Slade was in an almost good mood.
Rudy Hampton had copped a plea. He still had to pay child support, but resisting an officer and possession of a controlled substance had been dropped. Since he’d had well under twenty grams of marijuana, dropping those two had been the easy part.
Getting Rudy to talk had been the hard part. He was deathly afraid of someone.
“If you so much as breathe in a fume from weed, you will be arrested, and next time, you won’t get away so easily,” Slade had told him.
Rudy only wanted to get out and get away. He’d be on probation for a few months, and Slade had even offered to help him find a job. But for now, Slade would settle for the information Rudy had given him.
“Somebody wanted to borrow my van,” Rudy explained. “My friend offered me a lot of money to rent it out for a couple of days.”
“Who was this friend?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Rudy, I can’t agree to this plea if you don’t give me the goods.”
“Okay, okay, man. He went by the name D.J. And...he’s really not a friend. Just some guy I met in a bar.”
“D.J.? No last name?”
“I didn’t ask, man. He told me—after I’d agreed to loan out my van for a couple of grand—that his boss would come looking for me if I told anyone.”
“So you kept your mouth shut?”
“That’s right, sir. I pocketed the money and rode a bike to work and back for about a week. I began to wonder if I’d ever see my van again. I’d just bought the thing a couple of months ago. Just now got the title and insurance all straightened out.”
“Where’d you buy it?”
“One of those factory places. They were replacing all their old black vans with new green ones.”
That got Slade’s attention. He jotted down some notes. “What was the company?”
“Bug Busters. Over in that town near the border.” He named the other town. “They said they’d sold several of the vans to one person.”
Slade’s pulse lurched. “Interesting.”
“Not to me. I wish I’d never agreed to loan out my van to anyone. I needed the money, though.”
“And then today they brought it back?”
“Yeah, today. But D.J. offered me an extra five hundred to do a little more work.”
“And what was that?”
“Follow that truck I found today.”
“You mean the Ford that was broken down on the road out of town—near the Lost Woods?”
“Yep.”
“Did you do anything to the old Ford before you followed it?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t do a thing. I just found the truck where D.J. said it would be.”
“So you didn’t happen to siphon any gas out of that truck?”
“Huh?”
Slade could almost understand someone hiring Rudy to do grunt work. The kid didn’t have a clue.
“Did it ever occur to you to find out why you were being paid to let someone use your van or to follow that truck?”
“I know not to ask any questions. Like I said...I needed the money, man. I don’t want to start selling drugs, so I thought this might work out okay. I figured D.J.’s boss wanted a big van to transport something and maybe he wanted me to follow the truck ’cause he was tracking a girlfriend or something.”
“And you didn’t have a problem just following orders?”
Rudy shook his head. “I thought what would it matter, you know? When I saw that same truck broken down, I figured I’d see who they’d wanted me to follow. Thought I might know the person, but I didn’t know those two women. Besides, they had big dogs with ’em.” He pointed to his bandaged arm. “I hope I don’t get an infection from that bite.”
“You’ll be fine,” Slade replied, wondering if Rudy had failed to figure out he’d been bitten by a K-9 officer dog.
“Did you wonder about the people who hired you?”
“No, I saw dollars and I took ’em. I thought maybe I could do whatever else they wanted, but...not now. Not anymore. I’m trying to go clean, so I can take care of my kid. I don’t like this.”
“And you have no knowledge of an alleged kidnapping last week?”
“No. Not with my van. If they did that, I wasn’t a part of it. Am I in trouble for that, too?”
“Not if you’re telling the truth.” Rudy’s body language shouted scared and clueless. “And when you got your van back today, notice anything different?”
“It was clean as a whistle. I think they even painted it and fixed some of the dents.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Yeah, man. What’s going on around here, anyway?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
Rudy said he wanted to leave. Slade told him he had to stay in the state of Texas for a while since he’d be on probation. Rudy asked for protection. Slade agreed to put a cruiser on him for a few days.
Slade had gone over Rudy’s statements in every which way, trying to shake the kid up and catch him lying. But he believed Rudy was telling the truth, as weird as that seemed.
And that meant that Rudy’s old van had been the very van used to try and kidnap Kaitlin. Slade had put in a request to have the crime scene team go over the van with a fine-tooth comb to find anything—a stray hair, skin partials, a new scent. Or maybe, a new passenger-side door.
He also reported that someone had bought a whole fleet of used vans from Bug Busters. Was Dante hiding this fleet somewhere? Slade couldn’t wait to find out.
He hadn’t been able to put a tail on Dante today, but come tomorrow, he’d start watching and waiting. He’d have to be careful, do some of the surveillance on his own time, but the fire in his belly told him he was headed in the right direction. He had a prime suspect. And he was beginning to gather evidence. But it boggled his mind why the bad guys went to all the trouble of borrowing someone’s vehicle to do a crime, only to send it back to that person all spick and span. Did The Boss think they’d pin the kidnapping on poor, misguided Rudy Hampton?
A foolish mistake. Now Slade could follow their M.O. He’d have to go back over the other attempted kidnappings and check on those vehicles, too. Stealing and ditching cars, buying old used vans to do dirty work and paying some poor sap to help. No wonder The Boss was so hard to track.
Now there was hope, he thought. Hope for a resolution.
Looking at the clock, Slade decided he’d relax a little tonight and spend some time with his son and Kaitlin.
And come tomorrow, he’d start watching his friend Dante Frears like a hawk.
* * *
“That was so good.”
Kaitlin smiled over at Slade while they cleaned the kitchen. They’d enjoyed a delicious dinner of mixed beef and chicken fajitas from her favorite Mexican take-out, Roco Taco. Papa had already gone to his room, his night nurse, Jasper, helping him down the hallway. Caleb was coloring pictures in his room, Warrior right by his side.
She loved this. Loved being part of a family. It had been so long since she’d had anyone other than friends and church members to shower with love.
Love?
Yes, love. In the way a friend loved a friend. In the way a mother would love a child. In the way a granddaughter enjoyed chatting with a grandfather.
I can’t get attached to Slade’s family, she told herself.
It was enough that she was becoming way too attached to the man. She needed to give that some time before she settled into a nice, comfortable routine with his family, in his home.
He’s protecting you, she reminded herself.
Things could change once this investigation was over.
Her life would go back to the normal, routine workdays and the full but bland weekends. Up until now, that had been enough. She’d never thought past work and friends because she was so afraid to even harbor hope of finding someone to share her life with. Until now.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Slade asked, one hand on the counter, his gaze fixed on her.
Kaitlin blinked, realized she’d been standing there drying the same dish for five minutes. Should she tell him the truth?
“I don’t know. I...I really had a nice time tonight. I almost forgot why I’m really here.”
“Because you’re a target?”
“Yes. Hard to get that out of my mind, but those fajitas and your family managed to do just that.”
“And me? Did I make you forget for a while?”
Surprised, she grinned. “Captain McNeal, are you flirting with me?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure I know how to flirt, but if it’s working—”
“It is,” she said on a low breath. “But—”
“I hate that word.”
She slanted a gaze up at him. “But we both know that being forced together doesn’t exactly seal a relationship.”
“No, but kissing seals things a whole lot.”
“Kissing is nice, but...I think we need to slow down a bit.”
“You’re not backing out on me, are you?” He leaned close, his words for her only. “Weren’t you the one who told me not to shut down or shut you out?”
“I was the one,” she admitted, giving him a direct stare. “And I mean that. I just want you to be sure. You’ve been dealing with a lot of things lately.”
“I’m pretty sure I can handle this,” he said. “But you’re right about one thing. We need to wait until you’re out of danger.”
“And that means waiting until you find The Boss.”
“I’m getting closer,” he replied, a confidence in his tone. “Starting tomorrow, I’ll be on Frears like a duck on a june bug.”
“Rudy came through?”
“Rudy is a scared, down-on-his-luck man who got caught up with the wrong people, so yes, he came through. We’ve checked him out and other than missing child support payments, he has a pretty clean record. But he’s the perfect candidate to be taken advantage of.”
Kaitlin thought about her mother. “My mom was kind of like that. She was a very smart veterinarian and she loved her work. But she was so gullible at times. She thought wounded people were the same as wounded animals. They’d strike out because of the pain.” She released a pensive sigh. “But animals can be soothed and treated. Humans, on the other hand, sometimes strike out because of evil, not pain. Or maybe their pain turns to something evil. I don’t know.”
He turned to lean against the counter so they were face-to-face. “And the drug addict who killed her? Was he in pain or was he evil?”
“He was a little of both, I think.” She shut her eyes to the awful memories. “He didn’t have anything to lose, so yes, that made him do something he might not have done if he could have been saved. But...the brutality of what he did made him evil in my mind.”
“So you can’t forgive him?”
“I have asked God to help me forgive him, but I won’t forget. That’s why I love training canines. I get to be around animals and that makes me feel close to my mother. But I also get to help put away the bad guys, so that helps me to forgive the criminal who killed her.”
Slade touched a hand to her cheek. “You have an amazing perspective.”
“Not so amazing. It’s the only way I can cope.”
“I’ll get you out of this, Kaitlin,” he said, his lips grazing hers. “I promise.”
She believed him. He was the kind of man a woman could depend on. She needed to be the kind of woman he could depend on, as well. She needed to show Slade that he could turn to God to help him heal. And to help him find his way back to giving his son all the love he needed.
Slade tugged her close, deepening the kiss, showing her that he was in this for the long haul. He lifted his head and gazed down at her. “Who would have thought—”
“That we’d be here, kissing each other?”
“Yeah. I mean, I’ve known you for a while now but—”
“I hate that word.”
He grinned at that. “But...I didn’t act on any of the feelings you brought out in me. Until now.”
“And that’s why we need to take it slow and make sure we can work through this. I don’t want crime and danger to be the only things holding us together.”
He frowned at that remark. “I don’t think those two things have anything to do with the way you make me feel.”
“How do I make you feel?” she asked, too curious to stop herself.
“Safe,” he murmured huskily. Then he kissed her again.
They might have stayed that way for a while, except his cell phone buzzed.
Slade pulled back and walked a couple of steps away. “McNeal.”
Kaitlin watched as he listened, saw the deep frustration settling over his face.
“I’ll be right there.”
He put his phone away, glanced over at her, his eyes now full of shock and...regret. “Rudy Hampton is dead.”
Kaitlin gasped. “What happened?”
“A neighbor found him on the back deck of his duplex apartment with a bullet hole in his forehead.”
“Oh, Slade. I’m so sorry.”
He hauled her into his arms. “I let that kid go. I promised him I’d have someone watch out for him.”
“What about the cruiser?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” He pulled back and scrubbed a weary hand across his face. “I have to go find out how this happened.”
“I’ll stay here with Caleb.”
“Good. You can’t go home alone. We told Melody you’d be home at eleven. I’ll call her.”
Kaitlin hated the torment in his eyes. “No. Let me stay here for a while. I have my car and Warrior is with us. I’ll call her after I get Caleb settled.”
He agreed, his tone reluctant. “All right. I have to go. Tell Melody to keep texting you every fifteen minutes or so.”
“I’ll do that right now.”
Slade hurried toward the door. “I’ll alert Parker, too. And we’ll put a cruiser outside. Parker can check things out around the yard. If you need to, get Jasper to help, too.”
“I’ll be okay,” she reassured him.
“Lock the door behind me and shut the blinds.”
She nodded, a chill chasing away the warmth of his touch.
Slade turned at the door and gave her a quick kiss. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we can’t plan a future until we bring down the criminal who’s trying to destroy my whole department.”
Kaitlin watched through the window until his truck pulled away and then dead-bolted the door and checked all the windows.
Another long, sleepless night. But at least she had Warrior and she’d be able to keep an eye on Caleb for a little while.
She thought of Rudy Hampton and said a prayer for the little baby that was now without a father. Why did evil people prey on those who were too weak to run away?
“I know how that feels,” she whispered. Then she hurried down the hall to Caleb’s room. Hopefully, he’d fall asleep quickly and stay asleep right through this latest ordeal. If he asked, she’d have to find a way to explain to the little boy that his daddy had been called back out to work. And...she’d have to find a way to keep herself calm.
Just in case.