? All her bills were automated. If she needed something, she used the cash she kept in an envelope in her sock drawer. The rest of it was for a rainy day.

“Your sock drawer?” He jostled her, but got the door open.

“Put me—”

Talia wailed. “Is she okay? I heard about Josh. Did he seriously die?”

Dakota sucked in a breath. Coughed. Gasped.

Sal lowered her to the couch in the suite she shared with Talia. “Easy. Catch your breath. Big inhale.”

It was choppy and ended too soon, but she got air in.

“Blow it out like you’re blowing through a straw.”

She frowned but gave it a try.

“Good. Keep going.” Sal’s frown started to smooth out. “Suck in, like through a straw. Then blow out.”

“How do you know this stuff?” Talia asked him.

Dakota kept quiet because she wanted to know the answer to that as well.

“My little brother had asthma.”

Had?

Sal got up and strode across the room. He came back with a cup of tepid water from the bathroom sink. “Sip it.”

Dakota held the cup with both hands. It wasn’t much, but she managed to get more water in her mouth than on the hotel carpet, her hands were shaking so badly. “I need to get to the hospital.”

“Good idea.” Talia nodded. “Get yourself checked out. Who knows what’s wrong with you under the surface that we don’t see.” Then she made a face and ruined all the compassion that had been in her tone.

“I’ll throw this water at you.” Her voice cracked in the middle, but she got all the words out. Most of the communication happened in her facial expression though. She thought.

“Ah, yes. And check on Josh. Of course.” She said his name with a tone.

“I have to get back for English class so I can turn in my late homework.”

Sal actually laughed.

Dakota pushed out a breath. All her energy dissipated like the plug being pulled out of a drain. Enough of the jokes. Besides, there had been nothing funny about middle school.

“Talk. Then hospital.” She was fading fast. They needed to just hurry up and say it.

“I can’t find any trace of the person who sold Clare Norton the contagion.”

“And a bomb.”

Talia’s head jerked. “Wha…”

Sal said, “Continue.”

Talia complied. “The server I was in on the dark web is gone now. It’s not just missing; it’s like it was never there in the first place. There’s nothing to find. Like whoever it was simply doesn’t exist.”

Dakota frowned and started to get up. “That doesn’t—”

Her eyes rolled back in her head.

Sal caught her before she hit the floor.

 

 

. . .

 

 

Josh watched the door until it opened. Blond hair swayed as the woman entered. He didn’t want to be disappointed, but…

“Don’t look so sad to see me, okay?” Victoria didn’t smile. There was something in her eyes. He didn’t know what it meant. Something she had to say that he wasn’t going to like.

“Where’s Dakota?”

She shifted the chair, even though it was in a perfectly fine position, angled toward his hospital bed. Then she sat. Knees together, purse on her lap. She smiled.

He didn’t like it. “Vic—”

She lifted a hand. “She’s here.”

“She’s okay?”

“Not exactly.” A frown drew her brows together.

Her phone rang. He heard it vibrate. But she didn’t reach for it. She kept all of her attention on him. “She’s unconscious. They said there might be a bleed on her brain. Possibly from the concussion.” She pushed out a slow breath. “They said if the swelling doesn’t go down soon they might have to do surgery. Right now she’s in a medically induced coma.”

She held her hands on her lap again. Josh noticed a white line on her finger. Tan, and the lighter skin where a ring had been. A mark of her history. Of a life lived, loved ones she’d shared that life with. However it had ended, good or bad, Victoria had lived.

Josh shut his eyes. He’d been shot—again. They’d patched up the first, and helped him recover from the impact of the other one. He’d woken up hours ago. Had anyone been able to tell him where Dakota was, and what happened to Clare? No.

Until he’d demanded to see Victoria.

He hadn’t stopped thanking God that Clare had been captured and everyone else was all right. When she got out of the hospital, Clare would be headed to prison. And Dakota? God help her heal.

He needed her to be all right.

He needed her.

“Your boss at the DEA called me. He was asking after you.”

Josh said, “Yeah?”

She gave him a small smile. “I told him you’ll make a full recovery. He said you have promise. That whatever was going on here that you’d gotten involved in, I should seriously consider you for my open position.”

“He said that?”

“Guess he figured if I’d come fishing he shouldn’t stand in my way.” Her smile widened. “Smart man.”

“What does that mean?” He wanted to know about Dakota. Josh wasn’t interested in a riddle that would, on any other day, have been just another conversation.

“When you get out of here, we’ll talk. Okay?”

And he was supposed to know what that meant? “If you get me in to see Dakota.”

Victoria smiled. “I have an orderly bringing a wheelchair right now.”

“Thank you.”

“No, Josh. Thank you.” She leaned her hip against the side of the bed. “I’ve seen a difference in Dakota the past few days. Something I’ve never seen in all the years I’ve known her. Even back when I only knew her from afar and admired the direction her career was going.” She paused. “Thank you for that.”

Something good?

She smiled, “I was aware of you as well, back when you were in J-bad. The work you and Neema did in Afghanistan was exemplary. Those are the kind of team members I need. You might not always work inside the lines, but you’re the ones who sit out in the woods on a Friday night just to save your teammates the hassle of having to show up in a dinky little town to follow some chatter Talia picked up.”

“Dakota?”

She nodded. “The past few days…it’s like she opened. I don’t know any other way to put it than that. She opened. To you.” She placed a hand on his arm. “So when you’re out of here, I’ll expect you to call in.”

It sounded like she was asking him to report for duty. Which he was entirely fine with.

The orderly came in before he could say anything. Victoria squeezed his arm and quietly left. This exchange with Victoria was nothing like he’d experienced with his boss at the DEA. He decided then that even after working for her for years, he’d probably still be surprised by her.

That thought distracted him from the extremely difficult task of getting from the bed to the wheelchair, without crying a little bit at least. His chest was on fire, and he didn’t know what hurt worse.

But he needed to see Dakota. He needed to hold her hand while he prayed for her.

The orderly wheeled him to her room. Josh’s heart sank. She was so pale. The orderly hit the brake on the wheelchair, locking the wheels in place, and then he was alone with her.

Hooked up to machines while her body healed.

Was she on a knife’s edge?

He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for her. When he opened them, a tear rolled down his face. There was so much he wanted to tell her. So much he wanted to say.

“I love you.”

The words were a whisper from his lips. Josh lifted her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

He wanted to know the answer to his question. To know if she could handle them being more than friends and working together on the same team. It wouldn’t be easy but no relationship was. He couldn’t think of anything that could be better than working so closely with the person who would be his best friend.

If she agreed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue

Six months later

 

“You’ve got that look in your eye, Weber.”

Josh held the door for an FBI agent escorting one of the suspects outside. Wind blew the trees, sending the smell of smoke for miles. Thankfully they’d gotten inside and taken down every suspect in time for the local fire department to come in and put the blaze out.

He trotted to catch up with Dakota, shifting his shoulders to try and ease the tension in his muscles. All it did was remind him how gritty he was with sweat. They’d been running hard for days, working on the takedown for this case.

“What look?”

She stopped in the middle of a sea of people. Flashing blue and red lights. Fire hoses. Mud. But despite the smile, she didn’t look at him. She leaned to the side and said, “Neema, heir!” In the low tone he’d taught her to use. One full of command.

His dog trotted up and sat beside her, leaning her weight against Dakota’s leg. Taking the pressure off her hip.

Josh bit his lip.

Dakota grinned. “The one that means you’re going to make me talk about my feelings.”

“Would I do that?”

She’d at least given him the chance to tell her he was falling in love with her, back when she’d first woken up at the hospital. They’d fallen into a rhythm since then. Friendship and…more.

But he was ready to turn that “more” into something that would be a gift from God. The full experience of what a relationship between them would mean, instead of going home at the end of the day to his empty apartment.

“Out with it.”

Josh shook his head. She’d learned to read him. He had to give her credit for that.

“Now.”

He laughed and reached into his jeans pocket. He should have known she would do this. That she would call him out, and he’d have to ditch all his plans.

They could have that dinner later. It would still be special.

Josh pulled on the drawstring and used two fingers to retrieve what was inside.

“Are you going to make me wear a dress?”

Oh. He’d never thought about that part. “Traditionally, yes. I suppose you would.” Unless she really didn’t want to. He hadn’t wanted to freak her out with where this was going, so it wasn’t like he’d brought up the subject of a white gown and a giant cake.

She looked at the ring.

Looked at him.

Looked at the ring again.

“Fine.”

“Excuse me?”

She grinned up at him. “I suppose, just once, I could wear a dress.”

Good. But that better not have been an answer to the question he hadn’t even asked yet. “Dakota.”

“What?”

He still held the ring up between them. A few people had stopped, and the noise level of their immediate vicinity had lowered considerably. He took a breath.

“Will you marry me?”

Dakota said, “Yes.”

The crowd around them cheered. Josh slid the ring on her finger and spun her in his arms before he set her back on the ground. Then, he kissed her.

Neema barked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The agent left behind.

Stuck on probation with nothing to do but busywork.

Niall’s case points to a research college hiding more secrets than the local police. He meets Haley, who is looking for her missing friend. The former Navy sailor won’t stop until she’s figured out what the disappearance has to do with the Russians in Portland.

When the two collide, a bigger plot is revealed. One that puts hundreds in danger.

The Northwest-Counter Terrorism Taskforce is on the case.

 

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About the author

A British ex-pat who grew up an hour outside of London, Lisa attended Calvary Chapel Bible College where she met her husband. He's from California, but nobody’s perfect. It wasn’t until her Bible College graduation that she figured out she was a writer (someone told her). Since then she's discovered a penchant for high-stakes stories of mayhem and disaster where you can find made-for-each-other love that always ends in happily ever after.

Lisa can be found in Idaho wearing either flip-flops or cowgirl boots, depending on the season. She leads worship with her husband at their local church. Together they have two children and an all-black Airedale known as The Dark Lord Elevator.

 

Lisa is the author of the bestselling Sanctuary (WITSEC town series), the Double Down series, and more than a dozen Love Inspired Suspense novels.

 

Find out more at www.authorlisaphillips.com