chapter Fourteen
The man was dead. Cade could tell that from here. The moan hadn’t come from him.
Cade shifted his gaze to the figure of a woman crumpled against the wall, her head tilted to the side. One leg, stretched in front of her, jerked and she moaned again.
Cade backed up against the wall, his gun tracking from side to side in the small office. A window in the office faced the darkened warehouse. The grubby door next to the window sported a dead bolt. Nobody would be coming in from the warehouse.
He turned back to the entryway to get a clear view of the parking lot and his car. It looked empty. Jenna was doing a good job of keeping herself and Gavin hidden from view, but he didn’t want her out there on her own.
Not with a killer in the vicinity.
He glanced at the woman—must be Beth. He’d help her once he secured Jenna and Gavin.
He jogged back to the car, his gaze constantly darting around the parking lot. He tapped on the window, and
Jenna’s head popped up. He pointed to the lock and she reached over and unlocked the car.
He stuck his head inside. “We’ve got a problem. I need your help.”
Her eyes took over her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Bring Gavin and come inside.”
She clambered out of the car first and scooped up a drowsy Gavin.
He didn’t want Gavin to see Jeff Curson dead on the floor of the office. How many dead bodies could a kid see in one week before he started putting two and two together?
Gripping Jenna by the arm, he led her into the office and pointed to the swivel chair behind the desk. “Park Gavin in that chair.”
Gavin curled his legs beneath him, folding an arm beneath his head—not sleeping, but close enough.
Jenna’s face paled before she even peered around the desk. “What’s that smell?”
“The gunpowder?”
She shook her head, wrinkling her nose. “It’s...it’s...” She covered her mouth with her hand as she stepped past him into the office. “Blood.”
Cade pulled the office door shut with a click and locked it behind him. Now they couldn’t be ambushed in here.
Jenna seemed fixated on Jeff’s corpse, so Cade nudged her side. “Beth’s in the corner and she’s still alive.”
Jenna jerked her head to the right. “Oh, my God. Why haven’t you helped her?”
She rushed to Beth and crouched down beside her.
“I didn’t want to leave you and Gavin in the car after I discovered this scene. I wanted to secure us inside first. How is she?”
Jenna’s fingers tapped around Beth’s head. “Looks like a head injury from behind—a blow to the head.”
“She was moaning before.” Cade finally kneeled on the cold floor next to Jeff and felt for his nonexistent pulse.
“Beth? Beth? Can you hear me?”
Beth gasped and sobbed.
“It’s okay. You’re okay.” Jenna twisted her head over her shoulder. “Do you have any bandages in the car? Can you get a bottle of water?”
Cade patted Jeff’s pockets. Jeff’s holster was still strapped to his body, his weapon secured. He hadn’t been expecting whatever calamity befell him tonight.
Cade jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the half-empty, five-gallon water bottle on its stand. “Use that.”
“It’s not very sterile.”
“I think it’s more important now to staunch any bleeding.” He shrugged out of his windbreaker, yanked off his shirt and tugged his T-shirt over his head. He ripped it in two and tossed the pieces toward Jenna. “She’s conscious?”
“Barely.” Jenna folded one piece of his T-shirt into a square and held it against the back of Beth’s head. “We need to get her out of here and clean her wound.”
Cade pulled a few papers out of Jeff’s pockets. What had happened here? A small camera lay in pieces just under the desk. The papers and forms on top of the desk had come from Prospero, but there was no sign of any travel documents, IDs or passports.
A bead of sweat ran down his spine.
Beth groaned, her legs shifting on the cement floor.
“Shh, it’s okay.” Jenna thumbed open Beth’s eyelids and placed two fingers on her wrist. “Her pulse is strong.”
Cade swept up all the papers on the desk and pocketed the broken camera. He also lifted Jeff’s cell phone from his pocket and deposited it in his own. Next, he took his weapon.
He cracked open the door and poked his head into the parking lot. “We need to get out of here before their assailants return. Take these papers and Gavin back to the car and leave the back door open. I’ll carry Beth out.”
Jenna shook out the other piece of his T-shirt and wrapped it around Beth’s head, tucking in the corner. “She needs some water or something stronger and about a half bottle of ibuprofen.”
“We’ll take care of her.” He waved the papers at her. “Take these.”
Once Jenna had Gavin clutched against her chest and the papers clamped against her body with one arm, Cade watched while she returned to the car.
Still gripping his gun, Cade slid his arms beneath Beth’s limp form and hoisted her up. He said a silent prayer as he stepped over Jeff’s body and out of the office.
He made a beeline for the gaping car door, one refrain thrumming through his head—get Jenna and Gavin out of here.
Gavin was sleeping in his car seat. He probably wouldn’t remember one minute of this nightmare visit to the warehouse. Cade placed Beth on the seat next to Gavin and pulled the seat belt across her body, clicking it into place.
He tucked a blanket around Beth’s inert form even though her skin was warm to the touch. She’d stopped moaning and moving and her even breathing gave him hope. Blood from the nasty cut on her head had soaked through the T-shirt bandage, but otherwise she looked as if she could be taking a nap like Gavin.
“How’s she doing?”
“She drifted into unconsciousness, but her vital signs are good. She could be sleeping.” He tossed the car keys to Jenna and rounded the car to the passenger side. “You drive while I keep watch.”
“I-if someone was here, he’d have made himself known by now.” She slid into the driver’s seat, cranked on the engine and lurched out of the parking lot. Despite her statement, she must’ve felt the urgency, too.
“Who knows? If we had more time and the light of day, I wouldn’t have minded taking a look around the warehouse. Are there other tire tracks? Bullet casings? A weapon used against Beth? We can’t exactly treat this as a crime scene.”
“And you’ll just leave Jeff there?”
“Prospero will do...cleanup.”
She shook her head. “That sounds so clinical. Jeff probably had a wife and a family, a life.”
Jenna slowed the car as she neared the freeway on-ramps. “Where to?”
Cade checked the side mirror. They’d been going solo since leaving the warehouse. Whoever attacked Jeff and Beth hadn’t waited around for an encore. Why? If Zendaris had gotten a line on this meeting tonight, he had to know Cade would be there with Jenna and Gavin to pick up the IDs, which had been confiscated.
“Let’s go back to our hotel. Beth needs some attention.”
“Should we take her to a hospital? The emergency room docs don’t have to know what happened. We can tell them she slipped and fell.”
“And if she comes to while there? If she starts babbling? We don’t involve local law enforcement. Ever. They may even make a connection between her and that body in the warehouse.”
“You mean Jeff.” Her lips tightened.
“Yeah, Jeff.” He massaged his temples. “Don’t think we don’t mourn our own, Jenna. Don’t think we ever forget.”
“You inhabit a different world from the rest of us.” She accelerated on the highway toward lights and activity. “We can stop at a drugstore and pick up some first-aid supplies. But if she doesn’t fully regain consciousness, we’ll have to take her somewhere.”
“Agreed. Pull off when you see that shopping center we passed on the way to the warehouse.”
Jenna glanced at Cade’s profile, which seemed carved from stone. He could be so caring and engaged with her and Gavin and then turn into...this. It worried her, but she supposed this cool, calm detachment trumped wailing and gnashing of teeth.
His cool and calm had kept them alive so far.
She squeezed the steering wheel and blew out a breath. “Do you know her well—Beth?”
“She joined Prospero about the same time I did. She’s good with numbers. She’s a good analyst. She’s the one who found a place for us based on statistics and probabilities. I guess she didn’t adequately calculate the risk of meeting us in a deserted warehouse.”
“Does she have family?”
Cade gave her a sharp look. “Why this sudden interest in everyone’s families?”
“I just can’t help thinking if you were on an assignment and got injured or—worse—would someone know to contact me? Would some agent just abandon your body?”
He clasped his hand around hers. “Prospero knows all next of kin. All agents and support people know the risks, and we’re willing to take them.”
“But you don’t own the risk, not alone.” She pounded her chest with one fist. “We share the risk—your spouses, your children, your siblings and parents.”
“Do you want me to say I take it all back? Do you want me to say I wish I’d never met you, married you, had this incredible boy with you?” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “I won’t do it. Call me selfish, but I won’t do it.”
Jenna let out a little sob, and then she sealed her lips. That ended the self-pity. That ended the blame. She loved Cade fiercely. If she had to share him with this life of his and all the danger and uncertainty that came with it, she’d do it. But Gavin...Gavin deserved more.
“That big shopping center is coming up. Take this exit.”
Jenna pulled off the highway and curved around to a parallel street. She read off each lighted sign until she found one for a drugstore.
When she parked, Cade dropped his heavy weapon in her lap. “You know how to release the safety, right?”
She nodded. “I take it I’m staying here.”
“Keep an eye out. I’ll run inside and get some first-aid supplies for Beth. Anyone approaches the car, shoot first and ask questions later.”
Tracing the butt of the gun, she said, “Nothing like drawing attention to yourself.”
Cade exited the car and waited while she locked it. She eyed the pedestrians crisscrossing the parking lot from store to store, shopping for books and groceries, and heading to the movies in the corner of the lot. She hoped none of them decided to ask her for directions.
Beth exhaled and coughed.
Jenna jumped and twisted in her seat. “Beth? Beth? Come out of it, Beth.”
The woman groaned and raised a hand to her head, brushing dark brown hair matted with blood from her face. “No. Jeff.”
“Beth, it’s okay now. You’re safe.” Jenna unsnapped her seat belt and placed one knee on the console as she extended a bottle of water to the wounded woman in the backseat. “Can you drink?”
Beth’s eyes fluttered open. She widened them in terror and put up her hands.
Catching Beth’s fluttering hands with her own, Jenna soothed. “It’s going to be fine. Cade’s with us. You know Cade Stark, right?”
Beth went limp and smacked her lips as if trying to get them to work properly.
Jenna pressed the bottle of water into the other woman’s hand. “Drink this.”
Beth put the bottle to her mouth and drank deeply. She coughed and a trickle of water dripped off her chin. Her eyes filled with tears and one rolled down her cheek to join the water.
Jenna scrambled for her purse on the floor of the car. “Are you in pain? I have some ibuprofen.”
Beth whispered. “A-are you Cade’s wife?”
Relief made Jenna feel lightheaded. “Yes. I’m Jenna. Do you remember now? You and...Jeff were meeting us to give us new IDs.”
“I remember—that part.”
Uh-oh. If she didn’t remember the rest of what happened in that warehouse, Cade would be sorely disappointed. She finally popped the lid off the small bottle of ibuprofen and shook one into her hand, glanced at Beth and shook another one into her hand. “Take these. That’s a vicious gash on your head. Must hurt like heck.”
Beth swallowed the gel caps with a gulp of water. “Thanks... Cade?”
“He’s inside picking up some supplies.” Jenna sucked in her lower lip. “He didn’t think it was a good idea to bring you to the emergency room, but we would have if things had gone south for you.”
“No hospitals. No police. We know the drill. Even the Prospero techs and support people know the drill.”
With each passing minute, Beth’s voice got stronger and her gaze more focused. She turned toward Gavin and put her hand on the car seat. “Cade’s son.”
“Yes, that’s Gavin. Thank God he slept through the chaos at the warehouse.”
Beth wrinkled her brow and ran her fingertips along the edge of the makeshift bandage. “Chaos. Jeff?”
“I’m sorry. Jeff’s dead.”
Beth pressed her hand against her mouth, smothering a cry. “Gunfire. They shot him.”
“Who, Beth? What did they want?”
The tap on the window made both women jump. Cade’s
hand rested against the glass, a plastic bag dangling from his wrist.
Jenna unlocked the door for him and stated the obvious. “Beth regained consciousness.”
He wedged the bag onto the console. “Thank God. Is it just your head? Are you injured anywhere else?”
“I—I don’t think so. It’s good to see you alive and well, Cade. We’ve...some of us have been worried about you.”
“And we’ve been worried about you.” He reached into the bag. “Jeff didn’t make it.”
“I know. Your—Jenna told me.”
He plucked a bottle out of the bag and shook it. “Ibuprofen?”
“I already got some. How’s the injury on my head?”
“Not sure. Jenna wrapped it to stop the bleeding. Lots of blood, but then that’s heads for you. Your vitals never wavered, so I took that as a good sign. Or we would’ve taken you to the emergency room.”
She held up a hand. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Agent Stark. I know how it works.”
Jenna started the car. “I’m going to get Beth back to our hotel room so we can take a look at that injury.”
As she pulled out of the parking lot, Cade took a deep breath and started in with the questioning. He couldn’t wait until they cleaned the blood out of her hair?
“What happened back there, Beth? Who ambushed you two and why? If it was Zendaris’s men, why didn’t they stick around for us?” He circled his finger in the air to encompass himself, her and Gavin. “And what happened to our documents?”
Beth closed her eyes and pressed two fingers against her forehead. “Can you give me a minute or two? I’m feeling dizzy all of a sudden.”
“Must’ve been all those questions.” Jenna gave Cade the evil eye and drew a finger across her throat. “We’re not far from the hotel. Let Beth rest, and let’s properly dress her wound. Then you can ask all the questions you want.”
“We need to know if Jeff’s killers are still in the area, what they plan to do.”
“They didn’t follow us from the warehouse, and there’s no way they know where we’re staying. Let’s give it a rest for tonight.”
Cade glanced from her to Beth, her eyes still closed, and shrugged. “I guess it can wait.”
Twenty minutes later, Jenna drove the car into the parking structure, the tires squealing on the cement floor of the garage. She found a spot near the elevator.
“Can you walk, Beth?”
“I’m sure I can.” She touched Gavin’s nose. “Your little guy has been out like a light the entire time. Must be nice to sleep like that—the sleep of innocence.”
Jenna took the plastic bags from Cade while he gathered Gavin into his arms. Jenna slung her purse over her shoulder, hooking the bags around her arms. She then dipped into the backseat to help Beth out of the car.
Beth winced as she struggled to stand.
Jenna took her arm to steady her. “Are you sure you can do this? Cade could carry you inside.”
Beth snorted. “Hardly keeping a low profile. I can manage. Just hang on to my arm like we’re old friends.”
“Any friend of Cade’s is a friend of mine, so we are old friends.” She pulled Beth’s arm through the crook of her own, offering a shoulder for Beth to lean on. “We’ll take it slowly.”
Beth’s trauma hadn’t affected her balance, and while she kept a tight hold of Jenna’s arm, she managed to walk beside her back up to the room.
Jenna settled Beth at the small table by the window. “Unless you want to lie down on the bed.”
“This is fine. I don’t want to get blood on those nice white pillows.” Beth turned her head from side to side. “Looks like you’d already checked out of this place.”
Cade tucked Gavin under the covers of one of the double beds. “We took our stuff in case we had to leave from the warehouse. Is it okay if Gavin falls asleep without brushing his teeth again?”
“I brushed them before we left.” She dug into the plastic bag from the drugstore and put a bottle of alcohol, a roll of bandages and a pair of scissors on the table. “I’m going to get a washcloth from the bathroom.”
“I’ll go down to the car and bring our bags back up.”
After Cade left the room, Jenna engaged the chain. Then she grabbed two washcloths from the stack on the glass shelf above the sink. She soaked one with warm water and returned to Beth, sitting at the table gazing at Gavin.
“Must be hard on him, huh?”
Jenna shrugged. She was done piling the guilt on Cade. She wasn’t going to lay into him again with one of his coworkers. “It’s true what the experts say. Kids are amazingly resilient. Gavin’s life is in turmoil right now, but he has two loving parents, and he just discovered he had a daddy. Now, sit still.”
With tentative fingers, Jenna brushed Beth’s dark hair to the side. Clotted blood flowered out from a deep gash. “Ouch. What did they hit you with?”
“I have no idea. All I know is it hurt like hell.”
Jenna dabbed the wet washcloth around the wound to clean off the blood. “You might need stitches.”
When she’d cleaned the cut, Jenna drenched the second washcloth with alcohol. “Sorry, this is going to sting.”
“All for the greater good.” Beth squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw.
By the time Cade returned to the room with the bags, Jenna had cleaned and bandaged Beth’s head. “She has a bad cut and some swelling, but she seems fine.”
Beth waved her away. “I’m okay. Thanks for your help.”
Cade dropped the bags in the corner of the room, dipped into the minibar and emerged with a couple of bottles of booze in one hand and some mixers in the other. “Straight or with a splash of juice or soda water?”
“Is there bourbon among one of those lovely little bottles?”
He pinched one bottle by the neck and held it up. “Only the finest.”
“I’ll take one of those—straight.”
Cade reached for a glass, but Beth stopped him. “I mean straight from the bottle. Hand it over.”
He set the bottle on the table in front of her with a click. “What happened in there?”
Beth unscrewed the lid and tipped half the contents down her throat. She wrinkled her nose and cleared her throat. “God, I needed that.”
“Start from the beginning. Where were you going to settle us?”
“A midsize town up in Oregon—big enough to get lost in, small enough to keep track of your neighbors and coworkers. I’ve found that’s the ideal situation.”
Jenna pulled out the chair across from Beth and sat down. She could be an analyst for Prospero because that’s exactly the program she’d followed when hopping from place to place. “You had everything ready for us?”
“We had ID—social security cards, birth certificates and we were ready to prepare drivers’ licenses once we took your pictures. We even had a variety of disguises for you in case you wanted to use them going forward.”
“All that was gone when we got there.” Cade ran a hand through his hair and clenched the back of his neck.
“They took it.”
“Who’s they, Beth?”
“Jeff and I were setting everything up, waiting for you. Jeff didn’t have his weapon drawn because he was just expecting you.”
Cade crossed his arms and wedged a shoulder against the window. “You should always expect the worst.”
Beth took a small sip of the bourbon and continued. “We’d left the door to the office open for you. I had my back to the door and the next thing I knew, a couple of people in black ski masks burst in. They shot Jeff. I turned toward the warehouse and that’s when they clobbered me.”
“What do you think they hit you with?” Cade drew his brows together. “I didn’t see any weapon on the floor.”
“All I know is that it was hard.” She ran her fingers along her bandage. “I didn’t even see them come at me.”
Jenna squeezed Beth’s hand. “You were lucky they didn’t shoot you, too.”
“That’s what’s puzzling me.” Cade scratched the stubble on his chin. “Why didn’t they just shoot you, too, and be done with it? And why didn’t they wait for us? We would’ve been walking right into a trap.”
Beth spread her hands. “I can’t tell you any of that. Maybe they wanted me alive to tell the story. Maybe they just took out Jeff because he had the gun. Maybe they just wanted to disrupt the relocation plan.”
“Zendaris wants more than that. He wants those plans back and he wants Gavin in order to force my hand. If his men had any idea I was going to be at that warehouse with Jenna and Gavin, they would’ve lain in wait for us.”
“Oh, no.” Beth’s eyes grew round, and she covered her mouth. “Don’t you see, Cade?”
Jenna’s pulse beat double time, and she ran her tongue around her mouth.
“That wasn’t a Zendaris ambush. It couldn’t be, for all those reasons you mentioned.”
Cade shurgged off the window and stalked to the table. “What do you mean?”
“Zendaris’s people had no way of knowing we were meeting you and Jenna at that warehouse, and you’re right, they would’ve never left without your son.”
“Spit it out, Beth.”
“That was an inside job, Cade. Someone at Prospero doesn’t want to see you resettled. Someone at Prospero doesn’t want to see you or your family safe.”