Devoted Defender (4 page)

His eyes softened and he reached out and gently touched her shoulder. “Let the paramedics check you out. It won’t take them long. And then you’re going to stay at my place. I have plenty of extra space. I don’t think it’s safe for you to be alone at the Inn.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“You aren’t imposing. Today showed that it’s not safe for you to be by yourself.”

She grabbed onto his arm. “Thank you. You just saved my life. Again.”

**

“Here we are,” Caleb said.

She took in a deep breath as he pulled the unmarked SUV up into his driveway. She couldn’t believe she was going to be staying with a police officer. But Caleb had shown himself to be fiercely protective and loyal thus far and she had run out of options. They’d stopped by the Inn and picked up her stuff.

“This is your house?” Annie stared in awe up at the historic two-story home with the large front porch and tall white columns.

“Yes, it is. Gabby stays here sometimes when she’s in town but she has her own apartment. She does a bit of traveling for her job. Your car is in the garage. One of my officers picked it up from the Inn and brought it here.”

“Thank you. I hadn’t even thought about that,” she said.

“That’s why I’m here.”

“This is a big place.”

“Tons of room for me plus other family who come and visit. And of course, my two dogs. I got a great deal on the place when the owner decided to retire down to Florida. I’ve loved this house since I was a kid, and knew one day if I could, I wanted to live here.”

“It’s amazing. So much character. Not like all the new construction.”

“It has its benefits and disadvantages but overall I love it, and I have a nice big fenced-in yard in the back for the dogs.” He ushered her up the front steps. She heard the sound of his dogs barking loudly with excitement.

He stopped outside the front door. “I hope you’re okay with dogs.”

She nodded. “I love dogs.”

“Come on inside. I don’t want to stand out here in the open.”

She walked in and was greeted by two very excited balls of fur. One dog looked like a black lab and the other looked like a brown mix of some sort. But they were both large and very friendly.

“Down,” Caleb said, his voice stern.

The dogs immediately obeyed him.

“And what are their names?”

“The black lab is Buddy and the brown mix is Bailey. I’ve only had them for about six months, but I’ve been really focused on their training. They were dropped off as strays at the station, and I just couldn’t have them put down. That would’ve happened if I had taken them to the county shelter.”

Annie was impressed with how composed the dogs were in the face of a new visitor. Their tails were wagging and tongues were hanging out of their mouths. But she was even more impressed with Caleb’s big heart. “I love dogs. I don’t mind if they get a bit excitable.”

“Still, I don’t like them jumping on people. Come on in, and I’ll show you around.”

They walked through the foyer into the living room with the dogs trailing close behind with wagging tails. The living room was spacious and held two big beige couches. She followed him into the bright and airy kitchen.

“I tried to tone down some of the colors from the previous owner, but it seemed right to keep the kitchen bright. I have a couple of spare bedrooms. You can take your pick.”

“Thank you. Which one does Gabby use?”

“Top floor at the end of the hall on the left. All the others are up for grabs.”

“Are you sure she won’t mind?” She didn’t think Gabby was thrilled about her when they met earlier, and now she was going to be staying here with Caleb.

“Gabby understands how serious the threats are against you. She will do everything she can to help. You don’t have to worry about that.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, but she didn’t push the issue. He gave her a few minutes alone to settle in. She couldn’t believe she had taken refuge with the chief of police. It was the last place she would’ve thought to find safety, but there she was.

She chose a room on the second floor next to Gabby’s at the opposite end of the hall from his. While he’d given her the option to stay on the first floor, he had said he would feel better with her being up there with him in case anything happened. She had a spacious room decorated in a beige and navy motif and her own private bath.

It was true that she would’ve preferred to stay at the Inn to have her independence, but right now really wasn’t the time to focus on that. She was in danger. Silva wanted her dead, as evidenced by the attack today. And even though the shooter was in custody, Silva could just send someone else who would try to finish the job. So she didn’t have any choice but to seek safety at Caleb’s.

Lord, what were the Perry’s involved with?
She was certain that if it was worth killing over, it had to be quite a large illegal money making venture.

She took a few minutes to freshen up and examine the bruises that had formed on her neck. It could’ve been so much worse.

When she opened her bedroom door, she heard male voices coming from downstairs. Caleb had company and it definitely wasn’t Gabby. For a minute her pulse kicked up. What if she couldn’t trust Caleb? What if he was just like the police officer in charge she’d dealt with in Florida?

She walked slowly down the stairs and entered the kitchen to find a man talking to Caleb. She relaxed because she knew instantly that this had to be his twin. They shared the same build and facial structure. But Mac Winters’s hair was almost black and his eyes were brown instead of blue.

“Annie,” Caleb said. “This is my brother Mac.”

She stretched her arm out to Mac to shake his hand.

“Sounds like you’ve had quite a roller coaster of events over the past few days. How are you holding up?” His eyes immediately honed in on her bruises.

“It’s been challenging. First seeing my boss get murdered, then having Phil attack me, and now this.” She paused. “But I just thank God that I’m alive. I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened to me if Caleb hadn’t shown up at the diner today.” She touched her neck reminding her of just how real it all had been.

Mac’s dark eyes narrowed. “Unfortunately, the news I have from my end isn’t going to be good.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Whatever Mac was about to say, Annie assumed the worst.

“I was just telling Caleb this when you came down.” Mac looked at his brother and then back toward her. “You should have a seat.”

She did as he said and sat down at the kitchen table. The men sat down too. She also noticed that Buddy the lab had decided to lie under her feet. She couldn’t help but reach down and give Buddy a pat. “All right. Just give it to me straight. I can handle it.”

“At the FBI, we’ve been working the Silva case for a while. But no matter how close we get, there’s always been an issue with getting the evidence we needed against him to build a solid case. And now I think I’ve figured out the answer to that.”

“And what is that?”

“I believe that Silva has someone on the inside at the FBI. I don’t know who, but it explains why we get so close and then always manage to come up empty.”

“What does this mean for me?”

Caleb looked at her. “Annie, normally in circumstances like this, where you had become a target of an organized crime group, you’d be taken to an FBI safe house. Especially until the threat was neutralized and a further security assessment conducted. But in this instance, it’s not safe because we don’t know who we can trust. Since the FBI may be compromised, they can’t be brought into the equation. There’s only one other FBI agent we could trust. But he’s on his honeymoon right now. Which means, we’re on our own for the next couple of days until he gets back.”

“Caleb has volunteered to take on your personal security,” Mac said. “You’re safer here in Maxwell under Caleb’s care, than anywhere else. Because as long as there is an insider working at the FBI, we can’t go down the route of involving the Bureau. It’s far too risky.”

Caleb nodded. “This is the best security alternative right now. We can’t trust the FBI. I’d much rather keep you here. I trust the officers I work with. And we have a couple of other backup options if needed. I’ve let my deputy chief know the situation. He is on board to assist.”

“Okay,” she said. Although she didn’t automatically trust this deputy that she hadn’t met. She was having a hard enough time relying on Caleb and his family.

“And we’ve got Silva’s hit man in holding at the Maxwell jail,” Caleb said. “He received medical care for his flesh wound which wasn’t serious enough to put him in the hospital, so he’s on lockdown. I’m going to interrogate him first thing in the morning and try to get as much information out of him as I can. Guys like him rarely turn on their bosses for fear of being killed. And we’re in a tough situation because I’m not in a position to offer him any sort of immunity deal. I’ll take a run at him and then decide who else we can involve.”

“I’m sorry, Annie,” Mac said. “It makes me sick to think the FBI could be compromised, but I’d be taking too much of a risk to assume otherwise. I haven’t told anyone at the Bureau about you.”

“And what about Phil? What if he goes to law enforcement and tells them I was at the house the night his father was killed?”

“He won’t risk it,” Caleb responded. “He needs to stay as far away from this thing as he can. If he tells them that you were there, that would lead to too many questions. But it is possible once the local PD gets into the investigation, that they will want to interview all the staff. Nothing we can do about that now though.”

“I’ll try to work my sources on the ground and see if there’s any way I can run interference for you,” Mac said. “But in the meantime for your own safety, you need to stay here with Caleb.”

She nodded. “Believe me, guys, I get how dangerous this is. I’m not going to try to act like I can handle this all by myself. I’m a chef, not a police officer.”

“Good.” Mac stood up from the table. “I’ve got to get back to work. And once again, Annie, I’m sorry you’re in this position.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I’ll see you out,” Caleb said.

Mac and Caleb spoke in hushed tones from the foyer. It was obvious to her that there was probably more to the complex web than they were telling her. But she had enough to handle with what she did know.

Caleb walked back into the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”

“Honestly, I don’t think I could eat anything right now. I’m still a bit on edge from everything.”

“That’s totally understandable.” He sat down across from her at the table.

Her mind was spinning, trying to determine how all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together. “You said earlier that the deputy chief here was on board. Who is he? Will I meet him?”

“His name is Mike Ramsey. He’s actually been doing this a lot longer than I have. He’s got about twenty years on me.”

“Wow. You’ll have to excuse me for asking, but isn’t that strange that you’re the chief then?”

He nodded. “It was a source of a bit of tension when I moved back home after I left the military. But when the former chief passed away of a heart attack, I was put in charge. Mike and I had a bit of a rough patch, but we’re working together really well now. And between the two of us and my other officers, we’re going to be on top of this.”

“This Silva guy seems like a really dangerous and powerful man.”

“Very. He isn’t your run of the mill criminal. This is a highly complex organized crime syndicate. Silva has a wide network of people in a variety of different businesses working for him.”

“Based on what I’ve told you, do you have any ideas about how Doc could’ve been involved?”

“The natural answer would be some type of drug trafficking. That’s one of Silva’s most lucrative businesses. Silva could’ve been using Doc’s company to aid in his distribution. And beyond drugs, there could be other things too. Arms trafficking is a nasty business that Silva has a hand in too. And there are still quite a few more possibilities like money laundering. Maybe Doc realized that he could do some of the work on his own and cut out Silva. But that brings up the big question. He would need a source. Doc could have a masterful distribution plan and customers, but he has to have product to push.”

“Seems like finding his source could be important to all of this. And there’s something else that’s bothering me too.”

“What’s that?”

“I didn’t think Phil actively worked with Doc’s company. It was actually a source of tension in the family. Phil was the only one in the family who did his own thing. He went out on his own and started a company. So how did he get involved?”

“I have no clue. We have more question marks than we do answers.” He paused. “And we’re not going to crack this case tonight. You should try to get some rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

And there was one more thing that was bothering her. The secret of her past that she was keeping from Caleb. Because once he found it out, would he still trust her?

Caleb looked into the eyes of Russ McCoy—the man who had attacked Annie and killed Doc Perry. He would eventually charge him with the murder of Doc Perry, but for now he had plenty of other crimes to charge him with and hold him in confinement in the Maxwell jail.

The first order of business was finding out how much McCoy had told to the others in the Silva network about Annie, because that would impact Caleb’s entire security plan for Annie.

“Mr. McCoy, this will all go much easier for you if we play straight with each other. I don’t have time for games and I don’t think you want to try them with me.”

McCoy looked at him, with no sign of concern on his face. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“Oh, I think you do. Or else I’ll make sure Silva and all of his hired hands think that you told the police everything. That you sang like a bird.”

McCoy frowned. “They would never believe that about me.”

“If you want to go down that path, then try me. But I’ll put in a good word with the DA that you cooperated when this is all over if, and only if, you tell me everything you know about Annie and what you’ve told others in the Silva organization about her.”

McCoy leaned forward. “This is all about the girl, huh? Who is she to you?”

Caleb used all of his years of military training to keep his temper in check. McCoy was a professional. He wasn’t going to crack easily. “Ms. Thomas is an innocent bystander in this situation.”

McCoy rubbed his chin. “I don’t specifically have a problem with her. But Silva knows who she is and what she claims to have seen. And he does have a huge problem with her.”

McCoy knew better than to admit to the chief of police that Annie had seen him murder Doc. “Does anyone else in the Silva organization know that Annie is here in Maxwell?”

McCoy didn’t immediately answer.

“Work with me here, McCoy.”

“This is all you’re going to get from me. I’m the only one who knows where she is. Silva thought she was still in Atlanta. I did some digging using my resources and saw that you had run her license. So I came to check out the neighborhood.”

It bothered him that this criminal had a way to breach into the system, but for now he had to focus on the immediate threat. “And why should I take what you’re telling me now at face value?”

“Because you’re smart enough to realize that there are things I can tell you and things I absolutely won’t. This woman had no business getting involved. But now that she is, all I can tell you is that Silva has a very long memory. Once she’s on his list, it will be difficult to get her off of it.”

“But not impossible,” Caleb said, more to himself than to McCoy. “If I find out that you’re lying to me about any of this, I will make your life much more difficult with the DA.”

McCoy crossed his arms. “I’ve said what I’m going to say. I think we’re done here.”

They’d only just begun in Caleb’s mind. “I don’t know why you’re in such a rush. You’re not going anywhere.” And neither was Caleb. He’d had to conduct interrogations as part of his special ops work. So this guy had no idea who he was dealing with.

“You can ask whatever you want. Doesn’t mean I’m going to answer.”

“Are you military?” Caleb couldn’t help but ask.

“No. But I’ve done some for-hire work abroad.”

That meant mercenary. This guy was even more dangerous than Caleb had originally thought. He had to keep him locked up and far away from Annie. “How long have you been working for Silva?”

“You know I’m not going to answer anything like that about Silva.”

Caleb spent another hour trying to get McCoy to talk, but it was of no use. He had meant it when he said he wasn’t going to talk about anything other than Annie. The only upside was that after spending time with the man, Caleb felt pretty certain that he was telling the truth about Annie. McCoy was the only one in the Silva network that knew she was staying in Maxwell. That was a critical piece of information that Caleb planned to factor into his strategy for keeping Annie safe.

He made sure McCoy was secure back in his cell and then walked out of the police station. He pulled out his cell and called Mac. He quickly recapped what had happened during the interrogation.

“So are you going to stay put here in Maxwell?” Mac asked.

“I know you can only trust a criminal so much, but I think McCoy was telling the truth. He seems more like a lone wolf. Out doing his own thing—largely shaped by his time as a mercenary.”

“It’s risky either way. At least staying here, you’re on home turf. You’ve got your family to back you up. Plus the police force.”

“Yeah, and I’m not at the point where I’m just going to up and leave. I know Mike could handle the police work, but I still think it’s better to wait it out a bit. Get more information.”

“I wish that Gabe were here,” Mac said. “He has even more experience with Silva than I do, and would have some good ideas on this. Especially since we have a possible issue with one of our own in the FBI. But the last thing I’m going to do is bother him the last few days of his honeymoon. He and Hope don’t deserve to have their trip ruined because of our problems here.”

“You’re right. Don’t bother him. We can handle this. At least for now, anyway.”

“Speaking of that. Are you sure you’re comfortable with Gabby working on this case?”

“I hear you, bro. But Gabby has a mind of her own. We could try to get her to stop and that would only make her more convinced. I’ve warned her how dangerous Silva is. I think she gets the message. She’s been in the trenches before.”

“Doesn’t mean we have to like it,” Mac said. “She’ll always be our baby sister.”

“And right now she’s at the house keeping watch over Annie.”

“We need to get to bottom of this before someone else gets hurt…or even worse.”

“I know.” He could only pray that they could protect the innocent.

**

Annie was starting to go stir crazy, and it didn’t help that Gabby’s dark eyes were locked onto her like a laser beam. They sat in the living room with the TV on, but it was evident that Gabby wasn’t watching it. Buddy was her new best friend and curled up beside her, while Bailey was lounging near where Gabby sat.

“I think you can relax a little bit, Gabby,” Annie said. She made another attempt to put Gabby at ease, but the tension was mounting in the room.

Gabby gave the slightest of smiles. “It’s not my job to be comfortable. It’s my job to keep you safe. And that’s what I intend to do.”

“I highly doubt we have anything to worry about here at your brother’s house. I think maybe you can take it down a notch.”

Gabby shook her head. “That’s exactly the type of thinking that can get you killed.”

Annie sucked in a breath after hearing Gabby’s blunt warning. “I’m not trying to be reckless.”

Gabby sighed. “Look. I know this is all a lot for you. You’re not in law enforcement. Caleb told me you don’t have experience with firearms either and only know basic self defense. So that’s why I am here.”

That was only the partial picture. The one experience with guns she did have turned out to be awful. Thoughts of pulling the trigger flooded through her mind.

Gabby kept on talking. “So you need to rely on the professionals to keep you out of harm’s way.”

Annie nodded. “Are you always like this?” she asked before she realized how it sounded.

“Like what?”

“Always so serious.”

Gabby actually laughed. “I’m on the job right now. So I’m going to be focused on that. But I don’t work twenty four seven every day of the year. Be glad that I’m not taking this lightly. My brother told me to keep watch, and that’s what I’m going to do.” Gabby looked at her watch. “Caleb should be home any minute, though. Maybe that will make you feel better.”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m thankful for all of your help.” Annie wanted to ask more questions to get to know Gabby but figured it was better not to push things.

She took a moment to pat Buddy’s head, and he looked up at her with his soulful dark eyes. Her heart melted. She’d never been able to have any pets growing up, and she’d always begged her mom for a dog. But in retrospect she understood that her mother was a complete mess and wasn’t even able to take care of her—much less an innocent animal. She pushed back the thought that one day she could have her own dog and a normal well-adjusted family. Because that just wasn’t going to happen.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Gabby jumped up from the navy armchair with her gun drawn. “Stay put. I’ll check the door.”

Her heartbeat started thumping wildly. What if Gabby was right? What if they weren’t safe at Caleb’s house? What if there was an army of Silva’s men right outside waiting to kill them both.

Gabby looked through the peephole of the front door. “Who’s there?” she asked.

It obviously wasn’t someone she knew.

“It’s Phil Perry.”

At the sound of his voice, fear gripped her again. Phil had come looking for her.

“I need to find Annie Thomas. It’s very important,” Phil said in a strained voice.

“About what?” Gabby asked.

“I want to help. I don’t want to hurt her. I promise. I’m here with information. I’m in trouble, too.”

Annie shook her head and made eye contact with Gabby pleading with her not to open the door. But it appeared Gabby had other ideas. She pulled out her phone and sent a message. Annie presumed it was to her brothers.

“Show me your hands. High. If you make any sudden moves, I will shoot. I’m armed.”

Gabby slowly opened the door and motioned for Phil to come in. But she had the gun pointed directly at his head. One false move and Annie was certain that Gabby would make good on her threat.

But when Phil walked in, he looked to be anything but a threat. His shirt was untucked and had blood stains on it. His hair was disheveled and he had a large purple bruise on his left check.

He looked over at her with bloodshot eyes. “I’m so sorry, Annie. I’m in way over my head.”

“You tried to kill me, Phil.”

The door was still open and Caleb walked in. When he saw what was happening, he pulled out his gun.

“It’s okay, Caleb,” Gabby said.

“What in the world is going on here?” Caleb’s blue eyes were questioning Gabby, but then he looked at Annie. Then at Phil. Keeping his gun trained on Phil with his right hand, he used his left to take out his handcuffs. Phil didn’t put up a fight.

“You can cuff me. I need your help. I’m not a threat to you. Do whatever it is you need to do.”

“Phil Perry, you’re under arrest.” Caleb proceeded to read Phil his rights.

Annie couldn’t believe what was happening. She watched as Caleb took Phil into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. Phil was completely compliant. And he didn’t look like the confident, outgoing man she’d come to know. He looked more like a wounded animal.

Gabby and Caleb were talking, but Annie realized that she’d been in a haze watching the scene unfold. She’d followed them as they went, but then she took a few steps closer until Caleb lifted his hand in a stop motion.

“That’s close enough,” he told her. “Please sit down at that end of the table.”

She wanted to argue since it was clear that Phil wasn’t currently a threat to her. But she didn’t.

“I’m going to check outside to just be sure the area is secure and then do some recon. I’ll check back in later. You have this situation under control.” Gabby said. Then she walked out leaving her and Caleb with Phil.

“Start talking,” Caleb said.

But instead of Phil looking at Caleb, he directed his attention back toward her. “Annie, again, I’m so sorry. I know what I did was unforgivable, but this whole situation has gotten out of control. I’m a coward.”

“Phil, the best thing you can do now to help me is to answer Caleb’s questions. He’s the chief of police here in Maxwell.”

Phil nodded. “I don’t even know where to begin, though.”

Caleb sat down across from Phil. “Let’s start with what you know about your father’s relationship with Silva.”

Annie waited as Phil took a few deep breaths. Even though this man had tried to kill her, she felt sorry for him.

“My father met Silva through a mutual acquaintance a couple of years ago at a charity event in Atlanta. At that time, my father had no interest in Silva’s business.”

“Which is?” Annie jumped in and asked.

“Silva’s network is extensive. Drug trafficking is his primary business but he had his hands involved in money laundering, gun running and I don’t even know what else. Plus it expands all throughout the southeast. He has a business partner who runs part of the region and then his cousin runs the Florida operations. I know they have a complex drug network in south Florida.”

A chill shot down her back. Annie was all too familiar with the dark side of life in south Florida where she had grown up. Her mom bouncing from random apartment and even more random men. And most of the men were involved in some sort of drugs or other criminal activity.