Devoted Defender (7 page)

“The prisoners escaped.”

“What? How?” Just when Caleb thought things couldn’t really get much worse.

“McCoy tricked our officer on duty to open the cell door. McCoy was able to disarm the officer and knock him out. Then McCoy took the officer’s keys and took Phil with him according to our video cam footage.”

“This is not good,” Caleb said. But at least they were on the road. McCoy wouldn’t know where to find them. And then it occurred to him, what if McCoy was the shooter tonight? “Mike, what’s the time stamp on the prison break video?”

“About eight o’clock tonight. I’m just calling you now because I only found out about it a bit ago and was trying to get everything under control and make sure the facility was secured. Our officer was knocked out cold for a long time. And then Mac called and told me that you were on the run. What’s going on here, Caleb?”

“I can’t go into all the details. It’s not safe for Annie to be in Maxwell right now. But I need you to hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

“Are you sure you need to be doing this alone? This all sounds very dangerous. I don’t think we’ve ever had a jailbreak in Maxwell.”

“Don’t worry about me. Just keep your focus on the town. I need to know that everything will be taken care of and our citizens will be safe.”

Mike sighed. “I’ve only been an officer here for decades, Caleb.”

“I know. And that’s why I’m entrusting this to you.”

“I’ve got it under control. But what should we do about the escaped prisoners?”

“Call Mac and get him involved. I think they’ll be long gone. Especially when they realize that Annie is no longer in town.”

“All right. I’ll give Mac a ring and make sure all our officers are on the lookout. Be careful out there. These guys seem like the type to shoot first and ask questions later.”

“Thanks, Mike. I’m so thankful that I can count on you.” He ended the call and took a deep breath.

“What was that all about?” Annie asked.

“McCoy escaped and took Phil with him.”

“Oh no. He might kill Phil.”

“Yeah, once he got clear of the surveillance video, he might have taken Phil out right then and there. And there’s a possibility, given the timing of the escape that McCoy was the shooter at my house.”

“I can’t believe all of this.”

“Just hang tight. We’ll figure out a plan.” He looked in his rearview mirror and noticed the headlights that had been behind them were getting closer and closer. He realized that he might be paranoid at this point, but a sinking feeling in his gut had him accelerating to see how the car behind would respond.

“Why are you speeding up all of a sudden?” Annie asked.

“Make sure your seatbelt is secure.”

“Caleb, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“We may have a tail.” It was just as he feared. The SUV behind them was gaining ground, matching his speed with each acceleration. He pushed down the gas pedal.

Annie turned around. “Caleb, they’re going to hit us!”

He pushed the gas all the way down, but he didn’t have to look in his mirror to know that the impact was going to come any second.

Annie screamed as they were rammed from behind by the large SUV.

He feared that if he didn’t make a sudden move the next hit was going to get them both hurt. And he had to do his best to try to shield Annie from this killer. “Brace yourself!” He gripped the wheel harder and did the only thing he could, taking a hard right and ran off the road.

Caleb knew he was taking a risk when he made the move to suddenly turn off the road into the wooded area. He pressed the gas and made it about three quarters of a mile before things went from bad to worse. By the time he saw the large tree in front of him, it was too late. The impact was hard enough to deploy the airbags.

He withstood the hit, but his first thoughts went to Annie.

“Annie,” he said. He unbuckled his seatbelt and looked over at her. Fear like nothing he’d ever felt ripped through him. “Annie,” he said again louder. But still no response from her.

He reached over and checked for a pulse in her neck. It was fast and strong. She must have been knocked out by the impact, but at least she was alive. He hated to move her, but he couldn’t take the risk that they were followed by the SUV into the woods.

Without wasting another second, he went around to the other side of the car and pulled her gently out—cradling her in his arms. He was thankful that he’d continued his military style workout routine so he would be able to carry her without any issue if they needed to hike a distance.

He needed to get Annie to safety. Then he’d come back and gather up the rest of their stuff. Just as he started walking with Annie in his arms, he saw the headlights approaching. He ran a few steps and placed Annie down on the ground behind some tall trees to provide her cover. Then he crouched down beside her, ready to act.

The area they were in right now was wooded so that the assailant would be forced to get out of his car if he was going to try to get to them. He couldn’t drive straight up to where they were. And when he got out of his car, Caleb would be ready to pounce. He pulled his gun out and waited as he heard the SUV stop. The headlights illuminating the area.

If the man in the SUV was McCoy, he knew from previous experience that McCoy would be willing and able to use lethal force. The only lights were those coming from the SUV. But the darkness actually worked in his favor. He’d done so many missions in the dead of night—although in the military he would have had his night vision aids. Now he’d just have to improvise. His opponent was going to be in the same boat. The fact that the attacker was following them into the woods let him know his intentions were deadly. There was no doubt that McCoy had received the kill order from Silva. And McCoy probably worried that if he failed, then it would be his hide on the line.

He could see enough of the man getting out of the SUV to recognize by the silhouette that it was McCoy. Caleb planned to make sure that McCoy wasn’t able to go through with his mission. But regardless, Caleb was still a police officer—an officer of the law, not a mercenary like McCoy. He couldn’t just shoot him without it being in self-defense or in defense of Annie. He had to try to attempt to take him in. Unlike the officers that had betrayed Annie years ago, Caleb had vowed to serve and protect with honor.

But if McCoy pulled his gun, Caleb would have no hesitation in acting. McCoy started walking toward the abandoned vehicle. Caleb’s best opportunity would be to jump him from behind.

McCoy left his SUV running so the headlights worked in Caleb’s favor. Making sure that Annie was still safely hidden behind the large tree, he then started to inch forward. Timing his steps with McCoy. This wasn’t the first time that Caleb had engaged in a sneak attack. But as he took a step forward a flashback hit him hard. Vivid pictures ran through his head.

He was back in the mountains of Afghanistan. Dirt filled his mouth. His arm ached as the bullet grazed through his flesh and fresh blood poured out of him. He could hear the whirling noise of the chopper pounding in his ears. The sound of AK-47 fire ripping through the night. The final scream from his brother in arms before the life left his body—Caleb helpless to do anything but evacuate with the rest of his SEAL team that had just arrived at the scene.

A loud crunching sound brought Caleb back to reality—but not quickly enough.

McCoy grabbed onto Caleb’s arm catching him off guard, his gun dropping from his right hand to the ground. The physical contact jarred Caleb back to life though and he fought back. With a swift upper cut that connected to McCoy’s jaw, followed by a kick squarely in the solar plexus, knocking McCoy back a few steps.

Caleb used the moment to grab his gun from the ground. “Hands up, McCoy. I will shoot.”

McCoy moved slowly. But Caleb knew that the man had a gun, probably in his waistband. If McCoy went for it, Caleb would have no choice but to shoot.

“This isn’t about you, man,” McCoy said. “Just hand over the girl and walk away. She isn’t worth the trouble.”

“You’re wrong about that. Keep your hands up.”

“One thing you’ve let me know over the short time I’ve known you is that you’re the type to do the right thing.” McCoy turned around and took off running into the woods. McCoy knew that there was no way Caleb would shoot him while he was retreating. And he was right. Caleb wouldn’t shoot a man in the back that was fleeing the scene.

Caleb started in pursuit, but McCoy was fast. And even more than that, Caleb couldn’t afford to leave Annie alone. He chased him for about a quarter mile, but then quickly turned back.

He couldn’t believe he’d had a flashback. He hadn’t had one in almost a year. And it almost cost him his life and Annie’s too. And that would’ve been another unforgivable mistake.

**

Annie tasted blood in her mouth and opened her eyes, blinking a few times. She looked around in the darkness and was disoriented. Where in the world was she? Nothing seemed familiar. She took in a breath and it seemed like she was outside.

Her pulse quickened as she tried to figure out what was going on. Then she remembered that they had been hit from behind by the SUV and that Caleb had made a sudden turn off the road. But then what happened? She couldn’t remember a thing.

She wasn’t in the car anymore. Looking around she realized that she had been propped up against a large tree in the woods. And where was Caleb? What if he was hurt? Or worse?
Dear Lord, help me.

She tried to move and her body ached. Especially her head. She reached up to her temple as it pounded. Being out in the middle of the woods didn’t seem like somewhere she needed to be.

“Caleb, are you there?”

No answer. She didn’t know if she should stay put or try to get away. It occurred to her that Caleb had to have gotten her out of the car. Because if it had been one of Silva’s men, then they would’ve killed her. They wouldn’t have left her behind a tree in the middle of the woods. She wouldn’t still be breathing right now if Silva’s men had gotten to her. But that didn’t mean that Caleb was all right. What if he was injured and needed her?

“Caleb,” she said, raising her voice louder this time. Panic started to set in as there was still no answer. Where could he be? Should she try to find him? It was dark, but there was a bit of light coming from the opposite direction, from a car that was a couple of hundred feet away.

She tried again. “Caleb!”

“Annie, I’ll be right there,” he said.

A huge flood of relief came over her as she tried to stand, but stumbled, as her legs gave out on her. She grabbed onto the tree to try to steady herself and fight off the sick feeling in her stomach. With only the limited light, she couldn’t see him. After a moment, she sensed his presence in front of her as he reached out and touched her cheek.

“I’m here, Annie. How’re you feeling?”

“I’m okay. What in the world happened?” She realized she needed to slow down her breathing, as she was about to hyperventilate. She couldn’t help but grab onto his arm to steady herself.

“Are you lightheaded?”

“Maybe a little.” Or a lot. The longer she stood the more uneasy she got. She didn’t want to show him all of her weakness, though. She would just have to tough this out like she had everything else.

“I think you hit your head when I ran into the tree. I’m sorry, I didn’t see it until it was too late. The airbags came out, but the impact knocked you out. I need to get you to a hospital and get checked out.”

“No. I’ll be fine. What happened to the person in the SUV?”

“It was McCoy. He followed us out here. He and I got into a fight but he got away. I wasn’t going to shoot him while he was on the run. I pursued, but I didn’t want to leave you alone, so I circled back to get you.”

“So you’re sure he’s gone?”

“Yes, but we’re going to use his SUV to get out of here. My car isn’t in any condition to drive out of here since I smashed it into the tree.”

“What do we do now?” Her mind felt like mush as she asked questions.

“We get another car ASAP, because we don’t know if McCoy’s SUV has a tracking device on it. I’ll call Mac from the road and get his help. But we can’t stay here in the woods. I want to get back on the road right now.”

“This is never going to end, is it?” She heard her voice crack as she asked. “Caleb, I’m afraid that I can’t handle all of this.” She was near the breaking point—both physically and emotionally. Her head pounded from the accident and that wasn’t helping.

He wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a gentle embrace. “I’ve got you, Annie. Lean on me.”

She fell into him and relied on his strength to hold her up. Caleb had kept her safe so far. But deep in her heart she was still afraid because she didn’t know if anyone could truly keep her safe.

**

Annie had tossed and turned, barely sleeping. When she did fall asleep, she had nightmares—a mix of the shooting from her past and the car accident. Which really wasn’t an accident at all. And it had left her with a major headache plus some other pain and soreness in her neck. But she’d refused to go to the hospital because it was all just too much. And she knew there was no way she was going to take any pain medication. Given her mother’s history of drug abuse, she refused to take any painkillers for fear of ending up like her mom. She’d rather face the pain than take that risk.

She and Caleb were at an extended stay hotel with adjoining rooms in the middle of a South Georgia town. They had driven south from Atlanta and ended up there to try to get some much needed rest and to regroup.

Caleb had even seemed a bit off after what had happened in the woods. She couldn’t expect him to be invincible. He wasn’t superman—he was just a man. He had his own weaknesses and emotional reactions just like she did. It was just that he was much better equipped than she was to maneuver through this dangerous maze. So when she could see that he had wavered a little last night, that’s when she knew they were in big trouble.

When a loud knock sounded on her hotel room door, she jumped and immediately went on guard. Slowly she walked to the door taking careful steps with the soreness. She looked through the peephole. A woman with long blond hair and a dark haired man were on the other side. They must have the wrong room.

“Caleb, are you in there?” the tall man asked.

If the couple was asking for Caleb, then they couldn’t be sent by Silva, could they?

“Who are you?” she asked without opening the door.

“I’m FBI agent Gabe Marino and this is my wife Hope. Caleb’s brother called me to help. Can you please let us in?”

Just then the adjoining door opened and Caleb walked through it. He’d obviously been in a deep sleep—his hair was tousled and there were dark circles under his eyes, only fueling her speculation that last night had bothered him almost as much as it had bothered her.

“You can open it.” Caleb walked toward her, and she opened the door as he directed.

Gabe and Hope walked in. Gabe wore a deep frown, but Hope looked her directly in the eyes and gave a warm smile. Hope then walked over to her and offered her hand. “I’m Hope. I hear that you’ve had quite a week.”

“Yeah. It’s been rough.”

“Did Mac call you?” Caleb asked.

“Yes,” Gabe responded. “Late last night as we were driving back up to Maxwell from Florida. You were on our way, so we wanted to stop by. I need to hear about everything that’s happened.”

Annie’s head was still pounding, and she started rubbing her temples again. She needed coffee, like right now, or she wouldn’t make it. She walked to the kitchenette area and started making some coffee.

Hope followed right behind her. “Why don’t you two guys go into Caleb’s room and catch up while Annie and I get to know each other,” Hope said.

Once again, Hope gave her a sweet smile. It was like she somehow understood that Annie was near a breaking point.

“Sure,” Gabe said. “We’ll be right next door if you need us.” The two men went into Caleb’s room leaving her alone with Hope.

She let out a breath. “Thank you. I don’t think I could handle another recitation of all the awful things that have happened to me.”

“I know you may find this hard to believe.” Hope’s brown eyes were filled with kindness. “But I can relate to what you’re going through because I had a very scary series of events happen to me when I came down to Maxwell a little over a year ago for a trial.”

“Really?” She was a bit skeptical that anyone could really understand what the past few days had been like, but she was willing to listen.

“Yes. I’m a lawyer. Now I work at a small law firm in Maxwell, but at the time, I was working for a big firm in New York.”