A Hero In Uniform - The Complete Series (28 page)

“
I understand this, Lieutenant.” Ethan told her. “Just let me help you.”

“
I ...”

“
Don't make me order you.”

Karleigh relented. “Alright.”

Outside her house sat a silver 2013 BMW 335i sedan. Karleigh got behind the wheel and Ethan had to hang on as she raced through the near-empty streets, obviously desperate to reach the safe-house where her sister was meant to be under the protection of the AFP. She handled the powerful sedan with ease, changing gears without any trouble as they headed into the city.

The thunderstorm from yesterday was still in full force and Ethan wondered if the Sydney's departure for the Arafura would be delayed or go ahead as planned.

Looking at Karleigh, he asked, “How did your sister get involved with Ian Morton?”

“
They had an affair when she was in her early twenties, and the relationship has been on-off ever since.”

“
Morton's a killer. Do you think he's the one who really killed Schofield?”

“
Yes. My sister isn't a killer, despite what Jones thinks.”

“
And the information she has on him?”

“
I don't know what it is, but my sister told me it will help put him away for life.”

“
Which explains why he's after her.”

Karleigh clenched her jaw and sent him a look of helplessness mixed with anger as she said, “He may already have her.”

For Karleigh's sake, Ethan prayed that wasn't true.

Five

Rain was still pouring down as Karleigh parked the BMW in the driveway of the AFP's safe-house. Two agents in blue windbreakers stood on either side of the front door, their expressions perfect poker-faces.

Karleigh ignored the cold rain soaking her to the bone and demanded, “Where is Agent Jones?”

“
Inside, ma'am.” One of them said.

The other opened the door and told her, “He's expecting you.”

Inside, Karleigh found Doug at a large table that was covered with hundreds of pieces of papers. She didn't wait for him to acknowledge her presence; she  just demanded, “What is going on here, Agent Jones?”

Doug turned to face her and said, “Your sister has decided to leave the care of the AFP.”

“
What are you talking about?”

“
At 0500 hours, the guard detail changed. As per regulation, the new guard on duty went to wake your sister so she could sign the roster.” Doug explained. “But he didn't find Miss Greene.”

“
What did he find?”

“
An empty room and the window wide open.”

“
You're telling me my sister is missing?” Karleigh asked, her voice squeaking on the last word. 

“
I'm afraid so.”

“
How is that even possible? She was in a house crawling with federal agents!”

“
I'm still looking into that.” Doug replied.

Her frustration and anger reached the surface and, before she could stop herself, Karleigh had slapped a federal agent. The slap was hard and rang out in the house, ceasing all work as everyone fell deadly silent.

Ethan moved up to her side and grabbed her arm, restraining her as he said, “Calm down, Lieutenant Greene.”

Karleigh ignored him and glared at Doug, who now had a red cheek. “You're supposed to be protecting her!”

“
Miss Greene didn't exactly make that easy.”

“
It's your job to protect her whether she made it easy or not!”

“
We can't protect someone who wants to be with the person we're protecting them from.”

Karleigh frowned and demanded, “What the hell does that mean?”

“
It means we believe your sister has more then likely gone off to find Ian Morton.”

“
What?!” She shrieked. “Are you insane?”

Ethan tightened his hold on her and said, “Karleigh, calm down.”

“
Take her outside, Conrad.” Doug ordered. “She's obstructing our investigation.”

She tried to protest and get out of Ethan's hold on her, but it was no good.

The man was insanely strong and he managed to take her outside into the rain with little effort.

“
I know you're upset about your sister, but you're not going to do her any good if you end up in jail for assaulting a federal agent.” He told her, keeping his hands on her shoulders to restrain her.

“
He doesn't even know what happened to her!”

“
I know. But you need to calm down so we can come up with a way to locate your sister before Morton has a chance to do anything to her.”

Karleigh looked at him and asked, “Are you saying … what are you saying?”

“
We're going to look for Francine ourselves.”

“
But the ship ...”

“
The Sydney and her crew are due for an extended stay at base. We can take the week to search for her before we're needed back on board.”

She couldn't believe her CO was offering to do something so generous and it made her relieved to know that something would be getting done about Francine. She wouldn't have to sit around and wait for the AFP to do their damn job.

“
Thank you, boss.” She said with a smile.

Question was, where did they start looking?

Ethan took over driving and drove the BMW to a police station located in the heart of the Cairns CBD.

“
What are we doing here?” Karleigh asked as he parked.

“
Seeing someone who can help.” He replied.

They waited in reception for a few minutes before a detective in plain clothes came to collect them. The resemblance between the two men was unmissable and her suspicions were confirmed when Ethan introduced her.

“
X, this is my brother, Detective Brady Conrad. Brady, Lieutenant Karleigh Greene, the ships XO.”

Brady shook her hand, his smile warm and friendly as he said, “It's nice to meet you.”

“
You too.” She replied.

 
They entered his small but well-kept office and, after everyone was seated, Brady asked, “What brings you two here today?”

“
In short, the AFP screwed up.” Ethan said.

Brady just snorted and asked, “What else is new?”

“
A young woman's life is in danger this time, B.” Ethan said.

“
Whose?”

“
Francine Greene.” Karleigh answered. “My sister.”

“
I'm sorry to hear that.” Brady said. “How was she involved with the AFP?”

“
She was in their WPP unit.”

“
When did she go missing?”

“
Early this morning.”

“
Is it possible the person behind her joining the WPP got her?”

“
No.”

“
Is it possible she went with the person trying to get her?”

“
No.”

“
Is it possible you have no idea what's going on and you're flying blind?” Brady asked with a kind smile.

Karleigh smiled and nodded her head.

“
Alright. Let's get started on finding her before anything happens.”

Karleigh looked at Ethan and smiled, mouthing thank you to him as he just smiled back. 

Once they found Francine, they could focus on keeping her away from Ian Morton and getting her out of Cairns.

Six

Brady came through for them.

Francine still had her phone with her and a search of the number and GPS locater gave them a search area in the Bungalow area.

“
Oh, God.” Karleigh breathed when she got the location.

Ethan and his brother frowned as Ethan asked, “What's wrong, X?”

“
That's proof right there that she's with Morton.”

“
What?”

“
How can you be sure?” Brady asked.

“
Bungalow is where Francine was living when she had her encounter with Schofield. The place has too many bad memories for her and she vowed to never go back there.” She explained. “If she's there, it's not by her free choice and she's either in trouble, or about to be.”