Lawman's Perfect Surrender (24 page)

“I’m okay. It’s best if nobody sees you with me.”

After a moment, Hawk nodded once. “I’ll find my own way back to my car.”

Ford didn’t doubt the agent’s resourcefulness. He started walking toward the street, taking out his cell phone as he did.

“Hawk.”

Hawk turned.

“Thanks.”

“Thank me after we have Grayson.”

“I’ll look forward to that.”

As Hawk resumed his trek toward the street, Ford used the railing to help him up the stairs. Pushing the door open, he ignored two patients sitting in chairs who looked up in shock at the sight of him.

Darcy’s beautiful blue eyes widened and she jumped up from her chair behind the reception desk. Something about her eyes struck him. They’d captured his notice before, as though they were familiar to him, reminded him of…who? Opening the door leading to the rooms, she went to him.

“Mr. McCall?” Darcy took his arm for support. “Hawk said you were banged up, not beaten to a pulp.”

Doc Black’s nurse appeared in the hall from one of the rooms and saw him. “Bring him in here, Darcy.” She pointed to the room across the hall.

Ford entered the room and sat on the paper-covered table.

The nurse began checking him out, examining his head. “You’ve got a pretty good gash here.”

“Could you go get Doc Black?” Ford couldn’t be here long.

“I’ll do it,” Darcy said, and Ford realized she was still in the room.

Moments later, Rafe entered. “What happened to you?”

“I was jumped by Grayson’s thugs. They drove me off the road and four of them were on me.”

Rafe began examining him and then asked his nurse to bring everything he needed to suture him up.

“You’ve got some pretty deep bruises.” He pressed his ribs and Ford winced. “Maybe a fractured rib or two. Once we get you stitched you should go home and recover for a few days.”

First he had to go get Gemma.

The nurse returned and handed Rafe what he needed, and Darcy appeared with a blank chart, putting it on the counter adjacent to the table. Then she stayed, watching Rafe work on Ford.

When Rafe had finished, he wheeled his chair to the counter and began writing in the chart.

“I’ll take it from here, Kelly,” Darcy said to the nurse.

“Thanks. We’ve got a lot of patients to see.” The nurse left the room. Given Darcy’s intimate relationship with Rafe, she was in a position of power here at his office.

Darcy began washing him, wiping the skin of his face. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“I need to know how to find someone who’s missing.”

Why did she need to know that? “Is someone you know missing?” Another one? This was getting to be a regular occurrence.

She glanced over at Rafe, who’d stopped writing in the chart. He gave her a nod.

Turning back to Ford, she said, “Yes. My mother. Her name is Catherine.”

“Catherine…?”

“I don’t have a last name.”

No last name. “You don’t know your mother’s name?”

“She didn’t raise me. She…gave me up when I was a baby.”

Ah. She was an adopted child looking for her biological mother. “Catherine is a common name. You might try death records and hospitals where she went missing. I can’t guarantee you’ll find anything.” And then something came to him. “Why do you say she’s missing?”

“Well, I…I can’t find her.”

Ford studied her for a while. She wasn’t telling him everything. And then he realized why her eyes were so familiar to him. They could be similar to Jane Doe’s. The computer-enhanced photo was a close likeness, close enough to put him on full alert.

He pulled out the photo he always carried in his wallet and showed it to her. “Have you ever seen this woman before?”

With a sharply indrawn breath, Darcy took the photo from him. “Her eyes.”

“It’s a computer-enhanced photo of a Jane Doe I’ve been trying to find. Do you recognize her?”

“No, but…”

“Do you think this could be your mother?” The age difference between the two was just about right.

Darcy studied the photo some more. “She does look a lot like me. But…isn’t this woman dead?”

“Yes.” He told her the woman was found in the woods outside of town, and that she’d been shot. “She had a
D
marked on her hip.”

With that, Darcy’s stunning blue eyes flashed to his.

“Not a tattoo, a marker was used,” Ford stressed.

“Do you think she was pretending to be a Devotee?”

“That’s what we suspect.”

Darcy’s perplexed state creased her brow. “Why?”

“We don’t know. Are you sure you only know her first name?”

Crestfallen, Darcy handed him back the photo, nodding. “That could be my mother.”

“I’m sorry, Darcy.” If Jane Doe was Darcy’s mother, she’d have to face the realization Catherine was dead. “I’ll let you know if I find anything new about the case.”

If Jane Doe’s name was Catherine, he was one more step closer to identifying her.

* * *

Gemma lifted her head when she heard the sound of voices. Hours had passed.

“Sir! You can’t go down here! Chief Fargo left specific instructions.”

“Tell the chief I’m here and I need to talk to him. But first, I’m letting Gemma out of that cell.”

“I can’t let you do—”

The sound of shuffling and a fleshy punch matched shadows on the wall. Then Ford came into view. He threw a man onto the floor and stepped over him on his way to Gemma’s cell. Her sexy cop was here to rescue her! Except he wasn’t looking very sexy right now.

“Ford?” His face was battered and he wasn’t moving with his usual smooth stride. He seemed to be in a fair amount of pain. “What happened to you?”

“Sorry it took me so long. I ran into trouble and then I had a few things I had to do first.” He was all business as he unlocked the cell. But his shallow breathing told her his business had more to do with moving right now. Unlocking the cell, he took her hand and hauled her into the aisle.

“Who did that to you?” And then that seemed like a stupid question. Bo had sent someone after him. Had they tried to silence him for good?

The junior officer had gotten to his feet and now watched them pass, rubbing his mouth.

“What are we going to do?”

“You’ll see.”

Upstairs, he led her hand-in-hand into his office area, off which was a small meeting room. Inside, he pulled out a chair for her.

Puzzled, she sat down.

He turned on the overhead projector and logged on to the computer. As the screen loaded, Bo appeared.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He entered the meeting room with two officers close behind, aiming their weapons at Gemma and Ford.

Gemma gripped the armrests of her chair, staring at the end of a pistol. She hoped whatever Ford had was good.

“I have evidence that proves Gemma’s innocence,” he told the three, holding up a CD. Bending, he pressed a button on the front of the computer that resided under the table and inserted the disc.

“You no longer work here. You quit, remember? You don’t belong here anymore.” Bo turned to the cop beside him. “Arrest him!”

As Gemma gaped at Ford with the news that he’d quit, two more policemen appeared, forcing in Wade Herrington, who’d been cuffed.

“We found him, Ford,” one of the officers said. His partner pulled out a chair at the end of the table, away from Gemma, and forced Wade to sit.

“You’re all going to pay for this!” Wade growled. His haughty blustering promised backing from Samuel.

The officer who’d forced Wade to sit moved around the table to Ford and handed him a folder. “After you got the warrant, we searched his house and found this.”

Ford took it and read through the contents. “Good work.” He smiled at the officers and put the folder down on the table.

“You better have a good reason for this,” Bo hissed.

“Watch.” Ford pointed to the screen.

The video recording of Jed’s murder began to play, only this one had been adjusted so that the picture was clearer. When the man appeared in front of the camera, his image was recognizable.

Gemma shot a look over at Wade, who wasn’t looking so haughty anymore. He gaped at the screen, and then sent an accusatory look toward Bo.

“There are more copies,” Ford said, “So don’t even consider trying to destroy this one.”

“How did you…?” Bo was clearly baffled.

So was Gemma. Where had he gotten this recording? Had he found the laptop?

“Before I took the laptop to the lab, I made a copy.”

Gemma should have realized the possibility. He must have given a copy to his friend with the FBI and they’d cleaned up the pixels to make Wade identifiable. He’d used the forensics technician but kept his backup plan a secret.

“Lower your weapons,” Ford told the officers Bo had brought in. Those two glanced at the chief, who nodded reluctantly, his irritation burgeoning. He had to be getting tired of Ford’s interference.

They lowered their guns.

With his fingers on the folder, Ford slid it down the table as he walked to Wade. “I would think a man of your expertise would be more careful. Or did you think you were infallible with Grayson supporting you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Opening the folder, Ford showed him the first piece of paper. “This is a copy of your credit card statement. You made a purchase at a hardware store in Shady Meadow the day before Felix Taylor was murdered. You bought some rope and a baseball bat there.”

“What we believe are rope fibers were found in his vehicle,” the officer closest to Wade said. “We sent them in for analysis.”

Ford turned to Wade. “Do you think they’ll match the rope used at the other scenes? The lab technician? Felix Taylor? The man from Shady Meadow?” He paused. “Jed Johnson?”

In the face of such overwhelming evidence, Wade only glared back at him. Ford wondered how he felt about Grayson now. All the crimes would be pinned to him, not Grayson. He’d believed in Grayson and the cult, felt he had power. Now that power had been stripped from him.

Ford turned to the officers he’d brought in. “Take him away.” Then he walked around the table to Gemma, reaching for her hand.

She took it and stood, backing against him.

“Once again I have to commend you, McCall,” Bo said. The compliment must taste like blood on his tongue. “You solved Jed Johnson’s murder and maybe three others. Gemma is free to go.”

He knew when he had to back down.

“I’ve sent some officers to arrest the henchmen who chased me down this afternoon,” Ford said. “Except Alan won’t be among them. He decided dying was better than failing to send me over a cliff.”

Bo held a blank gaze.

“I’ll want to question the hotel desk clerk. Any idea where he is?”

“I don’t know. Have you tried his home?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I stopped by there on my way here. He wasn’t there, but his car was still in his garage. There was an uneaten pizza on top of his oven. Looked like someone snatched him right before he was about to have dinner.”

“Maybe he decided to skip dinner before going on vacation.”

“A lot of people seem to be doing that lately, going on vacation without telling anyone. Strange, don’t you think?”

“Very.” Bo did an amazing job of hiding his emotion, when he had to be stewing inside.

Ford had struck a deep blow catching Wade, but he had yet to gain the grand prize.

Chapter 14

L
ights dotted the nearly empty parking lot outside the police station; the night was windless and quiet. Walking beside Ford, Gemma felt the illusion of peace settle over Cold Plains. She no longer had to worry about being accused of Jed’s murder and Ford no longer worked for Bo. Their ties to Samuel were severed. He had nothing to hold against them. But there was still the matter of the five unsolved murders, Jane Doe’s in particular. Now that Ford had decided to take his experience and put it into P.I. work, would he still pursue the case?

“What are you going to do now?” she asked.

“I was thinking of dinner in tonight.” He put a hand on his ribs and grimaced.

“Or a hospital?”

“Dinner in. With you.” He stopped walking and faced her.

Gemma stopped, too, wary of his meaning. She hadn’t forgotten that he’d walked out on her. “I was actually talking about
you.
You quit your job.”

“I’ve got some money saved. I’ll open my own private investigation office in town.”

“Samuel might not like that.”

“There’s nothing he can do to stop me.”

“Yes, I think by now he knows you’re an opponent he can’t win against. If you stay out of his way, he’ll stay out of yours.”

“I’ll stay out of his way until I have evidence against him. Bo, too.”

So, he wasn’t going to stop looking into the Jane Doe case. She wasn’t surprised. Ford wasn’t a quitter, especially when it came to the law. He had his future all planned. What was she going to do? Stay in Cold Plains? Move?

With a baby on the way.

Saddened, she looked toward the front of the well-lit police station. No one exited. More illusionary peace. Her inner peace was beginning to fall apart.

“Gemma.” Ford moved closer and took her hands in his. “I was wrong to walk out on you,” he said. “You were right about me. I tried to avoid falling in love. But the truth is, I have. And I’m terrified of you having a baby, but there’s nothing on this planet that I want more.”

Numbed by what he’d said, Gemma had trouble responding. “Ford…” If he wasn’t sure about this, then they’d come up with some kind of compromise. He didn’t have to be with her if it wouldn’t make him happy. She had lots of money now. Things would be different for her than they had been for her mother. And she’d raise her child with love and plenty of guidance.

“Please forgive me, Gemma,” he said. “I was confused before. I’m not anymore. I’ve gone so long without a family, I don’t know how to be a part of one anymore. Every semblance of family that I’ve ever had I’ve lost.”

“I won’t force you into anything. If you need time, that’s okay. I’ll give you time. I’m not ready for this, either. Motherhood? Hell, I just got a divorce!”