The Target (2 page)

“Sorry about the short notice, Detective,” he said. “Sometimes things move quickly.”

“Sure.” She held back the sarcastic comments that were threatening to spill out, instead crossing her arms and glaring at her captain.

“I trust you read the file?”

“I did. Although it was extremely brief. Not a lot there.”

He patted another file in his lap. “This is a little more in-depth. Until we were certain you were on our team, we didn’t want to divulge too much.”

“I see.”

“Sara Michaels is owner of The New You. She’s sort of a selfhelp guru, if you will. You may have seen her on Oprah when she was pushing her book.” At Jaime’s blank stare, he continued. “She is Senator Michaels’ only child. If we didn’t feel these threats were legitimate, we wouldn’t be so concerned with getting someone on the inside. As it is—”

“Wait. On the inside? What do you mean?”

“Her program caters to women only. Her clientele consists mostly of middle-aged women with … with issues,” he said with a wave of his hand. “She does group sessions, not one-on-one. Ten weeks of counseling mingled with some sort of exercise program. That’s followed with a two-week backpacking trip.”

“Exercise?”

“The New You,” he said sarcastically. “The book was a best seller, not to mention the video. But we’re not really concerned with all that. However, two weeks in the mountains leaves her very vulnerable.”

“And you want me to get into one of her classes?”

“That’s not possible. She’s in week ten already. They head out on Sunday for the two-week trip.”

“Okay. So what? You want me to crash their backpacking trip?”

She looked at Captain Morris with raised eyebrows. He simply shrugged.

“Detective, how you do it is up to you. Surely you can find a way. Your job is to protect her.”

“Well,
surely
the FBI has powers beyond our comprehension here,” she said, letting a little of the sarcasm get through. “
Surely
, you have a way to get me inside?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“I see. Because if you did, you’d have your own agent on this, right?”

“Captain Morris, you assured me that she would not be difficult,” Special Agent Ramsey said with a pointed look at him.

“Difficult?” Jaime asked. “This is not being difficult. You want me to protect some woman who you can’t get close to and you expect
me
to get close to her?”

“Detective, we have already approached her and she refused. I talked to her personally, in fact, and she was adamant that she was in no danger.” He shrugged. “She’s a private citizen. She and her father do not speak. The threats that have been received have not been made public. We intend to keep it that way. In fact, only a handful of people in the Senator’s inner circle know. The Secret Service will protect the Senator when he’s out on the campaign trail, of course. But the Senator expects protection for his daughter, so … you’re it.”

“Unbelievable,” she murmured.

“My suggestion would be to intercept her somewhere on the trail. That seems to be the only way to stay close.”

“Have you determined who has made the threats?” she asked.

“I’m sorry. I’m not at liberty to say.”

Jaime stared at him, then flicked her gaze to Morris. “You’re what? You’re not at liberty to say? I’m just supposed to traipse into the mountains without a clue as to who might be trying to kill her?”

“We don’t have a concrete suspect, no. Several groups, perhaps, but nothing that should concern you. Your job, Detective Hutchinson, is to simply watch her. And make sure she doesn’t get killed, of course.”

Jaime stood, leaning on the chair that she shoved close to Captain Morris’s desk. “Well, this is just great,
Special
Agent Ramsey. You’ve been a wealth of information. I’m sure I won’t have any problem keeping Sara Michaels safe from unknown assailants. In fact, it’ll be just like a fucking vacation!”

“Detective, we don’t expect miracles. We know you’re not … FBI,” he said, grinning.

Jaime clenched her fists and Captain Morris stood quickly, spreading his hands across his desk. “We’re all on the same team here.”

“Of course we are,” Jaime murmured.

“Detective, in all likelihood, any assailants that may be targeting Ms. Michaels won’t be able to accomplish anything while she’s in the mountains. This is simply precautionary. Most likely, you’ll make the trip without any problems.”

Jaime stared at him. “You guys are unbelievable.”

Ramsey lowered his eyes. “The best thing she’s got going for her is that she rarely takes the same route twice. In fact, the planned route is kept a secret. As far as anyone knows, her destination is up in the air. Any professional hit man would be able to take her out while she’s going about her daily activities, if that was his desire. I doubt seriously anyone would go to this much trouble to track her into the mountains.”

“So, this is just precautionary?”

“Exactly.”

Jaime walked to the door then stopped. “There’s just one thing. If she winds up dead, I’m not like … going to get a demotion or anything, right?”

“Of course not, Hutchinson. You’re on loan to the FBI. This case has no bearing on your record here.”

“Well, thanks, Captain. That makes me feel so much better.”

Ramsey exited the police station and flipped open his cell phone while jogging down the steps. At the bottom, he paused, waiting.

“She’s a go.”

“She bought it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, Ramsey. Good job. I’ll notify him.”

Ramsey nodded and closed his phone, slowing his pace to the black sedan parked along the street.

“Sara?”

Sara looked up, smiling wearily at her secretary. “Yes?”

“It’s almost six.”

“Six? Then what are you still doing here?”

“I wanted to get all the notices out, reminding everyone that you’d be gone.”

“Good. Now go home.”

But instead, Tracy walked into the office, plopping down in the visitor’s chair. “If I go home, there’ll be no one here to remind
you
to go home and you’ll end up staying until midnight.”

Sara sighed. “There’s just so much to do.”

“And it’ll be here when you get back. Just like always.” Tracy stretched out her feet. “What’s wrong? Is it the FBI thing?”

Sara put down her pen and ran both hands through her hair, finally resting her elbows on her desk and meeting her secretary’s eyes.

“I … I don’t know what’s wrong. I feel restless.” She waved her hand. “And the FBI thing, no. If my father has had a death threat, it doesn’t involve me. We’ve not spoken in years.”

“What about your mother?”

“I spoke with her a few weeks ago. I did try calling her yesterday but she’s not returned my call.”

“Well, you look really tired. More tired than I can remember.”

“That goes without saying. I’ve been averaging about four hours a night of sleep for the last couple of weeks.” Sara relaxed, pushing her chair back far enough to rest her feet on her desk. Her once pressed slacks were wrinkled and her feet were bare, having shed her shoes an hour earlier.

“Then this trip is coming at a good time, right?”

“I suppose.”

“Are you worried about it? I know you said Sandra may have a hard time.”

“I think she’ll be okay. She’s really excited about it. No, I’m not really worried. And if things go bad and she can’t make it, we can always turn around and head back down. There are always options.”

“Well then what’s wrong?”

Sara smiled. Tracy had been with her since she’d opened her business and probably knew her better than anyone. And in the last year, Tracy had become one of her closest confidants.

“I’m just in a rut, I guess,” Sara finally admitted with a heavy sigh. “I’m tired. I feel like I’ve lost my spark. I spend so much time here—”

“Ah. No personal life.”

“No personal life, no nothing. I’ve put so much effort into this business, time just got away. I feel like I’m on a merry-go-round sometimes.”

“Well, then maybe it’s time you slowed down. I mean, you’ve got a two-year waiting list for your classes. You’ve hired three counselors to help. Book sales and videos are through the roof.”

Tracy grinned. “And you’ve been on Oprah, for God’s sake!”

“That doesn’t mean things are going to change. The women I get introduced to simply bore me to tears.”

“Maybe you just need to stop allowing yourself to get set up with these women who everyone thinks would be perfect for you. I mean, just because your father is a senator, why do they always insist on setting you up with someone who has political aspirations?”

“Because they think we would have that in common.”

“Well, you hate politics. If they don’t realize that by now, then your friends don’t know you very well.” Tracy leaned forward. “I wish you could just meet someone that’s more like you. You have so many outdoor interests. You jog, you work out. You love to hike. Why don’t you ever date anyone like that?”

“Have you seen some of the women at the gym? They scare me. Besides, it’s not like I have time. Maybe in a year or so.” Sara swung her legs to the floor and shoved her chair closer to her desk, waving her hand dismissively. “This will pass, Tracy. It always does.”

“Sure. It always does.” Tracy stood. “How long are you planning on staying tonight?”

“I’ve got a few letters I need to write. I’ll e-mail them to you. I’ll also work up our itinerary and e-mail that to you as well.”

“Okay. Leave anything else you need and I’ll do it. I mean, I’ll have two weeks.” She walked around the desk. “Now, give me a hug.”

Sara complied then went to work on the stack of papers that littered her desk. She really was tired, but there was little time to relax. She’d not yet packed and they were leaving for Buena Vista tomorrow.

“Senator Michaels? A moment of your time, please?”

Peter Michaels smiled one last time and waved to the crowd, then turned to a member of his entourage. “Who is he?”

“FBI.”

He straightened his tie then offered his hand to the stranger.

“What can I do for you?”

“I’m Special Agent Erickson, Senator. I’m involved with the task force that’s looking into the threats, sir.”

“I see. And what have you found out?”

“Unfortunately, not much. Your daughter has refused protection so that’s made it a little difficult. We’re going to, of course, try to persuade her. But I wanted to discuss your wife’s planned fundraising dinner tomorrow night. It’s at a public hotel. I’m wondering if perhaps we might change venues. Your home, for instance? It would be much easier to monitor the guests that way.”

Senator Michaels gave his best political smile and shook his head. “Special Agent Erickson, I assure you, we won’t be intimidated. My wife feels the same way. Do what you must, but we won’t change our plans.”

“Of course,” he said politely. “Could we then at least have the list of guests? We’ll need to do background checks.”

“Certainly. Get with Daniel. He’ll get you anything you need.”

“Thank you, Senator.”

Peter Michaels watched him walk away and motioned for his campaign manager.

“Arthur, call Mr. Dodds, please. I need to have a word with him.”

Sara stood at the trailhead and surveyed her surroundings, deeply inhaling the sweet air of the mountains. She was thirty minutes early but that was okay. It would give her some alone time, time she doubted she would have for the next two weeks. They had all met for dinner last night at a small restaurant in Buena Vista and the women were very excited about their upcoming trip to the backcountry. Sara was excited too. It was her first trip to the Collegiate Peaks. From what she’d heard, the trails were moderate, except where they ventured up to capture the fourteeners—

mountain peaks above fourteen thousand feet—trails that Sara would not venture with this group. They would climb up to Cottonwood Pass then hike south along the Collegiate Peaks toward Monarch Pass. They should have plenty of time to explore the old mining town of St. Elmo along the way and perhaps some hot springs, if they were lucky. It would be a good trip, one she’d been planning since last spring. She’d almost taken this route during the summer but had instead taken the Colorado Trail to the north, ending up in Rocky Mountain National Park and spending a week exploring there. It had been a pleasant trip, not strenuous at all and they had made it back to Denver without mishap.

It was an easy trip. Maybe she should have taken that trail again. No doubt Sandra could have managed the hike without problems. But this? Who knew? They could stick to moderate trails but then again, moderate was damn close to difficult. She shook her head. If they ended up going slower because of Sandra, so be it. But she would not push. And if it took them a few days longer, all the better. Who was she to complain about a few more days in the mountains?

That sense of unease returned and she tried to shake it off. She normally trusted her intuition but she couldn’t simply call off this trip because something was nagging at her. Resting her backpack against a boulder, she walked off into the woods, listening to the birds that called. She glanced into the trees, trying to spot one of the mountain chickadees that were darting between the two pines.

She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans and absently kicked at a rock with her boot, wondering at the apprehension she felt. Surely, once they were out on the trail, the peacefulness she normally felt would settle in. Surely. If not—

“It’ll be a hell of a long trip,” she murmured.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the sounds of vans approaching and she walked back to the trail, waiting. Soon, familiar voices filled the air and she smiled. They were so looking forward to this trip. Even Sandra. Ten long weeks. They had hashed over their lives until each of them knew the others’ stories by heart. But they were done. Now, two weeks of solitude, away from family and friends, TV and radio. Two weeks to absorb nature at its best. And two weeks of
not
talking about their past lives. As she’d told them yesterday, they were done with it. It was in the past and it was time to embark on a new life. They would leave these mountains new women with new confidences, unafraid to face their futures.
The New You.