Catch a Shadow (34 page)

She heard the sound of a car screeching off, then Cole's voice, “It's clear now.”

Jake cursed as he rolled off her and helped her up. His gaze went to her face. He closed his eyes for a second, then put his arm around her, drawing her close.

Cole looked at her face. Winced. “They got away,” he said. “God, I'm sorry, Kirke. I couldn't fire without hitting you. When you got away, I didn't want to fire and draw all those cops over here. I have the license plate number, though.” He looked at her closely. “You okay?”

She nodded, trying not to let the other two see that she was shaking. Inside and out. Her face smarted, and she suspected she would have another black eye just as the first was fading. But she was alive.

She looked around. They were shielded from the ball field by trees. Shouts from the game had masked any noise.

“What happened?” Jake asked softly.

“I was waiting where we planned,” Cole said. “But she disappeared into the ladies' room with a woman. No one around but a guy emptying trash. When she came out, the guy grabbed her and put a gun in her back. I didn't doubt he would kill her if I charged him. Mac and I could only follow until we had an opportunity. She gave it to us.”

“No way, though, were we going to let her get in a car,” Mac said. “I was circling around toward the parking lot. I knew someone would be waiting for the guy.” He looked at Jake. “Was that Adams?”

Jake nodded. “I saw that much. Dammit. Someone stopped me at the field. I should have known … expected …”

“I was caught off guard, too,” Mac said as he approached. He held her purse out to her. “Here's your little bag of tricks,” he said with a grin. “Damndest thing I ever saw.” Then he sobered. “I'm really sorry I wasn't on him faster. After I saw all the cops, I didn't really expect an attempt …

“Probably why he did it,” Jake said bitterly. “He knew I would be arrested if I made any kind of counterattack. Probably thought I would just let her go. He didn't plan on you two. Or,” he added, “Kirke.”

Cole's gaze went to Kirke. “I saw you use the pepper spray. What did you do to the other guy?”

“A corsage pin,” she said, but her eyes were on Jake. “Dallas is going to help us. We're to follow her home.”

“Why is she going to help?” Jake said flatly.

“I don't know. When I mentioned Mitch Edwards, the name obviously meant something to her. She said she might have something that could help. She said she would leave in twenty minutes, and we can follow.” She searched her pocket and pulled out the card. “Her address.”

Jake looked at Mac. “Mac, go ahead and get there as fast as you can. I want someone there before Dallas Crew arrives. The only way Adams could have known about this is if he'd followed her.”

Mac glanced at the card. “I have a GPS in my car, and I know this city. I'm on my way. Cole, you follow them. I'll keep in touch.”

The four of them raced back toward the parking lot, Jake and Kirke following Cole. As they ran, they heard some more yells from the softball field. They separated near the parking lot. Dallas was standing beside a silver sedan. When she saw Kirke, she stepped inside.

Kirke got inside their rental and collapsed. Jake reached out his hand, and she took it, realizing seconds later that she was practically draining it of blood. She shivered and couldn't stop shivering. Reaction. She was humiliated by it.

He started the car and pulled behind Dallas. Then he put his arm around Kirke. “When I couldn't find you …” His voice was ragged, and it faded away as if he couldn't finish.

Brace up
. She was strong. She was woman. She was even Superwoman. Except she didn't feel like Superwoman. She felt like a mouse being stalked by a tiger. And that tiger had stepped on her tail and almost got all of her in his mouth.

Jake had to concentrate on following the sedan. He wanted to hold Kirke. Instead, he had to focus on the car ahead. He couldn't lose the woman now. Especially if Adams was waiting for her.

But he was only too aware of Kirke beside him. She was shivering despite the heat in the car. He'd begun to think she had ice water in her veins. She'd sailed through so many potential disasters in the past seven days, enough, in fact, to destroy lesser people.

It was beginning to hit home. He knew it would. He'd experienced it himself after several firefights during a compressed period of time. There was an accumulation of fear. She'd gone through repeated perils with an aplomb that had stunned him. Even a cat had only nine lives, and she'd used about four or five in a matter of a week.

He glanced at her. Her cheek was swelling, but she looked beautiful. God, he liked her. Even loved her, though he fought against that last word. He had no right to it. Not now. Maybe not ever.

It took thirty minutes or so to arrive at Dallas's home. A modest split-level, it was located at the end of a street and sat next to a wooded area. She drove into the garage, and the door closed behind her.

Jake looked for Mac. He saw the car, but it was empty. As discussed on their cells, Cole parked down the street. Dallas expected two people, not three.

It was only seconds before the front door opened. Dallas stood in the doorway. Jake and Kirke approached when he caught a movement behind Dallas.

His internal warning system raged. He'd assumed from what Kirke had said that Dallas would be alone. Obviously, she wasn't. He noticed Kirke stiffening as well.

What in the hell was going on?

Dallas stepped out; so did a tall man with his hand on a gun in a holster at his waist.

“This is Jake Kelly,” Kirke said. “I think you met him years ago.” She glanced down the street where Cole was waiting. “That's Cole Ramsey. Former Special Forces with Jake. He's helping.”

Dallas raised an eyebrow. “Anyone else?”

The question was addressed to Kirke. The two women had, in a short time, apparently established trust.

Jake felt sidelined, but he'd been humbled more than once in the past few days.

Kirke nodded. “A man named Mac. He was going to make sure no one was lurking about.”

Dallas nodded. She turned to the man next to her. “This is my brother, Dayton. He's the only one in the family who knows about Del Cox.”

Jake hesitated. Yet he had no choice now but to play this out until the end. He stepped inside and wasn't surprised to see Mac sitting on the sofa. He sighed when he saw Jake and Cole. “Too long with computers,” he said. “He was waiting for me.”

Dayton regarded Jake and Cole warily. “Put your weapons on the table.”

Jake took the gun from the holster in the small of his back and did as he was told. Cole followed suit. He noticed that Kirke didn't volunteer the gun he knew she had in her purse. Instead, her fingers clutched the purse to her.

“Take the weapons into the kitchen,” Dayton Gallagher said to his sister. Dallas followed his instructions, and Jake studied her brother. Dayton was a big man but with little fat. He obviously worked out. His blue eyes were icy and his manner wary.

Jake had underestimated Dallas. He'd thought it strange that she'd agreed so readily to allow strangers in her house, especially after hearing Kirke out. But apparently she'd put those twenty minutes to good use.

Dallas returned. “I'm making coffee,” she said. “There's something stronger if you want it.” Then she looked at Kirke again, and her eyes widened. “What happened to you?”

Jake briefly described the attack on Kirke in the park.

“Why her?” Dayton asked.

“I imagine because they thought she was easier, and they knew I would do anything to get her back,” Jake said.

“You weren't followed?” Dayton asked.

“I don't think so. But my guess is that they already know where Dallas lives and were following her.”

“I'm going to call Denny,” Dayton said.

“No,” Dallas said. “You know Denny. Everything's black and white to him. If he knows there's a fugitive in the house, he'll shoot first and ask questions later. Listen to the man's story.”

Dayton obviously didn't want to want to agree, but he did. Dallas, like Kirke, was apparently a force of nature.

“Go ahead and start,” Dallas said to Jake.

Jake started with the mission, then receiving the letter. Kirke took it from there.

“And you two?” he asked Mac and Cole.

“They served with me in Afghanistan,” Jake said.

“And we knew damn well he wasn't guilty,” Cole said heatedly. “You fight with a man, and you know what he's made of.”

Dayton nodded at that and relaxed slightly.

“Why you?” Jake turned to Dallas and asked. “Why did Del Cox mention you?”

Dallas hesitated, cast a glance at Dayton, then started. “We were lovers for a short time. Love wasn't involved. Loneliness was. My husband had been ‘missing' five years. I couldn't get any information, but I stuck around the Farm for years, hoping I would hear something. I managed the Enigma. It was one way I could stay close to men like him. Maybe I would find out something.” She sighed. “I couldn't let go. Then one day, I was told he was dead. No details. Nothing. That night I got drunk, and a customer named David Lewis took me home. He came in the bar often, and he was a loner. I probably paid more attention to him than I should have, but he always seemed so alone and I knew he was CIA. All the signs were there. Anyway, we both had too much to drink and slept together.

“I swore it wouldn't happen again, but then he went on an assignment, and when he returned he was a wreck. He'd helped me. I thought … damn if I know what I thought. Simple fact I didn't think at all. I'd never believed in sleeping around. I had to really care about someone to sleep with them, and no one measured up to my husband. But I was so damn lonely then. I knew Dave was in love with me, and I should have cut it off.

“To make a long story short, I got pregnant. I didn't tell him. I never wanted to marry into the CIA again. Never knowing where your husband is, or what kind of danger he's in, is my definition of hell.” She paused. “And I didn't love him. I liked him, but …”

She stood. Walked around the room.

“Then I heard David had been killed. There were whispers about a mission gone bad. Jeb was born six months later. I had planned to stay where I was. I had friends there, and memories. Then one night David showed up in my bedroom at midnight. He looked like hell. Somehow he'd learned about the baby. He tried to give me a hundred thousand dollars.

“I didn't want the money. I didn't know where he'd gotten it, and something felt all wrong about it. I had enough with my widow's benefit and my job. I told him that people thought he was dead, and he replied that it was better that way, warned me not to say anything or I could be in danger. Some supersecret government job.”

“And you believed him?”

“I didn't know what to believe. And I didn't know where or how he'd gotten the money. For all I knew, his story could be true or he could have turned mercenary.”

“He left abruptly, as if he was afraid. He wouldn't take the money back. I didn't know what to do with it, so I put it in a separate account in Jeb's name and just left it there.

“Then he appeared again one night six months later. He was drunk and frightened, and this time he really scared me. Said someone was after him and might come after me.”

“I packed up the next day and left. It was time anyway. The Enigma was slowly dying, and my job wouldn't be there long. My father was a sergeant in the Denton Police Department, and he'd been urging me to come home. I didn't tell him what had happened, but he knew I was afraid of something. He made sure there were no records that led to me. I married a year later.”

“To a cop?”

She smiled slowly. “I can't seem to get dangerous men out of my system.”

“And he doesn't know any of this?”

“No. I was afraid he couldn't let it go, that he would try to find Dave. But I did tell my brother, Dayton. We were always close, and I knew I could trust him. I thought someone should know in case …”

The room was silent.

“The CIA never asked you about Dave Lewis after he disappeared?” Jake asked.

“No. But then no one knew about us. We were together only a few times, and neither of us wanted anyone to know about it. His name wasn't on Jeb's birth certificate.”

Dallas turned to Jake. “The Del Cox you knew. What did he look like?”

“The last time I saw him—just before he was struck by the car—he'd changed his appearance. Seven years before that, he had dark hair and a dark beard. Wiry. Intense brown eyes. Smart as hell with explosives. Should I tell you his favorite expression?”

“No,” she said softly.

Jake thought back to the boy he'd glimpsed with her. Slim like Del—no, David Lewis. Curious dark eyes.

Dayton broke in then. “It's not fair to open this now. There's Jeb to think of, and Denny—”

Kirke broke in. “Jake was accused of a crime he didn't commit. He spent seven years in prison, and now he's violated parole because Del Cox sent him a note asking that he meet with him. Jake's life has been destroyed, not to mention that two of his friends were murdered. Del Cox died trying to tell Jake something—maybe trying to make amends.”

Dayton stood, then nodded to Dallas, who stood.

“I'll be back,” she said and left the room.

When she was gone, Dayton turned to them. “This is going to turn her life inside out.”

“What does her husband know about Jeb?”

“That he's the son of a CIA guy killed in action. That's all.”

“She's at risk until the truth comes out,” Jake said. “Once it does, Adams no longer has a reason to silence anyone.”

“You're convinced it's this Adams?”

“I saw him right after the hit-and-run. I think he was going to try to finish the job, but then Kirke arrived. He'd changed his face, but I recognized other things about him.”