Out of Circulation (Hemlock Creek Suspense Book 1) (10 page)

"Oh, Lord, please no. Please don't take him, Lord." Katie squeezed Ace's limp hand in hers, staring at the blood still spackling his hastily-cleaned face.

Two FBI medics spoke rapidly to one another. She could only catch blips of the conversation.

"Another unit of blood."

"That's right."

"Is he responsive?"

Ace's hand shifted slightly under hers. "He's alive!" she shouted.

The dark-haired medic smiled her way. "Yes, he is. He got lucky. That bullet only grazed his head and ear. It'll take a little stitching, but he'll survive. He was exceptionally brave, going up against two powerful criminals."

She hugged Ace's hand to her face, kissing it. "Yes, he is. The most devoted bodyguard ever."

****

When Ace opened his eyes, a bearded man with wild red hair was peering at his face. Where was he?

But the moment Brandon spoke, he recognized him.

"Dude! You're awake!"

Lowering his gaze from the faded hospital ceiling, Ace smiled as the three McClure women rushed his way.

"Thank the Lord!" Mrs. McClure said.

"You scoundrel." Molly winked. "I knew if anyone could pull it off, you could."

Katie leaned over and brushed his forehead with a kiss. "When you're all better, you're going to explain why you told my sister about your meeting of imminent doom, but not me. And then I'll tell you about this really
interesting
car ride I had..."

Much as he struggled to stay alert, his eyes fluttered closed. "Love...you," he mumbled.

Suddenly, Katie's strong voice was right next to his ear. "I love you too," she said.

****

Two days later, Katie explained the events of that day to Ace one more time, even as she lightly traced his stitches. They were healing fast.

"From what the agents said, Jim shot at Anatoly and the bullet grazed you. It killed Anatoly on the spot. Then you dropped and the men blasted into a shooting free-for-all, which came to an abrupt halt when the FBI agents showed up. Jim didn't get hit, because he hid in the car—the loser. Now he's heading straight for prison." Her voice dropped. "He still swears he had nothing to do with Dad's death."

He gripped her hand and she felt renewed encouragement.

She edged closer to his leg from her perch on the side of the couch. "They investigated your record and said it's officially expunged. It was obvious Jim set you up so he could get to us."

He adjusted his legs to make more room for her, then took a slow sip of unsweetened iced tea, thankful he was around to enjoy it. "But I don't understand what happened to that 1.5 million. Jim swears he hid it on your dad's boat."

"I know, it's so weird. There's no way Dad could've spent all that. Mom would have known. And by the way, Mom came clean and said you'd told her about Jim before your clandestine meeting with him. Did everyone know but me?"

Catching the last of their conversation, Brandon strode over, dropping his overstuffed rucksack to the floor. "I knew nothing, sis—promise. I just wanted to get the FBI in on things. Little did I know your bodyguard would suggest another plan to them." He gave Ace a high-five before his look turned serious. "You're a real hero, man. I have mad respect for you. I hate to fly out now, but I need to get back. Hey—maybe I'll see you around sometime? I'm thinking I might come back in October. To tell the truth, I miss fall in these mountains."

Katie beamed, thankful that her brother seemed to be feeling more connected to his family. "I hope you do. We don't see you enough."

Brandon shoved his aviator sunglasses on. "I was pretty wrong about Dad. I mean, he probably only wanted me to play baseball so we could do something together. And I pushed him away. Meanwhile, there he was, serving with an utterly corrupt partner who wound up ripping off a mob boss and staging his own death."

Ace reached for the coffee table, retrieving the bag of baseball cards. "That reminds me. I haven't even looked over these yet, but you should keep them. They were never meant for me."

Brandon hesitated, then silently nodded. As he took the partially-opened bag, the contents spilled out on the floor.

Katie bent over to shuffle the cards back into a pile. One caught her eye. "Hey—how cool is this? This card says it's from 1951."

"Could I see that?" Ace asked. He examined it as she began to sort cards by year.

"There are several with the older dates," she said.

Brandon took off his sunglasses, plopping down on the floor nearby. "You're right, sis."

Ace looked incredulous, barely holding the card between thumb and forefinger as if it were on fire. "This one is a Joe Jackson card of the Chicago White Sox."

She nodded politely, handing him another old one.

"And this is a Willie Mays," he said.

Shooting his sister a blank look, Brandon spoke up. "We really have no idea who they are, man. So you ought to keep these. They'll mean more to someone who appreciates baseball."

Ace propped himself up and grabbed at the pile of old cards. As he shuffled through, mumbling names, Katie shrugged. She began packing the rest away in the bag.

Finally, he beamed. "Brandon, Katie—your dad was no fool. He knew about Jim and he knew about the heist money."

"What makes you say that?" She was bewildered.

He dropped the pile of cards in her lap. "Because he took it and he bought baseball cards.
Extremely valuable
baseball cards. It probably took months to get hold of all these. Just one of these could be worth up to a hundred thousand dollars or more. To avoid suspicion, he mixed them with modern cards, then packed away the bag in the attic. No one would even think to look for cards instead of cash."

Brandon sighed. "So, Dad was crooked after all?"

"No. He was smart. He was aware if the cash was found on his boat, he'd be an instant suspect in the theft. He'd look like a crooked FBI agent, and he could lose his job or even get sent to jail. So he pretended to be oblivious to Jim, meanwhile disguising the money for later."

"Still doesn't seem legit," Brandon muttered.             

"I think he was probably worried about us," Katie said. "If he lost his job because of suspected theft, I'm sure the FBI would have made it hard for him to get hired anywhere."

Brandon laughed. "Come to think of it, I think he'd finally be proud of me. Suddenly I find myself very interested in baseball."

She lightly punched his arm, shaking her head. "You aren't keeping these now, bro. We have to hand them over to the FBI so they can close this case." She looked to Ace for affirmation.

He nodded, touching his stitches as if they still pained him. "It's the right thing to do. But first we should probably let your mom know."

"And Molly—she'll want to be in the loop."

He grinned. "That's for sure."

****

One week later, when Ace's head was finally starting to feel normal, the FBI pulled up to the McClures' home.

The agents spontaneously broke into a round of applause as he walked out to meet them, carrying the bag of baseball cards. Katie squeezed his arm. He had never felt so respected in all his life.

The lead agent stepped up and shook his hand. "We can't tell you how much we appreciate your bravery, not to mention your discovery of the cards. Otherwise that money would've been lost forever. As a reward, the bank has agreed to let you keep your choice of two cards."

He gasped, then paused to think. "Let's see, I'll pick one for Brandon first. How about the Joe Jackson—the first card that tipped me off to what happened?"

Katie grinned. "Thanks for thinking of him."

As for himself, he knew just the one he wanted. Digging around in the bag, he found it and handed it to Katie.

"Joe DiMaggio. He didn't agree with his dad concerning his career, and he married a beautiful woman that was out of his league. I can relate."

She frowned. "What are you saying? Did you fail to tell me that you're married?"

Wrapping an arm around her slim waist, he kissed her cheek. "No, but I'll get married someday. And I have this particularly beautiful redhead in mind."

****

As Ace drove off in the somewhat-battered Lexus, Molly whistled. "Good gracious, I hate to see that boy go. He was really good for you, sis."

"I know." Katie tried to hide a smile. "He's not gone forever, you know."

Molly bumped hips with her. "I hope he comes to visit. And Mom told me he's going to the police academy? I guess he's racked up some experience fighting bad guys. We all knew he was great with weapons."

"That's for sure. And strangely enough, he wants to work for a small police station—just like the one here in Hemlock Creek."

Molly quirked an eyebrow. "Wait—you mean you're not following him up to New York City? I thought you were going to bust outta this town the first chance you got."

Relishing her new zeal for life, Katie shook her head. "The dreams I was chasing weren't the right dreams for me in the first place. It hit me when I was crouching in Ace's car, praying and fearing for our lives. I'm not meant to be on the front lines like that—like Dad was."

Molly's smile widened. "I think we always knew that was the case. But we couldn't convince you of that. You just had to find yourself."

"I have—the self God made me to be. When I'm honest, I have to admit I enjoy being a librarian, I love our small town, and I like living near family. Reba will want to retire someday, and I'm already thinking of ways to modernize the library. I feel like I finally have a mission."

Molly winked. "And does that mission include a certain Ace Calhoun?"

"He just took out a Hemlock Creek library card, so I expect him to be a regular patron."

"Stop hedging! Are you two an item or what?" Molly crossed her arms, feigning anger.

Katie thought of Ace's goodbye kiss. He hadn't spoken a word, but had pulled her into his arms and gazed at her until, as if magnetized, she tipped her lips to meet his. "My future is with you," he'd murmured. "You're my hero, Katie McClure."

"And you're my champion—my ace," she'd said.

And now she was ready to face the future, unafraid. To stand tall on the feet God gave her, tipsy as those feet might be. Ace would be there to support her.

"We're more than an item." She hugged her sister. "We're engaged."

****

I'm so glad to introduce you to the McClure siblings of West Virginia (my home state). Katie, Molly, and Brandon are such vivid characters in my mind, maybe because I married into a family with red-headed siblings (disclaimer: the McClures' personalities are purely fictional). As I wrote this story, Ace Calhoun kind of wriggled his way into my heart and went from being a semi-scoundrel to a hero—and I realized why his unusual name (he insisted on it!) fit him so well.

Speaking of Molly and Brandon,
Out of Circulation
is the first in a 3-book series. For updates on the release of
Undercut
(Molly's story) and
Deadlocked
(Brandon's story), Books 2-3 in the
Hemlock Creek Suspense
series, please sign up for my newsletter
here
.

And if you're interested in the setting and characters I pictured for
Out of Circulation,
please check out my Pinterest board
here
.

Thank you again for sharing this Appalachian adventure—there's almost nothing I enjoy more than bringing a taste of modern "wild and wonderful West Virginia" to my readers. I can't wait to share Molly's story with you soon.

-Heather

HEATHER DAY GILBER
T
writes novels that capture life in all its messy, bittersweet, hope-filled glory. Born and raised in the West Virginia mountains, generational story-telling runs in her blood. Heather is a graduate of Bob Jones University and is married to her college sweetheart. Having recently returned to her roots, she and her husband are raising their three children in the same home in which Heather grew up.

Heather's Viking historical novel, 
God's Daughter
, is an Amazon Norse bestseller. She is also the author of
Miranda Warning
and
Trial by Twelve
,
Books One and Two in
the bestselling
A Murder in the Mountains
 mystery series.
Trial by Twelve
is the winner of the 2015 Grace Award for Mystery/Romantic Suspense/Thriller/Historical Suspense. Heather has also written the 
Indie Publishing Handbook: Four Key Elements for the Self-Publisher.

You can find Heather online here:

Website
:
http://heatherdaygilbert.com

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E-Mail:
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Out of Circulation
, please leave a review on your online book retailer of choice or on Goodreads
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For updates on the release of
Undercut
and
Deadlocked
, Books 2-3
in the
Hemlock Creek Suspense
series, please sign up for Heather's newsletter
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