Читать книгу Guard Duty - Sharon Dunn - Страница 13

THREE

“Police, stop.”

Valerie sprinted across the grass and drew her weapon.

Shock registered on Murke’s face. He dropped his groceries and dashed up the alley.

Murke was headed for the warehouses behind the bungalows. Valerie called out to Trevor. “Stay with him. I’ll grab Lexi.”

Trevor had already drawn his handgun. He raced past her down the alley. Murke bolted over a dilapidated fence with Trevor on his heels.

Valerie ran to Trevor’s car and opened the back door for Lexi. With the dog pulling hard on the leash, Valerie circled around the fence. She entered a two-block area containing a series of metal buildings, some still in use and others abandoned. She saw no sign of Murke or Trevor. She took Lexi over to the other side of the fence where Murke had probably landed. Lexi picked up the trail right away.

They jogged past a tire shop that was still operational, but closed at this hour. There was a risk that Lexi had picked up on Trevor’s scent and not Murke’s since both men were running. Following a scent was not a perfect science, but she’d trust Lexi’s nose over searching blindly.

Heart pounding, she took in her surroundings as she ran. The Rottweiler pulled toward a large warehouse. Metal slapped against metal. The sound of a door slamming against the frame or the wind blowing? Valerie followed Lexi into the warehouse through a place in the exterior wall where the corrugated metal had been bent back from the frame.

Once inside, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dimness. The warehouse was a big open area with a balcony all around it. This had been a clothing factory at one time. Pieces of abandoned equipment provided numerous places for Murke to hide. Trevor might have lost sight of him and gone off in the wrong direction.

She studied the stairs leading up to the balcony where the offices used to be. Now they were just gaping holes, the office doors having long since been looted.

Lexi kept her nose to the ground, though her pace slowed.

A creak of floorboards caused Valerie to turn. She waited for another sign of life. If Murke was close, Lexi would have been more excited. Valerie licked her dry lips. Blood whooshed in her ears as she adjusted her grip on the gun. Water dripped somewhere in the building. The steady tap, tap, tap of the droplets hitting metal overtook the leaden silence.

Lexi ran back and forth. The scent had become muddled.

Though Valerie’s hands remained steady, sweat trickled down her back. Someone was in here. She could feel eyes watching her. Lexi stopped sniffing and lifted her head.

Valerie tuned in to the sounds around her as she breathed in the musty air. Lexi’s panting became more pronounced.

Seconds passed. The sense that she was being watched had been with her since the Andrew Garry murder. Was she just imagining it now? She’d give anything to replay the tape of her life and go back to that night—to make different choices. When she’d passed that woman wearing the hooded jacket on the street, something had seemed amiss...but she had ignored her instincts. The next day, Garry’s body had been found by another K-9 unit. By then, the woman had disappeared.

Valerie’s father, a retired detective, had always said that instinct was a cop’s best asset. She had made a stupid rookie mistake and ignored the prickling of the hairs on her neck when that woman had looked at her. Trevor Lewis had no idea that his comment about rookies making mistakes was like a dagger through her chest.

Her life would have been different if she had followed her gut and stopped to engage the woman in conversation. The woman’s guilt might have risen to the surface, and Valerie could have detained her for questioning. She certainly would have gotten a better look at the person who later became their prime suspect.

Another noise jerked Valerie away from her regret and back into the warehouse. The balcony creaked. Was the wind blowing through here strong enough to do that? She examined the balcony segment by segment.

Lexi sniffed the ground and then sneezed.

“He got away.” A voice boomed in her ear.

Though her training kept her from dropping the gun, the voice had startled her. “Agent Lewis, do you always creep up on people like that?”

“Sorry, you were so focused on that balcony, there was no way not to surprise you.” The arch of his eyebrow and slight upturn of his mouth suggested amusement.

Valerie holstered her gun and squared her shoulders, hoping he hadn’t picked up on her loss of composure. She should have heard him coming no matter how closely she was watching the balcony. Tunnel vision while on duty could be deadly. Another stupid rookie mistake. She steadied her voice. “Murke got away?” She pointed to the dog who was working her way to the opposite side of the warehouse. “Lexi picked up on something in here.”

“The dog’s right. He did run through here, but then he doubled back and went out to the street.”

That explained why the scent had become muddled for Lexi.

“I caught up with him on the street.” Frustration was evident in Trevor’s voice. “He got into a car and took off. No way could I catch him. But I know the make and model, and the first two letters on the plate. We’ll post notices out to the locals and the highway patrol. Murke will most likely try to leave town now that he knows we’re on to him.”

She surveyed the warehouse one more time. She had to let go of the idea that the syndicate could be everywhere and was watching her. “Guess we better get back to the station.”

She couldn’t read Trevor’s expression, but his voice softened. “Maybe next time we need to work on not getting separated like that,” he said.

His tone of concern touched her, but she needed to be able to do her job. “Splitting up is standard procedure. Lexi can be a real asset in these situations.”

“Sometimes there are things that are more important than procedure,” he said.

The smolder in his voice made her heart flutter. Was he that worried about her well-being? He barely knew her.

He stepped closer to her, his hand brushing her forearm. “I said I’d protect you. I don’t want to break my promise to McNeal.”

Was that all it was about, keeping his word to an old buddy? She struggled to let go of her disappointment. And then wondered why it had even mattered to her that he had expressed concern for her that seemed to go beyond work requirements. “I have paperwork to catch up on back at the station. I still have to do my regular job.” She headed toward the door of the warehouse, yanking on Lexi’s leash. The dog was reluctant to leave the spot where she’d picked up the scent again. “Come on, Lex.”

Once they were in his car, Valerie directed Trevor to the Sagebrush Police Station, a one-story, red-brick building. She led him around to the back where the K-9 officers had a separate entrance. She could feel his body heat and sense his proximity as he walked behind her. There was no chance of them being separated now.

He was one of those men who seemed to live in a state of heightened alert anyway, and he was taking watching her back seriously. Asking him to hang back a little ways wouldn’t do any good. She’d just have to get used to it for the time being. “I’ve got some reports to complete, and I’ll pull Leroy Seville’s file to see if I can find out anything more. I’m sure I’ll be safe at my desk.”

Trevor took a step back. “Great...I’ll brief the other officers in the station on Murke. Then maybe we can see if we can track down this Linda Seville lady, find out if Murke was staying at her house or just somewhere on that street.” His voice became more intense. “We need to jump on this. Murke is famous for leaving town as soon as he knows we’re closing in on him.”

As she and Lexi passed the other K-9 officers’ desks, a black lab lay by Detective Jackson Worth’s chair while he bent over a report. Titan lifted his head when she passed by but didn’t move. The lab’s job was to stick near Jackson, to watch over him. The devotion of the dogs to their handlers filled her with gratitude. Truth was, she felt safe as long as Lexi stayed close. The dogs remained with the officers most of the time, because having the K-9 as a pet as well as a partner was the best way to ensure unwavering obedience.

Valerie scooted her chair up to her desk and opened up a database that listed Sagebrush felons. Leroy Seville was recently out on parole after five years in jail. Linda Seville was listed as an emergency contact and identified as his great-aunt. They could catch up with Leroy later and see what he knew about Murke. She doubted Murke would go back to Linda’s home.

In the small Sagebrush station, Trevor’s warm bass voice carried across the room as he showed Murke’s picture to the other officers. She tried to focus on her computer screen instead of the joking that seemed to be going on between Trevor and the other officers.

She adjusted her chair for the umpteenth time and leaned closer to the monitor. Trevor hadn’t hidden his ire at getting close to Murke, yet not catching him. Did he blame her for that? It was her own insecurity that made her wonder if he was fishing around for a different officer to assist him.

She could only pick up bits and pieces of the conversation, and yet she had assumed that that was what was going on. Why did she even care? Having to help Trevor took away time from her regular work.

Okay, so he didn’t like rookies. McNeal had paired them up for a reason. It couldn’t just be because it was extra protection for her. Trevor wasn’t going to ditch her for a more experienced officer who didn’t have any connection to the neighborhoods where Murke was likely to be. Valerie chided herself for worrying. Fine with her if he wanted to work with a different officer.

She picked up a pen, making lines on a legal pad so deep they nearly cut through the paper. That caring tone he had used back at the warehouse had messed with her initial impression of him—that he was one of those lawmen who was good at his job but not so good at connecting with people. Maybe there was some chink in his armor. It wasn’t her job to try to find it. The sooner they caught Murke, the sooner Trevor Lewis would be gone.

Pushing all thoughts of the impossibly handsome agent out of her head, she focused on the monitor, opening up a report she needed to complete. The voices around her faded, and all she heard was the tapping of the keys....

She completed the report and opened her email. She smiled as she read the thank-you notes from children at a school where she and Lexi had given a K-9 demonstration. She loved teaching members of the community about what the K-9 units did.

An email from her mother caught her attention as she scrolled down. Her mother usually used her private email. Her skin prickled as apprehension invaded her body.

She opened it up and read.

Bethany is such a pretty baby. It would be a shame to have anything happen to her.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees as she stared at the computer screen. It was clear what had happened. Her mother would never send such a horrible email. So now the syndicate was hacking into family members’ emails and threatening the life of her niece?

Her hands were shaking as she grabbed the phone to dial her home number.

Stella picked up on the first ring. “Hello.”

Valerie took a breath, hoping to hide the anxiety in her voice. “Hey, Mrs. Witherspoon, I was just checking to see how Bethany was doing.”

Stella’s voice exuded cheerfulness. “She’s such a doll. She just finished her cereal and is playing with her blocks.”

“So, everything’s okay?”

“Couldn’t be better.” Stella paused as though she were thinking something over. “Are you having a little separation anxiety, dear?”

Valerie gripped the phone a little tighter. “That must be it.”

“It happens to every mother. Call here a thousand times a day if you need to.”

Though she couldn’t let go of the fear over harm coming to Bethany, Valerie relaxed a little. Bethany was in good hands. “Mrs. Witherspoon, you are an answer to prayer.”

Valerie said her goodbyes and hung up. She called her mother who said she didn’t think her email had been hacked. She barely turned her computer on. These guys were good. She pressed her trembling hands, palms down against the desk. Tuned into Valerie’s heightened emotion, Lexi lifted her head and looked at her with dark brown eyes.

The words echoed through her mind. It would be a shame if anything happened to her. She felt like she was being shaken from the inside. Would Garry’s murderer hurt Bethany to get to her? Now she knew for sure she was being watched. They must have seen her with Bethany.

“Everything okay?” Trevor stood beside her desk.

She straightened her spine and squared her shoulders, forcing her voice to sound professional. “Sure. Why?”

He sat down in the chair beside her, concern etched across his face. “Your complexion’s the color of rice.”

“It’s nothing.” She couldn’t explain to him. He wouldn’t understand why she was so upset. It was just an email, right? It wasn’t like a gun had been pointed at her. “My face is always this color. I’m a light-skinned redhead.”

He cracked a smile. “That you are, Officer Salgado, but that doesn’t explain why your hands are shaking.” He reached over and cupped his hand over hers.

She’d laced her fingers together so tightly her knuckles were white. He pulled back and studied her while the warmth of his touch lingered. Would he think she lacked strength as an officer if she revealed how much the threat had shaken her up? Cops were supposed to have titanium spines, right? There probably wasn’t anything in the world that made Trevor Lewis afraid...except maybe feeding babies.

The warmth in his eyes, the same that she had seen at the warehouse, told her she could risk sharing.

She drew in a breath and turned the computer monitor toward him. “I just got this.” She pulled the photo of Bethany off her cubicle wall and held it to her chest. Images about bad things happening to Bethany rampaged through her head. She shivered.

Trevor’s jaw hardened as he looked away from the screen. He shook his head. “Unbelievable. This has got to be the syndicate’s doing. Your mother would never send an email like that, right?”

Valerie nodded. “Who else would do this but the syndicate? The first threat came in an email, as well.”

His presence had a calming effect on her that she didn’t understand. Maybe it was just because he looked like he could smash small buildings with his fist. Being able to share with him had eased her fear. Now that she could get a deep breath, she felt like she was seeing things more clearly. “They wouldn’t actually hurt Bethany, would they? It’s me the Serpent is after.”

“It doesn’t matter if they will or won’t. They are threatening your kid and upsetting you. It’s all part of a game they’re playing.” His tone suggested deep offense at what had been done to her.

She exhaled. “It might be that it was meant to scare me. You know, the syndicate’s reminder that they are still watching and waiting for their chance to kill me.” She just didn’t want to believe that anyone would harm an innocent child.

Trevor touched his clean-shaven face as his eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen this before with witnesses we were trying to protect. The intent is to break you psychologically. You don’t want something bad to happen to your kid, so you back off from finding this woman.”

“I can’t even identify the woman yet for sure. We haven’t been able to put together a sketch or a police lineup.” She turned back to her computer and clicked out of her email program. “I just know that if I saw this woman that we think is the Serpent again, I would recognize her.”

Trevor sat back in his chair. “The murderer doesn’t know that, though. She probably thinks it’s just a matter of time before the Sagebrush police track her down. These people are ruthless. They’ll do everything they can to shake your resolve.”

“I wish there was protection for Bethany when I’m not with her.” Talking with Trevor had eased some of her fear, but every time she looked at Bethany’s picture, she felt a jab to her heart. If anything happened to that little girl....

“Maybe the department can provide some protection,” Trevor suggested.

“I can ask, and I’ll let the captain know about the email, but it’s always a funding and resources issue,” she said.

At the other end of the administrative area, Captain McNeal stepped out of his office. “Dispatch just got a call from a black and white downtown. The car you saw Murke drive away in has been spotted outside a hardware store on Sagebrush Boulevard.”

Valerie jumped up and grabbed Lexi’s leash. “We might have Murke in custody before the day is over.” Excitement pulsed through her. Chasing down Murke would get her mind off the email.

She clicked Lexi into her leash, glad to be doing something she could deal with.

Trevor quickened his pace as he moved toward the door. “Let’s go catch a fugitive.”