Fatal Exchange (19 page)

E
mily’s entire body shook. Nausea spread through her. She’d never wanted to shoot anyone. Never wanted to be a cop. Never wanted to marry a cop. So many nevers.

And now she’d shot—maybe killed—someone.

Charlie lay crumpled on the ground, blood pooling beneath his torso. She tried to stop shaking so she could figure out what to do next, but she couldn’t. Instead she stood, unable to move. Sirens wailed in the distance. Snowflakes landed on her face. What had she just done?

Someone gripped the gun clenched between her fingers.

“Give me the weapon, Emily.” Carlos moved in beside her.

She let him take the gun, her hands still shaking. “I didn’t want to shoot him. He shot Mason. Said he was going to kill him.”

“I know, Emily. It’s over now.”

Her gaze shifted from Carlos to Rafael. He stood next to a uniformed officer who’d just arrived on the scene. He was okay. She was okay. And Mason?

“Where’s Mason?”

“He’s a bit banged up,” Carlos said, “but he’ll be fine. The bullet struck his vest.”

She searched for him among the arriving officers before spotting him. Someone was helping him to the back of one
of the squad cars where he could sit down. The vest might have saved his life, but he’d still feel as if he’d been struck by a freight train.

Emily blew out a sigh of relief, but Carlos was wrong. This wasn’t over. She looked back to Charlie. Officers were on the ground beside him, trying to stop the bleeding until the ambulance arrived. She wanted to see Mason, but she needed to talk to Charlie.

She started walking toward Charlie, heart pulsing in her throat, body trembling . . . How long would it take for the image of him lying on the ground—knowing it had been her fault—begin to fade?

“Emily, wait.” Carlos grasped her arm. “You’re in shock. I need you to come with me and sit down until one of the paramedics can check you out.”

She shook her head. Only one thing really mattered right now. “I have to talk to him. He knows where Tess is.”

“I’ll make sure someone talks with him—”

“No.” She turned to Carlos. “Please, I know Charlie. I can get him to talk to me.”

Carlos let go of her arm and nodded. She crossed the pavement to where he’d fallen when she’d shot him. How had their relationship ended this way? He’d betrayed her, and she’d never even realized it. Never known who he really was. Had he ever loved her?

“Charlie?” She knelt down beside him, out of the officers’ way. Sirens screamed in the background. He was breathing, but the pain was clear in his expression.

God
, please, don’t let him die.

Just because she didn’t love him—just because he’d betrayed her—didn’t mean she wanted him to die. Not this way.

“Charlie.” She fought back the tears. “Tell me where Tess is.”

He grabbed her arm, surprising her with his grip. “You could
have come with me, Em. We would have been free. Just you and me.”

Emily fought roiling emotions threatening to smother her. Had he really thought she would go with him? This wasn’t the man she’d once promised to marry. The man she’d believed had stood for justice and integrity. “What you’re talking about isn’t freedom. It’s running.”

His breathing was shallow. Raspy. “But we would have been together.”

She’d wanted that. Once. They’d planned to build north of town. She envisioned a two-story with a big yard and room for children, an exercise room, and an organic garden in the back. No matter what he said now, he’d never intended to go through with any of it. Even today, when he’d told her he wanted her back . . . it had been nothing more than a way to create an alibi and find out information.

“I found this beautiful secluded island,” he continued. “It’s paradise, Em. All you have to do is sit . . . sit and watch the waves all day long. You and me with nothing . . . with nothing but time on our hands.”

A cold shiver shot through her. She didn’t want to think about how he’d sold out the department. Presented the lies as truth, and deceived everyone they knew. Didn’t want to be reminded how close she’d come to making the biggest mistake in her life by marrying him.

She shook her head, ignoring his ramblings. “Just tell me where Tess is.”

“I needed . . . needed the money . . .” His eyes rolled back, limbs shaking.

“Where is she, Charlie? Where is Tess?”

He was losing consciousness. If he died, she’d be the one to blame. And they might not find Tess.

“No . . . Charlie, where is she?”

The paramedics took over. “We’re going to have to ask you to move back, ma’am.”

Red lights from the ambulance flashed as the paramedics worked to stabilize him. Darkness began to settle in around them. Someone shouted. They lifted him onto the stretcher, IV in his arm, oxygen mask helping him breathe . . . a moment later the back doors of the ambulance closed, and Charlie was gone.

A strange numbness settled over her as the ambulance drove away. She felt disconnected. Lost. She needed to find Mason. Tell him that they still didn’t know where Tess was. If they could locate the man in the van, maybe they could locate Tess. He had to know where she was.

Someone’s cell phone rang, pulling her from her thoughts. Otis Redding sang “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” Charlie had loved that song . . . She ducked down at the edge of his car where the music was coming from. Charlie’s black smartphone lay on the ground beneath his car. Emily picked up the phone. A text message had come through.

Emily stared at the screen. He’d told her his password once. If he hadn’t changed it . . .

She typed in his old password and the message appeared on the screen.

Where are you?

She froze, her mind scrambling to put together the pieces. Charlie hadn’t come to the mall looking for her. He’d come to the mall to meet someone. What if it was him? The man in the van.

She wrote back without stopping to think about what she was doing.

Tied up. Can’t make it.

She held her breath and pushed Send.

You owe me. Meet me @ BT @ 7.

Mason walked up to her, wincing as he took off his leather jacket and slipped it around her shoulders. She hadn’t noticed she’d lost Charlie’s suit coat. She needed to focus. Needed to find a way to shake off the horror of what she’d just witnessed.

“Thank you.” She touched the hole where the bullet had ripped through his shirt and lodged in his bulletproof jacket, then looked up at him. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been shot.” His expression softened. “But you’re the one I’m worried about.”

She shook her head. “You need to see a doctor to make sure nothing is broken.”

“We both do. You might not have been injured, but you can’t ignore the emotional trauma of what’s happened today.”

She glanced down the row of cars now covered with a light dusting of snow. She kept seeing the same images over and over again. Charlie shooting Mason. Charlie dropping to the ground. The officers fighting to stop the bleeding. She knew enough psychology to recognize the basics. Traumatic events often triggered emotions that left the victim feeling stunned or dazed. Feelings became intense and irrational followed by repeated flashbacks, rapid heartbeat, confusion . . .

She wanted to believe that none of those symptoms fit her. That she couldn’t still feel the gun between her fingers, see Charlie bleeding out in the parking lot, or hear the pulsing wail of the ambulance.

“Is that your cell?” he asked.

She looked down at her hands, still clutching Charlie’s phone.

She shook her head. “It’s Charlie’s. Someone sent a message and I responded.”

“Who was it?”

“The man Charlie was meeting here. It could be him, Mason. The man in the van. He has to know where Tess is.”

“What did he say?”

She struggled to clear her mind. To disconnect herself from a reality she still wasn’t able to face. “He wanted Charlie to meet him at . . . at the BT.”

Mason flipped through the messages. “I’ll have Tory see if she can trace the number and figure out what BT stands for.”

He pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen across her eyes, then pressed his fingers against her wrist. She knew her pulse was racing. Her skin hot and clammy.

“You’re going into shock, Emily.”

“Of course I’m in shock. I just shot someone.” She shook her head, feeling frustrated and helpless. “I’m sorry, but if Charlie dies, we might not find Tess and I . . . I will have killed someone.”

He cupped her chin with his fingers and caught her gaze. “None of this is your fault either, Emily. Don’t ever believe that. He left you no choice. You saved my life.”

She fought back the tears because she knew he was right. She’d seen it in Charlie’s eyes. He would have killed Mason. She took a step forward and leaned gently against him, careful not to press against his injured side. He was the only thing that felt familiar and safe. He wrapped his arm around her waist, giving her that security she craved.

“Tell me how this could happen. I know Charlie. He wasn’t perfect, but this . . . department mole . . . manipulating Rafael . . . kidnapping Tess . . . I don’t understand how things could end this way.”

“I don’t know what was going on in Charlie’s head, but it probably happened slowly, over a matter of months, before he realized he was in too deep to get out.”

“And I missed all of the signs.” Everyone loved Charlie, charming and attentive. She searched her mind for a memory, a clue she’d ignored that would have told her he wasn’t the man she’d always believed him to be.

Mason pulled back slightly and caught her gaze. “I’ll make sure someone follows up on this message, but in the meantime, you and I are going to the hospital.”

She nodded. She was too emotional, and too tired, to argue.

“What about Avery? I need to see her.”

“I’ll make sure you can.” His arm around her tightened as he pulled her against him. “We’re going to get through this. I promise.”

A
s soon as she’d been released by one of the physicians, Emily met her father at the doorway of her sister’s hospital room where he gathered her into a hug. She pressed her head against his shoulder. He’d always been her safety net. A place she could go to for advice and unconditional love. But today her world had toppled on end and she wasn’t sure even Daddy could fix everything.

“I’m so sorry about Charlie,” he began.

“Me too.” She glanced past him at her sister, who was propped up in the bed talking with one of the nurses. It was going to take a long time for all of them to deal with what had happened today.

“If it helps,” he said, “none of us had any idea Charlie was capable of doing what he did.”

“But I should have known.” It was a detail that refused to stop nagging at her. “I knew him better than anyone else. I should have sensed something.”

Her father tilted up her chin and caught her gaze. “You can’t blame yourself for anything that happened today. You aren’t responsible for Charlie’s decisions.”

She knew he was right, but that didn’t stop her from believing that if she’d realized what he was doing, she might have been able to stop what was happening today.

She nodded her head toward Avery. “How is she?”

“Her blood pressure has finally stabilized and the bullet wound on her thigh has been sutured, but I think she’s ready to rip out her IV. She wants to be out there looking for Tess, but there’s no way she’s ready to walk out of this hospital.”

“Sounds just like Avery.”

Her father wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Maybe you can talk some sense into her as soon as the nurse is finished changing her IV. Remind her that the most important thing she can do right now is get better.”

“What about Jackson? Has he been here yet?”

“He came as soon as he heard about the shooting, but he just got called back to work. Something to do with this case.”

“And Mama?” She’d felt guilty the whole way over here that she’d hardly had time to think about what Mama was going through today. When Michael died, Mama had lost a part of herself. The thought of losing one of her girls would dig deep and resurrect those raw emotions.

“She doesn’t know about Charlie,” her father said. “But she’s not handling Tess’s disappearance well or the fact that Avery was shot. Nancy Stuart drove her home about thirty minutes ago with some medicine prescribed by the doctor to help her sleep. I’m hoping—praying—she’ll rest. As soon as Jackson gets back, I’ll return to the house to be with her.”

“What about Tess?”

“Nothing yet.”

“And if Charlie is the only person who knows where she is?”

It was the question they were all thinking. Temperatures were dropping, and with few if any leads on Tess’s whereabouts, time was quickly running out.

“We’re going to find her. Because there aren’t any other acceptable options.”

Emily moved aside to let the nurse leave the room.

Her father squeezed her hand. “Sit here while I go make a couple phone calls. Cell phone reception in here is impossible.”

Emily kissed her father on the cheek, then crossed the room to sit down beside Avery. Her sister braced her hands against the bed and tried to sit up.

“Hey, you don’t have to get up for me. How are you feeling?”

“My daughter’s been kidnapped, and they’ve got me strapped to an IV. I should be out there looking for Tess.”

“No you shouldn’t.” Emily grabbed her sister’s hand as she lay back on the pillow. “Half the force is out there right now looking for Tess—the captain, your team, and every available uniformed officer. Your role is to stay here and recover so you can take care of Tess once they find her.”

“And if they don’t find her?”

“They will.”

Avery had always been the protective older sister. The strong one who’d found a reason to keep going when she lost her husband. Who’d come up fighting when Michael had died. She’d somehow manage to make it through today as well.

Her sister’s normally pink cheeks looked pale in the incandescent lighting. “I know today has been just as hard for you. First Rafael and then Charlie. I still can’t believe that he is the one behind all of this. But Daddy told me you did good today in that classroom.”

“I’m not sure any of that matters. I shot Charlie.” Emily caught the understanding in her sister’s gaze. “Does the guilt ever go away?”

“It will lessen. I remember people calling me a hero and hating that word. It didn’t matter that I really hadn’t had a choice in the shooting. I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t pulled that trigger, but that doesn’t always make living with the decision easier. People see what I do as a detective as black and white.
They think a justified shooting shouldn’t impact me, because I did what I had to do. Did what was right.”

Emily nodded, still too numb to fully feel the effects she knew would eventually hit her. “Today simply confirmed that all I want right now is to go back to my normal, boring life.”

“I’m not sure I want to go back to mine,” Avery said. “Every day I go out on the streets and try to clean up someone else’s mess. Sometimes I get tired of digging inside a person’s mind so I can see why they did what they did.”

Emily waited for her sister to continue.

“Tess and I fought this morning, and I never had the chance to tell her I’m sorry. I think that is what’s killing me the most. If anything happens to her . . . if I lose her without the chance to tell her how much I love her—”

“You’re going to have that chance, Avery. Don’t ever stop believing that.”

“And if I don’t?” She looked up at Emily. “I’m sorry. I just feel so out of control. I couldn’t lead the investigation. I couldn’t fix the situation. And now I’ve got a bullet hole in my leg and I’m tied to a stupid IV. All I can do is pray and trust that someone out there finds my baby, because I’m terrified. I can’t lose her, Emily.”

Emily pulled her sister to her, no longer able to stop her own tears. “We’re not going to lose her, Avery. We’re not going to lose her.”

Mason eased his shirt back on after the doctor finished examining his side. They’d confirmed that there were no cracked ribs, only a few nasty bruises and the 9mm souvenir bullets he’d pulled out of his vest. A few inches another direction, and he’d be lying on an operating table right now.

God, so many things have
gone wrong. So many people hurt.

Today reminded him of how sin had come into the world with Adam. But everything that happened today wasn’t a reflection on God, but instead on man’s decision to turn away from their Creator. And how turning away from his will affected everyone. Which was why he was worried about Emily. Today her world had been shaken to the core, and it wasn’t something that any of them could fix or erase.

“You got lucky out there today, son.” The older doctor’s words pulled him out of his thoughts. “But even though the bullets didn’t do any real damage, I’d still suggest you take it easy the next few days. You’re going to be sore.”

Tell me
about it.

A moment later, he thanked the doctor, then headed for the third floor where Emily was. He wanted—needed—to see her. To make sure she was going to be okay, and to somehow try to help her through this. His phone rang as he stepped out of the elevator. He stopped at the edge of the waiting room where the reception was decent and took the call. It was the captain.

“Officers just found another body dumped,” the captain began. “Same MO. Slit throat. Same ransom note stuck to the door of the victim’s house. They’re interviewing the family now.”

The news hit like a punch to the gut. “They’re sending us a message.”

If they didn’t get the money, Tess could be next.

“I think you’re right, and Charlie’s not going to be any help anytime soon. Doctors are giving him a fifty/fifty chance of pulling through. Our only other lead is to track down whoever was in the van with Mrs. Cerda, and we don’t even know what he looks like.” There was a short pause on the line, before the captain continued. “Which is why I want you to bring Emily in to the station for an official interview.”

“I don’t know if she’s ready for that after what happened
today.” Even though his first reaction was to protect her, he knew the captain was right.

“Emily knows Charlie better than anyone. She had to have seen something, met someone . . . anything that will give us another lead. Because all we’ve got right now is an unidentifiable suspect who’s supposed to meet Charlie tonight.”

Mason hung up, then found Avery’s room. Emily was sitting beside her, their conversation intense.

She looked up after a minute, then joined him outside the room. Her expression mirrored his own fatigue, but there was still a tiny spark of determination in her eyes.

“What did the doctor say?” she asked.

“That today was my lucky day.”

“I don’t think luck had anything to do with it.”

“I don’t either.”

He stood in front of her. Close enough for him to breathe in the subtle scent of her perfume, while trying to give her the space she needed.

“Any word on Charlie?”

“I just spoke with the captain.” He hated having to be the one to tell her. “The doctors . . . they’re not sure if he’s going to make it, Emily.”

He recognized the fear in her eyes because he understood what she was feeling. He remembered his own flashbacks, the guilt, and the constant second-guessing of what had happened the moment he pulled the trigger. He still had the occasional nightmare. It didn’t matter that she’d had no choice, or that Charlie probably would have ended up killing all of them. There were always consequences when your moral beliefs clashed with reality.

“And there is something else,” he said. “The captain asked that I bring you down to the station for an interview. You knew Charlie better than anyone else, and we still need answers.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

Debriefing might be a part of the process, but he’d trained for this. She hadn’t. She was only going to want to forget.

“You’re not in any kind of trouble, Emily. I promise.”

“I know, I just feel like I’m barely able to think right now, and to delve into everything again . . . Will you be there?”

“If you’d like me to.”

She nodded.

“You understand that this is simply to try and find Tess. You’ve been through so much today, but you’re strong. And even more importantly, there are people praying for you and your family. You’re not in this alone, Emily.”

Her faith was what would keep her going in the days to come when the numbness left and reality hit full force.

“Okay.” She drew in a deep breath and looked up at him. “I’ll do it. For Tess.”