Love Inspired Suspense April 2015 #1 (53 page)

She couldn't stay in this building. She couldn't. Where could she go? She just needed a place to hide for a few moments. Suddenly it dawned on her. Of course! Everyone expected her to be here. If she ducked out quietly and went to her Aunt Sarah's, who would suspect anything?

It would be stupid to just leave unprotected, though. She looked around. Miles. He would take her. And Dan? No. She knew he was trying to help, but she didn't trust him. She pulled Irene aside.

“I need to leave for a few minutes. I'm going to ask Miles to take me to my aunt's house. Would you tell people I just needed a moment or something? Please?”

Irene stared at her. “Are you kidding me? Do you know what my brother would say to me if I let you go off on your own, even with Miles with you? No way, my friend. I'm coming, too.”

Mel started to argue, but Irene thrust out her jaw in a manner so like Jace's, she weakened and gave in. “Fine. But we need to convince Miles.”

Miles needed lots of convincing. Only after thinking through the whole plan to verify that their escape would, in fact, be completely secret did he agree. Irene left to grab her coat quietly. When she returned, the three managed to escape to his car. Within minutes, they were speeding toward her aunt's house.

Mel couldn't believe how much she had missed this place. Even though it felt empty without her aunt, it was filled with memories. Her chest loosened and she could breathe again.

They had taken three steps from the vehicle when the first shot rang out. It slammed into the driver's side door, mere inches from where they had stood moments ago.

Irene screamed and grabbed on to Mel. With a strength she didn't know she possessed, Mel yanked the taller girl behind the cruiser and forced her down into a crouch. Miles was right behind them. He pointed his gun at the trees where the shots rang from and fired. A strangled yelp came from the woods. Then one more shot. Miles ducked, but Mel watched in horror as a blood stain blossomed on his shirt. He lifted his gun and shot once more. Crash. Something fell. Seconds later, they heard feet pounding in the opposite direction. Miles slumped to the ground.

Mel grabbed the radio from his shirt and pushed the button on the side the way she had seen Jace do.

“Help! Can you hear me?” she screamed into the radio.

“Identify yourself. You are on a police station,” the dispatcher replied.

“Please, I'm with Sergeant Miles...Miles. Oh, no. I can't remember his last name. Please He's been shot. We need an ambulance.”

The dispatcher sprang into action at the news that there was an officer down. An ambulance was dispatched at once.

Miles roused a few minutes later. His breathing was labored and his face was ashen, but determination shone on his face as he struggled to talk.

“Melanie,” he gasped. “I'm sor...sorry. I never meant to hurt you. Never meant... Must believe me.” Irene gasped beside her.

“Hurt me? Miles, what are you saying.”

“The rock. Phone calls. Pictures. Even the snakes. All me.”

This had to be a horrible nightmare. Soon she'd wake up and find she's imagined it all. She knew it wasn't, though. Miles was bleeding next to her, and even now she could hear the ambulance siren.

“What about the mannequin?”

“Me.”

“The shootings? The fire? The car bomb?” Jace had sworn there was another villain, but she wanted to make sure. “Aunt Sarah?”

“No, I didn't do any of that. I only wanted you to leave. Never tried to hurt you.”

She believed him. But she had to understand. “But Miles, why?” Her throat ached and her eyes burned, but she refused to break down now. She needed more information.

“Sylvie...my stepsister. Dad married her mom. She was four...I was six. They divorced when I was sixteen. I kept in touch with...stepmom. When Sylvie died, her mom—her heart broke. She cried...when you got out. I couldn't stand her pain.”

“Her uncle didn't recognize you.”

“He hadn't seen me...ten years. My stepmom and he had a...falling-out. I was a kid.” His eyes fluttered closed. He looked as though he were forcing himself to continue. “Sylvie had a half brother.” His voice faded. Just before his eyes closed completely, he said, “Seth...Travis.”

The paramedics came and loaded Miles in the ambulance. Dan arrived, looking both furious and frantic. He didn't say anything as he motioned for the women to get into his cruiser.

Mel and Irene just looked at each other. Mel wondered if her expression was as shell-shocked as Irene's. Miles's confession had completely floored her. Her emotions swung back and forth like a pendulum. She was furious with Miles for putting her through such grief. The thought of the mannequin hanging by the back door or the snakes in the dressing room still made her break out in a cold sweat. She could imagine, however, his agony in watching his stepmother cry for her lost daughter.

Then his last words hit her. She grabbed Irene's arms. “Did he say that Seth Travis was Sylvie's half brother? My ex-fiancé was related to the girl I supposedly killed?”

Irene stared back at her, her eyes huge.

“That's what he said, which means...”

“Senator Travis was Sylvie's father!” Mel finished for her. “What I want to know is, did he know it?”

FIFTEEN

J
ace sat beside Paul on the way to Maggie Slade's house, drumming his fingers impatiently against the dashboard. Paul had the speakerphone on so they could both listen to Dan as he related the morning's events.

“Where are Melanie and Irene now?” Jace demanded. He couldn't believe the trouble those two had gotten themselves into. All they had to do was remain in the church social hall until they could be escorted home. Was that really too much to ask?

“Irene's husband came and picked her up. He was pretty upset. Melanie is here beside me. She's glaring at me. I think she's miffed that I'm not letting her explain things in her own way.”

“Well, that's just too bad. Put her on.” There were shuffling noises as Dan passed the phone to Mel.

“Jace?”

“What were you thinking, Mel! Any of you could have been killed!” He exploded, his fury shooting up a notch as he thought of how close she and his sister had come to being shot.

There was a pause.

“I know. But I was thinking...how did he know I would be at my aunt's house? I had only just decided to go there half an hour before we arrived. And we told no one where we were going. Not even your mom knew. Nor Dan. He's really mad at me about that, by the way.” Dan's deep voice agreed in the background. “But my point is, that shooter—he shouldn't have known.”

Jace and Paul both nodded.

“And there's something else. I haven't told Dan this yet.” Her voice lowered so no one could hear her. “Miles told us he was the one stalking me.”

“What!” Jace, Paul and Dan all yelled.

“It's true. He was responsible for everything that was just threatening—the messages that told me to leave town, the phone calls, the pictures, the mannequin. And the snakes.” She made a shuddering sound. “Not the shooting, though. Or the attacks on the jurors.”

Jace was finding it difficult to process this new development. “Why?”

“Because Sylvie was his stepsister.”

Whoa. He never saw that one coming.

“And Jace? He said Seth was her half brother. Same dad, different moms.” She sighed. Jace wished he could be there with her, she sounded so sad. “What's going to happen to the poor kid? He was only trying to protect his stepmother from more pain.”

“Melanie,” Paul interrupted. “I understand that you feel for Miles. I do, as well. But Miles had a job to do. Not only has he shown exceptionally poor judgment by taking you ladies to an unprotected avenue, he has also broken the law and threatened those he swore to protect. I can't let that slide.”

Her voice was subdued when she replied, “I understand. I'll stay with Dan until you come home, Jace.”

Home to Mel. That was the best thing he'd heard all day.

Paul hit a button, severing the connection. Jace's mind flew back over the conversation.

“Bugs?”

Paul gave him a startled glance. “Jace?”

“Sorry, thinking about how the perp knew where they were going. There has to be at least one bug planted. That would explain the car showing up in Pittsburgh and outside the mall, as well as today.”

“It would also explain how the perp knew when to plant that bomb in your car.”

Jace rapped his knuckles on the window as he mused aloud. “I wonder if he knows where we are going now?”

“Probably not. We were outside, walking apart from the others when I gave you the warrant. We weren't in a vehicle or anywhere bug-able...”

“Excuse me, did you just say bug-able?” Jace sputtered.

“Yep, sure did. How else would you describe it?” Paul hit his blinker and made a swift left turn onto Maggie's street. “Anyway, like I was saying, I think we can assume our conversation when we decided to head out was private. It was totally random. My guess is that the bug is either in your mom's house or somehow in Melanie's possession.”

Jace rubbed his jaw in thought. “I'll look into it as soon as we arrive home.”

“Here we go.” Paul cut the engine in front of Maggie's house and they exited the vehicle. “Let's do this.”

They approached the steps from the left. As they moved in closer, Jace noticed the door was standing ajar. He silently pointed it out to Paul. In silent agreement, they pulled their service revolvers from their holsters. A loud crash came from inside the house. “In the back,” Jace mouthed. Paul nodded. More crashing was heard inside. Whoever was in there was looking for something and seemed to be getting frustrated.

Carefully pushing the door open farther, they slid inside the house, keeping close to the walls. Paul moved around to the left, and Jace to the right. They met again near the hall and proceeded back.

Silence. Paul raised his hand and they stopped. There were two rooms ahead. Now that it was silent, it was hard to tell which room the noise had come from. Paul indicated that he would go to the room on the left, Jace would take the room on the right. Jace nodded.

He edged into the room, keeping his gun in front of him, sliding noiselessly along the wall. He darted glances to the right and left, but no one was in the room—or so it seemed. The intruder had definitely been in the room at some point, though. It had been trashed. Books thrown everywhere, papers scattered, glass and ceramic shattered on the floor.

Paul shouted from the other room, followed by a crash. Jace felt the floor shake.

He dashed toward the other room. A black-clad figure—a ninja?—ran into him at a full gallop, knocking him against a curio cabinet. It shuddered, and more glass shattered. Jace caught the ninja by the arm. The person twisted out of his grasp. Jace heard a sharp tearing sound as the fabric ripped at the shoulder. Still, the ninja managed to dash out the open kitchen door and yank it shut behind himself. By the time Jace managed to exit the door, the ninja was speeding away into the woods on a dirt bike. There was no way he could follow in the cruiser. Jace took off at run, but it was no use. The dirt bike grew smaller and smaller ahead of him as the perp put more distance between them. Finally, he was gone.

Remembering Paul, Jace ran back to the bedroom to find his chief rising out from under a bookcase.

“He toppled it over onto me.” Paul shook his head. “I can't believe he managed to get away.”

“Let's see what he was looking for.”

An hour later Jace whistled. He had unearthed Maggie Slade's laptop computer. It had been sandwiched between blankets in a crate at the back of a closet. Not the place one would usually store such a device.

“She must have known she had something sensitive on that thing,” Jace mused aloud.

“Let's open her up and find out what,” Paul ordered, rubbing his hands together.

Soon they found emails and documents that put a whole new light on Sylvie's murder. For murder they now believed it to be. They just needed to connect the dots to find out who had committed it. Hopefully, they would also be able to find Maggie Slade, alive and well. Jace knew what they were both thinking, but not saying. Finding Maggie alive was growing less likely by the hour.

* * *

Melanie swung her legs back and forth like a kid as she sat in the chair Dan had provided for her at the police station. He was sitting behind his desk, diligently working on his reports. He never glanced her way. She suspected he was still mad at her over the morning's escapade. She wished he would say something, anything. It had been almost two hours since she had talked with Jace on the phone, and she was starting to go stir-crazy. What if something had happened to him?

She couldn't stop worrying over the fact that someone seemed to know each move they made. Her one comfort was that since she had no idea where Jace and Paul had gone, maybe the killer didn't know, either. After all, except for the incident when Jace was returning from Pittsburgh, she'd been present for every attack.

“Dan,” she finally begged, hating the whining tone in her voice. “When will they be back? What if they're hurt?”

Dan reached for his coffee and took a sip, never removing his eyes from his computer screen. “I'm sure they're fine, Melanie. They'll call when they have news.”

“Are you still mad at me?” Man, she sounded like a spoiled kid.

“Mad at you?” This time, Dan looked at her, startled. “Melanie, I was terrified that you and Irene might have been injured or worse, and furious at Miles for being so irresponsible. And I was a little irritated that you hadn't informed me of your plans. But I wasn't mad at you. Not exactly.”

She didn't believe him. “We've been sitting here for two hours, and you haven't said a word to me.”

Dan held up a finger, then riffled through the stack of paper on his desk until he found a notepad. He scribbled something rapidly, then handed it across to her.

She read the note to herself, eyes widening with each word.

Paul texted. Suspects bugs planted. Office and Tucker's place being searched now. Didn't want to worry you. Sorry.

She raised horrified eyes to his briefly, then wrote in reply:

Sorry for being a brat.

She leaned over and passed him the paper. He smiled and winked, then stood up. “I need to run this to Paul's secretary. Back in a sec.” He strode from the room, leaving the door open.

After what seemed like forever, she heard Jace's voice in the hall. She jumped up and ran to the door of the office. Jace saw her and broke off what he had been saying to Paul. He strode to her and pulled her back into the office and shut the door before taking her in his arms. She rested her head against his chest and found comfort in the solid beat of his heart.

She could have gladly stayed like that for hours, but there were so many things to discuss. She raised her head, but when she looked at his face, the first thing she noticed was the weariness in the set of his mouth, the crease of his brow. She laid her hand against his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her palm. She sucked in a surprised breath. She couldn't say anything, though, because he bent his head and kissed her. It was a chaste kiss, but one that made her heart pound.

“Hey, don't let me disturb you.”

Mel jumped back out of Jace's arms. She had been so wrapped up in him, she had noticed neither the opening of the door nor Dan's entry.

“Can it, Willis,” Jace responded mildly. “It's been a harrowing day.”

Dan smirked at his colleague. “The building's clear. No bugs found here. No word yet on your mother's house or Melanie's things. We should have that information in a few hours.”

“Great. Paul and I found some—”

A knock stopped Jace in midsentence. A young clerk was standing in the doorway.

“Lieutenant Tucker, there's a young man here to see you. I put him in your office. He said to bring Miss Swanson with you.”

“Really? Okay. Thanks, Sharon.”

Dan circled Melanie and Jace to go back behind his desk. “I have some reports to finish up here. Call me when you're done. You can bring me up to speed then.”

Jace nodded. He and Mel headed to his office. Mel froze in the doorway when she saw who was waiting for them. “Seth? What are you doing here?”

The young man who whirled to face them was a Seth she had never seen before. His cocky attitude was nowhere in sight. Anguish etched his face. He suddenly appeared to be older than his twenty-six years.

“Seth, what's wrong?” She hurried across the room to him. As she neared, Seth backed away from her, his hands warding her off.

“Don't hug me, Melly,” Seth warned her, his voice hoarse. “I think when you hear what I have to say, you might hate me.”

Mel blinked. What on earth? Hate Seth? She'd felt bitterness toward him and anger, but never hate. What could be so bad that she would hate the man she had once planned to marry? Whatever it was, she found she really had no desire to hear it. But she didn't have a choice at this point.

“Sit down, Travis.” Jace closed the door and moved to sit behind the desk. He motioned for Mel and Seth to sit in the padded chairs across from him. Mel moved to a chair with leaden steps. Seth hesitated, then followed suit. Jace waited until they were both seated before speaking again.

“Okay. What's this about?”

“I think my father's the one who threatened the jurors,” Seth burst out. “I think he's the reason Melanie went to jail.”

“What—” A look from Jace stopped her.

“I'm listening, Travis. Explain,” Jace ordered.

Agitated, Seth rose from the chair and started pacing the room.

“When that girl, Sylvie, was killed, it was close to the election. My father, he was feeling the heat from his opponent because I had been engaged to the lead suspect. Fraternizing with criminals and all that.” Seth grimaced. “It didn't even matter that we'd already broken up and I'd left the country by then. He'd been after me for months to break it off with her. He threw her family history in my face. Said he wasn't going to lose the election because of the daughter of a drug-addicted wife beater.”

Mel felt as if he'd punched her. Seth caught her glance, then looked away with a muttered apology.

“What makes you think he was responsible for the threats?”

“I'm an idiot. It never occurred to me to look into it further. He had coerced me into breaking it off with Mel. I figured I'd go along with it until the situation blew over and the election was finished. Then I'd get back with her, and things would be great.”

Mel shook her head in disbelief. She wondered if she would have accepted him back, had things gone differently.

“I even told him that was my plan. He looked right at me and laughed in my face. Called me a fool. Said Mel was going down, and I needed to step back or she'd take me down with her. He was gleeful about it. I never thought about it at the time, but it was like he knew something. And this morning, I was working on his computer. He complained it was slow. I saw he had too much memory used. I noticed he deleted files, but never thought to empty his recycling bin. I doubt he even realized that those files were still on his computer.” Seth pulled a paper out of his pocket. “I found this old email and printed it.”