Читать книгу Bulletproof Badge - Angi Morgan - Страница 10

Chapter Four

“How many?” Oaks asked, covering his head, protecting it from the breaking glass raining on them.

“Just the one son of a bitch from Tenoreno’s estate.”

“How the hell did he find you here?”

Garrison didn’t have an answer. Kenderly didn’t have a phone on her. He had no landline, so she couldn’t have called anyone. She seemed as though she wanted to cooperate, so her betraying their position didn’t make sense. And he knew that Oaks didn’t do it.

Or did he?

“What if they believe Isabella was communicating with authorities, sir? Is that a possibility? Is another agency involved? They could have waited for a call or followed you.”

“However it happened, you’ve got to get her out of here. We’ll wait for him to reload, then move. Toss me that dish towel,” Oaks commanded. “He winged my leg, or your aunt’s gravy boat cut me.”

Garrison tossed the towel and admired the captain’s attitude. The force of the bullets ripped through the paper-thin walls of the side of the old house. Dishes shattered inside a cabinet, and the doors burst open. Thank God for the solid table his aunt had squeezed into the tiny kitchen. Though she was clearly going to kill him when she saw what was left.

“I’ll get Kenderly.”

Garrison belly-crawled to the bathroom, covering his head more often than not. Just as he passed into the short hall, the gunfire stopped. He didn’t wait for the captain to begin firing. He kicked open the door and pulled Kenderly from the tub.

“Out the front as soon as I give you the go-ahead.”

They moved. She was silent. Oaks fired through the shattered kitchen window. The assassin ceased firing a moment longer.

“Take mine,” Oaks shouted, throwing his keys to Garrison. “Phone’s busted. Call it in. I’ll keep him pinned down.”

Garrison had a split second to follow or disobey orders. The small feminine hand latched on to his biceps reminded him they had a witness to protect. That was his first duty.

Not to mention that no one normally argued with Aiden Oaks, captain or otherwise.

Moving Kenderly’s hand to his belt, he pointed at her shoes. “Take those off and run beside me. We both get on the driver’s side in the street. Take these.” He handed her the keys. “Unlock the door while I cover you. I’ll drive. You’re in the back. Unless something happens to me.”

She nodded.

“Go!” Oaks shouted and fired.

Garrison jerked open the door, searching for any accomplices. No shots this direction. They were still on the side of the house. He touched Kenderly’s hand, then they moved across the porch. He kept as wide a view as possible, turning, scanning. Then he saw the Tenoreno assassin to his left.

“Run. Hit the unlock button.”

She did, the alarm sounded, then he heard door clicks. They got to the far side of the car before shots were fired, but it was the captain out the front door firing at their pursuer.

Both men took cover in the yard. The keys were very steadily placed in his free palm, then Kenderly got inside and lay across the floor. Oaks had their backs covered. He started the engine and got out of there as fast as he could. He tossed his phone in the back.

“Dial 911.”

He turned a corner, hitting the brakes to slow the car to a below normal speed and then hearing an “ow” from Kenderly.

“What are you doing?” she asked leaning close to his shoulder. “Oh, the cops.” She could see the flashing lights heading past them and skidding around the corner. “Still want me to call?”

With no more flashing lights in sight, he sped up and headed for downtown Austin. “Not if we don’t have to. Oaks will be fine. No reason to give the cops my number.”

“What now?”

If they were being followed, more traffic would help them get lost. He drove the car as fast as he safely could.

“That’s a very good question. I can contact Oaks in a couple of hours to find out what story he spun.” And hope that he has a plan.

“Maybe they caught Isabella’s murderer.” She sounded a bit frightened.

He couldn’t see her face in the rearview mirror. He couldn’t hold her hand, needing both of his on the wheel. She might be scared. She should be, and he had to tell her straight.

“It’s more likely he’s right behind us.” Garrison searched all the mirrors again but couldn’t see anyone following. “You should put on a seat belt.”

Again with the silence, but she did as he’d suggested. Just ten minutes ago she might have been white-knuckled at his kitchen table, but she’d been talking faster than he was driving. Ready to help with a statement and volunteering new information.

Statements? Where had the video tech crew gone? They should have been there about the time the assassin showed. Another question for Oaks.

“I guess we can’t call your captain to find out what happened. Didn’t he say his phone was busted?”

“Yeah. They’ll try to take him to the hospital. Don’t know which one, though.” Oaks would be okay. He was their only shot at keeping this operation alive. They just had to hang on until he could contact them.

“Are we going to just drive around until he calls us?”

He shrugged. He hadn’t decided where to go. He didn’t know of any rangers who were a part of this undercover operation. And then there was the leak. Somehow the assassin had found them. Garrison couldn’t believe it was on his department’s side of things, but he’d been taught not to rule out any possibility until he had proof.

“I don’t think anyone’s following, but I still have no clue how that guy found us.”

He stopped at a red light and the back door opened. He was ready to yell and his hand was on the handle, but in the blink of an eye Kenderly sat next to him.

“Or how he did it so quickly? Do we still need to record my statement and open the box? Do we wait until your office can do that? Or can you use your phone?”

“We can’t wait. I should get hold of a digital recorder and do this thing right. That includes a reliable witness.”

“I have a friend who has several cameras. He’s an amateur photographer. Don’t cameras have a record button now? Will that work?”

“As long as it embeds date information, stuff like that. It’s definitely better than doing nothing. He’d have to be willing to testify that we opened the case in front of him.”

She waved him off like he was being silly. “No problem. He lives a boring life like me. I bet he’s hanging out somewhere on Sixth Street. All we have to do is hit a couple of bars with good music, and we should find him.”

“Sixth Street?” Clubbing on a Friday night on the busiest street in Austin was a fate worse than... Okay, not as bad as death. “Can’t we wait for him to go home?”

“Sure. He lives across the breezeway from me,” she said flippantly, knowing exactly what his reaction would be.

There was no way he was parking this car in Kenderly’s lot. Between Tenoreno’s men, the police and their assassin all searching for them...that wasn’t going to happen. And Kenderly knew it without him saying a word.

“Looks like we’re bar crawling.”

* * *

“I KNOW I’M going to regret this, but I am super hungry.” Kenderly hated bar food. It was greasy, normally cold and completely overpriced, but she was totally starving.

“This is the fourth place we’ve been inside. Do you think he went home?”

“Can I order something?” She hated to beg, but she was getting close to being that desperate.

“I’d rather find this guy and not hang around here too long.”

The toast at Garrison’s house had only reminded her stomach that it was empty. “Fine.” She shoved her hair away from her face.

The bar was crowded and hot. A huge neon sign flashed “Keep Austin Weird” against a mirror, making her want to shade her eyes.

It was hard to breathe at armpit level. For people who were tall, they never had a problem finding each other in a crowd. For someone just over five feet two inches, it was terrible. The last thing she needed was to become light-headed, but that’s exactly how she felt.

Shutting her eyes for a second brought the gory image of Isabella and Trinity. She covered her stomach with one hand and clutched her mouth with the other.

“Are you turning green or is it the lights from the dance floor?” Garrison tried to pry her hand away, and she stopped him. “Okay, that’s you. Bathroom is...this direction.”

Her hero excused himself with each gentle shove to part the crowd. He got her to the ladies’ room in record time, cutting straight across the dance floor. And he didn’t stop there. Making more excuses, he cut in front of everyone, then flashed his badge when he waltzed through the door with her.

“I’ve got this part on my own.” She tried to push him away before the bile rose.

“Can’t let you out of my sight. Sorry, miss. Give us five, will you?” Even though he sounded polite, he wasn’t really asking. He guided the last person out before she could use the hand dryer.

“Seriously, Garrison, I’m okay now. Let’s just leave.” She tried to open the door, and he stopped it with his toe.

“You’re still as white as a sheet, Kenderly. Dammit, why don’t they have paper towels anymore? Can you splash your face or something?”

The image in the mirror was sort of scary-looking. No makeup, seriously pale. Cooling her skin was actually a good suggestion. “Just getting away from all the people helps tremendously.”

She wet her hands and patted her cheeks, cooling her hot flesh. She took a deep breath of semiclean air. The need to throw up no longer registered, so she stood straight and faced Garrison.

“You really okay?” He placed both hands on her shoulders and searched every inch of her face. “Still think you can eat something? Will you keep it down?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m sorry we haven’t found my friend.”

There was a knock on the door. “Management. Do we have a problem?”

Garrison flattened his lips and raised his eyebrows, sort of shrugging in the process of reaching for the door handle. He flashed his badge before they got a close look, sort of gave an explanation, and they were out on the street without the help of a bouncer after a couple of minutes.

“The cool air feels great.” She twirled on the sidewalk as they headed back to their borrowed car, thankful for the crisp feeling in her lungs. “Where do we go from—”

Garrison jerked her in the opposite direction. “Stay close.”

She had no idea what was happening. But after having her life threatened twice, she completely trusted the man at her side. He’d tell her when he could. They walked at a very fast pace away from the car.

“What about Isabella’s jewelry case?”

“Oaks will have to take care of it. Right now the cops are too close for us to get back to his car.” He cursed under his breath.

She looked up and saw the red, white and blue reflections in the windows. “Can’t you explain to them who you are?”

“Not unless I want to completely blow my cover and not find the murderer.” He slowed a little after they turned a corner. “Right now we’re both wanted for questioning.”

“So the cops don’t know you’re a Texas Ranger?” Kenderly looked up and saw a fast-food restaurant. “Can I borrow five dollars?”

“Right. Sure. We’ll get something and sit in the back corner.” Garrison ushered her through the doors and stood outside checking the street for something. He backed in the door and pulled out his wallet, handing her a twenty. “Bacon cheeseburger, ketchup, no pickles and any soda.”

She placed their order and watched him at the front window looking at his phone. He was texting one minute, then talking furiously the next.

No matter what he was currently doing, Kenderly decided to follow his original instructions and sit at the back booth.

“Hey, we’re closing in fifteen minutes,” the teenager behind the counter called out. “You’ll have to leave by then.”

“No problem,” Garrison let him know.

Kenderly ate her small, dry burger and fries alone. Her hero texted, made more calls and popped outside the door another time. She had no idea if he was leaving messages or holding conversations about her future. His food sat in its bag.

The drink gathered sweat and made a ring around the bottom of the medium cup. She was mesmerized with the droplets.

It kept her from wondering what might have happened if Garrison hadn’t been there today. She would be dead. No question about it. She felt helpless. She dipped a fry in the ketchup, and a red drop hit the table. She froze. Even though she knew it was ketchup, she couldn’t eat another bite.

The clock over the front door indicated three minutes until they closed. She should quickly use the restroom before they were kicked out. She locked the door behind her and almost immediately heard Garrison yelling on the other side.

“Kenderly, are you there?”

“Give me a second, please? I promise, I can’t get away. There aren’t any windows.”

“We have to get out of here.”

“I know, they’re closing.”

“Listen to me, Kenderly. Cops are gathering outside. The kid must have called us in. Our status changed from wanted for questioning to wanted for murder. It’s scrolling on the television. Tenoreno has a bounty on our heads.”