The Marshal's Justice (Appaloosa Pass Ranch 4) (14 page)

“Good. Because the window in the break room is broken, and I don’t want to keep April here any longer than necessary.”

“As soon as we get there, I’ll have Jax drive with you to the safe house,” Jericho assured him before he ended the call.

Finally, she’d get to be with the baby. But just as important, Chase and she would be away from another possible attack. That, in turn, might keep Jericho and the other deputies safe while they were at the office. There’d be no reason for anyone to fire into the building if she wasn’t there.

“Before we leave, I’ll have to check the vehicle for a tracking device,” Chase reminded her. It was also a reminder that no matter how careful they were, the danger could still make its way to the safe house.

“Once Jericho makes it here, I’ll do that for you,” Dexter insisted. “Best if you’re not out there any longer than necessary.”

She agreed. Of course, that meant Dexter and anyone who went after Renée and those men were in just as much danger. It was Dexter’s job, of course, but it didn’t make her feel any better about it.

April just wanted all of this to end.

Chase didn’t move from the doorway of Jericho’s office, obviously still guarding her and still keeping watch, but he did glance back at her. He didn’t try to assure her that everything would be okay. Maybe because she knew an assurance like that would be a lie. Still, she saw the shared emotions in his eyes.

The fear for their daughter.

Chase’s phone rang again, and just like that her heart was right back in her throat. She prayed nothing else had gone wrong. Prayed even more when Chase didn’t put the call on speaker. The only time he did that was when he wanted to shelter her from possible bad news.

Again, she waited and tried to figure out who had called and what was going on, but Chase wasn’t doing any talking, only listening.

“How did that happen?” Chase asked. She couldn’t hear the response, but she saw the muscles in his shoulder tighten. “You can tell me about it when you get here.”

Thankfully, the conversation didn’t last long. “What happened?” April asked the second he ended the call.

It took Chase a moment to gather his breath. “Quentin’s missing.”

Chapter Fourteen

April shook her head and continued pacing. “How could Quentin possibly go missing?” she mumbled. It wasn’t really a question directed at Chase, but it was something April had been asking herself since Jericho had delivered the news fifteen minutes earlier.

Chase didn’t have an answer yet.

However, the person who might have answers—Jericho—pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office and got out. Dexter unlocked the door for him, but Jericho paused only long enough to examine the damage to the front windows.

“Is all of this Renée’s doing?” Jericho asked. Jax followed him inside.

“She was nearby,” Chase settled for saying. “If we’d managed to catch her, she probably would have claimed she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Heck, maybe she was. There was a lot of crazy stuff going on, though, and Renée always seemed to be at the center of it.

Along with Quentin.

April went closer to Jericho as soon as he was inside. Dexter didn’t come in, though. He headed toward the parking lot, probably to check to make sure no one had planted a tracking device on the vehicle they were driving back to the safe house.

“What happened to my brother?” April wanted to know.

Jericho huffed. “As we were leaving the rodeo, someone let out the bulls into the arena and then set off some firecrackers. That didn’t please the bulls, and they started running around. In the chaos, Quentin disappeared.”

“You didn’t hear him yell for help or anything?” she pressed.

“No. But we did hear a vehicle speeding away shortly after we lost sight of him. That probably means someone was waiting for the right moment to grab him. Or else he was waiting for the right moment to escape.”

Chase glanced at her, expecting to see more worry and fear on her face. But all he saw was the same frustration no doubt mirrored on his.

“Quentin knew he was going to have to face charges for faking his kidnapping,” she admitted. “It’s possible he set up this meeting just so he could escape.”

“Yes,” Chase readily agreed. “But then why did he come to the sheriff’s office in the first place?”

“Maybe to make sure I was here. Or maybe he thought I’d jump to protect him.”

And April certainly hadn’t done that. She’d said she would give him the money, but she had also made it clear that it was the last of the funds he’d ever see from her.

“I hate to be the one to cut Quentin any slack,” Jax spoke up, “but Renée could have arranged all of this. Quentin might not have called out for help because one of her henchmen might have put a gag on him or something.”

That, too, was possible, but without Quentin or Renée, it was hard to know what the truth was.

Since the breach in WITSEC, Chase had given so much thought to Quentin that his head was aching. And all that thought and guessing was probably useless anyway. He’d been investigating Quentin for years and still hadn’t figured out the man. It was the same for Renée, though he’d known her only a short period of time.

“Why don’t you sit down,” Chase said, leading April to one of the chairs. “As soon as Dexter’s done, we can leave.” Something they both clearly wanted to do.

But he saw something from the corner of his eye that not only had him wondering if that was going to happen, it also put him on full alert. Chase drew his gun.

That’s because he saw Malcolm making a beeline toward the sheriff’s office.

Great.
Chase was so not in the mood to deal with that rat, and the rat wasn’t alone. Shane was walking next to him. An odd couple, for sure, and it made Chase wonder what the heck they were doing there together.

“I’ll frisk them,” Jax volunteered, and he was ready when the two men stepped inside. Neither seemed pleased about that, and Shane especially wasn’t happy when Jax took a gun from him.

“I have a permit for that,” Shane insisted.

“You don’t have a permit to carry it inside here,” Jax insisted right back. He went to his desk to put the gun away and to make a phone call.

Malcolm’s attention went to April. Then, it snapped to Chase. “I want you to call off your dogs.”

Chase just gave him a flat look. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”

Judging from the sour expression on Malcolm’s face, he did expect it. “Someone’s been following me since I left the prison. Following Shane, too. We figured it was some of your law enforcement buddies.”

“Well, you figured wrong,” Chase set them straight. He pointed to each of them. “How do you two know each other?”

“I’m trying to clear my name since you’re treating me like a suspect,” Malcolm snarled. “To do that, I contacted Shane to see if I could speak with Renée. But he doesn’t know where she is.”

Chase turned to Shane to see what he had to say about that, and Shane nodded. “I haven’t found her yet, and if I had, I would have turned her in to you. She needs to be back on her meds. She needs to be in a psychiatric hospital. If she doesn’t get help, she could be killed.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Renée needed both. But first, they had to find her.

“We spotted her here in town less than a half hour ago,” Chase explained. “Either of you know anything about that?”

Both men shook their heads, but Malcolm looked considerably more alarmed by that than Shane. Was that because he’d manipulated Renée in some way, maybe to get revenge against Quentin, and the plan had backfired? Too bad Chase couldn’t hook all of them up to a lie detector.

Dexter came back in, but he didn’t go far once he spotted their visitors. He stayed in the doorway, his attention volleying between them and the parking lot. No doubt so he could keep an eye on the vehicle he’d just checked out for them.

Chase turned to Jericho. “Can you handle these two? I want to get April out of here.”

Jericho nodded, snagged Malcolm and Shane’s attention. “You two, go to the interview room. We’ll finish up there.”

Shane readily complied, but for a moment Chase thought Malcolm was going to come up with an excuse to leave. He didn’t, though. After saying something under his breath that Chase didn’t bother to hear, Malcolm went up the hall toward the interview room.

Jericho waited until they were inside before he turned to Dexter. “Did you check the unmarked squad car?” he asked.

Dexter nodded. “The truck, too. There’s nothing on either of them.”

“Then go ahead and drive the car to the front of the building.” Jericho gave Jax, April and Chase each a glance. “You ready to go?”

Chase was more than ready, but he kept April back when Dexter hurried back to the parking lot. He didn’t want April outside any longer than necessary.

“I’ll be back after I drop them off,” Jax told Jericho. “We can search for Quentin and Renée then.”

Chase wished he could help with that. Wished even more that he could find them. But this wasn’t a safe place for April to be. The shot-up windows were proof of that.

Finally, Dexter brought the black four-door car to a stop directly behind Jericho’s cruiser, and Chase was ready to get April moving.

But his phone rang.

Since any and all calls could be critical, he took out his phone and saw Marshal Harlan McKinney’s name on the screen. Maybe the mole, Janette Heller, had spilled her guts after getting that plea deal.

“Please tell me you have the name of the person who hired Janette,” Chase greeted when he took the call.

“No. She’s still negotiating the plea deal. But that’s not why I’m calling.” Harlan paused. “Chase, there’s been a murder.”

* * *

A
PRIL
HAD
SEEN
Harlan’s name on Chase’s phone screen, but she hadn’t been able to hear any of what the marshal had said that could put the thunderstruck expression on Chase’s face.

“A murder?” Chase asked. “Who?”

No. Her thoughts automatically went in a bad direction. Was her brother dead? She tried to brace herself, but that was impossible. As bad as things were between Quentin and her, she hated to think of someone murdering him.

“Call me back the second you know anything,” Chase said several moments later. He hung up and looked at her. “It’s not Quentin. It’s Tony Crossman.”

Of all the names she expected to hear Chase say, that wasn’t one of them. “Crossman?” Jericho and she said in unison.

Chase nodded. “He’s dead.”

April sank down into the nearest chair. For months, Crossman had been a bogeyman for her. A killer who wanted Quentin and her dead. And he was the reason they were in WITSEC.

Now someone had killed the killer.

“This changes everything,” she said, looking up at Chase.

Another nod from Chase, and he helped her back to her feet. “We should go. It’ll be getting dark soon, and it’ll be harder to see if anyone tries to follow us to the safe house.”

He was right, of course, and somehow April managed to get her feet moving. Hard to do, though. She felt numb. Relieved, too.

At least April felt that way until Chase ushered her out. Both Jax and he drew their weapons before they hurried her to the unmarked cruiser. Dexter and Jericho kept watch—just in case they were attacked again. That’s when a big chunk of her relief vanished. Because while Crossman’s death did indeed change everything, it didn’t necessarily put an end to the danger.

Chase maneuvered her in the backseat of the car with him. Jax got behind the wheel, and he didn’t waste any time driving them away from there.

“What happened to Crossman?” she asked, though April wasn’t sure she actually wanted to hear the details. She already had way too many memories and details of murder and violence.

“He was shanked in a prison fight about an hour ago,” Chase explained. “Crossman died before the medic even got to him.”

“They’re sure he’s dead?” she pressed. “Because this could be another of his sick games.” However, she couldn’t imagine what Crossman would hope to gain from something like this.

She must have started to look a little panicked because Chase slipped his arm around her. “He’s dead. The guards are questioning the other inmates now, but no one is jumping to take credit for it. Harlan did say the guards were surprised, though, because the other inmates actually seemed to like Crossman.”

Hard to believe that he was well liked by anyone, but Crossman was a rich man, so maybe he was buying protection and favors from his fellow prisoners. After all, Crossman had been behind bars for six months, and there hadn’t been even a hint of violence directed at him.

That reminder caused everything inside her to go still.

“Malcolm was at the jail earlier today,” April said. “Maybe he’s the one who arranged the murder. And Crossman did hint that Malcolm had something to do with the attacks against us and Bailey’s kidnapping.”

“The guards will look into that.” Since Chase didn’t hesitate with his answer, it meant he’d already given it some thought. “They’ll look into the other suspects, too,” he added.

That hung in the air for several seconds. “You mean my brother.”

Chase lifted his shoulder. “Quentin had reason to want Crossman dead. Renée, too, since she knew Crossman was a potential threat to Quentin.”

“True, and Renée did visit Crossman at the prison, but Quentin doesn’t have the money to pay for an attack like that.”

“He would have if he’d gotten the money from a loan shark,” Chase quickly pointed out.

April touched her fingers to her throat. Then nodded. “Quentin was evasive about why he’d borrowed that money. But why wouldn’t he have just told me if he’d done that?”

Chase gave her a flat look that she had no trouble seeing even in the dim light. “It’d be like confessing to murder. And it wouldn’t matter that Crossman is scum. Murder is still murder.”

Yes. It sickened her to think that Quentin might have gone this far. Crossman had been a genuine threat, but he would have been convicted. Would have ended up behind bars for the rest of his life. Of course, his conviction wouldn’t have ended Quentin’s and her life sentences. Because they would have had to remain in WITSEC as long as Crossman was alive.

“Don’t focus just on your brother,” Chase said to her a moment later. “There also might have been a dispute the guards didn’t know about. In other words, this might not be connected to what’s happening with us.”

April hoped he was right. Having Crossman dead wasn’t any big loss, but she didn’t want his murder on her brother’s hands.

Chase maneuvered her into the crook of his arm. “Why don’t you try to get some rest? It’ll take us hours to get to the safe house because Jax will have to drive around a long time to make sure we aren’t being followed.”

April was certain that rest was the last thing she’d get, but it was no hardship to be in Chase’s arms. Of course, he wasn’t resting, either. His gaze was firing all around them, probably looking for more of those hired thugs.

“What if all the gunmen were working for Crossman?” she asked. If so, that meant the danger was really over.

“We’ll know soon enough.” Chase idly brushed a kiss on the top of her head. That, too, was no hardship, and April wondered if Chase even realized the effect he had on her.

She didn’t want to hope too much that Bailey and the rest of them would all finally be safe. But the hope came anyway. No danger. No WITSEC. She could live a normal life, and Chase wouldn’t have to give up his badge and family.

The thought stopped in her head.

But that would mean things would change between Chase and her. They weren’t exactly riding off into the sunset together, but they had eased some of that bad blood. Being in his arms proved that. So did all those hot kisses. However, if there was no reason for them to be in hiding together, that might also give Chase a reason for them not to be together at all.

Get a grip.

If the danger had already ended, that’s all that mattered. And she couldn’t lose Chase because he wasn’t hers to lose. Though it did feel as if someone had just crushed her heart.

Chase’s phone rang, getting everyone’s attention in the car, and when April saw that it was Harlan calling again, she braced herself in case he was about to name her brother as Crossman’s killer.