Love Inspired Suspense July 2015 #2 (6 page)

Her instincts clamored for caution. With Birdman anything was possible.

Drew moved first, slowly going down the staircase with his gun ready. Sami followed suit. At the bottom of the stairs, they peeled off. She went toward the kitchen, while he moved into the living room.

She opened the pantry. No one lurked among her dry goods. The back door was closed but the lock wasn't engaged. She opened the door and went out to her small backyard. Her patio furniture appeared undisturbed. She checked both sides of the house and came up empty. She went back inside.

“Clear,” she called out as she made her way to Drew.

“Clear,” Drew repeated.

They met at the bottom of the stairs.

“He probably was long gone before we arrived,” Drew said. “Do you have an evidence bag?”

She took a bag from her pocket. “Will you...?”

He nodded and took the bag.

Grateful to not have to deal with the “surprise,” she said, “Thank you.”

While Drew went back upstairs, she used her cell phone to call the FBI field office in Portland.

Keeping her nerves at bay by sheer will, she filled her boss in.

“A forensic team will be there shortly. And we'll see if we can trace where the call to your house phone came from,” Special Agent in Charge Rob Granger said. “I want you to come in where we can protect you. It's time to make this an official case.”

It would take time they didn't have to assemble a task force now. She had a more pressing issue that needed immediate action. “Sir, I'm working with Inspector Kelley from the RCMP.” She moved into the living room. “I'm requesting permission to officially accompany him to Victoria, BC, where I believe the next murder victim will be found.”

Her gaze fell on a rectangular package wrapped in brown paper sitting on the coffee table. She hadn't noticed it when they'd arrived. She bent to inspect the parcel and froze.

A tiny yellow bird had been stamped in the right-hand corner.

The hand holding the phone to her ear dropped to her side as various scenarios shuffled through her mind. The box could hold another body part. Or another clue. Or...a bomb.

The last thought caught and held. She backed away from the coffee table toward the front door. “Drew! Hurry! We need to leave now!”

His footsteps thundered down the stairs. “What's happening?”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him out the front door just as there was an explosion.

And her house went up in flames.

SIX

T
he world exploded in a cacophony of deafening noise, flying debris and flames. Heart slamming against his ribs and alarm flooding his veins, Drew grabbed Sami in a bear hug to shield her from the worst of the blast and dived for the lawn.

They landed with a jarring thud. Her yelp echoed inside his head. Heat from the explosion battered his back. Something sharp jabbed into his torso. He winced and sucked in a shocked breath. Smoke burned his lungs. He coughed, ducking his head closer to the ground for fresher air.

With his ears ringing, it took a moment for him to realize the shrill sound he heard was actually emergency vehicles. No doubt the neighbors were bombarding 911 with calls.

Slowly, he eased off Sami and felt a stinging sensation in his back, but his focus was on her. She lay unmoving on the ground. Blood matted her blond hair near her temple, and her eyes were closed. A whisper of panic sounded in his mind along with an unspoken prayer.
Please, God, let her be okay.

He checked her pulse. Strong.

A measure of relief allowed him to push aside his panic to assess her injuries. She appeared unburned, and he saw no shrapnel piercing her body. Gently, he brushed aside a clump of hair to reveal a gash on her scalp near her hairline.

“Sami?” He gave her a slight nudge.

Her eyes popped open. She blinked, her gaze clearing. Then she scrambled to a sitting position.

“Whoa, slow down,” he advised. “Take it easy. You hit your head.”

She reached up to finger the gash and winced. “What happened?”

“Your house exploded.”

With a pained groan, she turned to stare at the flaming remains of her little house. “There was a package on the coffee table.” Her voice quivered. “It had a drawing of the bird.”

Drew rocked back on his heels. “I don't recall seeing a package when I went into the living room.”

Which meant Birdman had been in the house when they arrived. He'd left the package when they'd gone upstairs after his phone call. Was the explosive on a timer or remotely activated? Could the killer be watching them now?

Drew scanned the area. Police were already on scene. Two hustled toward them while others blocked off the area with tape and barriers. The sidewalks were crowded with the curious. Homeowners? he wondered. People on foot from the more traveled streets surrounding the block wanting to see what happened? It wasn't every day a house exploded in such a quiet urban neighborhood.

Could one of the many faces staring at them be the man Sami dubbed Birdman?

The first cop to reach them asked, “Are you hurt?”

Pointing to Sami's bleeding head, Drew said, “We'll need paramedics.”

“They're on their way,” the officer said, pointing toward an ambulance and a fire truck rolling slowly down the street, barely fitting between the rows of parked cars.

Drew kept a hand on Sami's shoulder, preventing her from standing. “Let the paramedics check you out first.”

She grunted and sat back down. “Do you still have the evidence from my room?”

He patted the breast pocket of his dress shirt. “Here.”

“Good. We need to give it to an officer right away and have them run DNA.” She glanced down at his shirt and gasped. “You're bleeding!”

Her small capable hand tugged him sideways. He craned his neck to see what had her upset. A chunk of glass protruded from his back, and crimson blood soaked his white shirt and dripped onto the grass.

The rush of adrenaline had kept his pain sensors on low boil. He met Sami's gaze. “I barely feel it.”

Except even as the words left his mouth, the stinging intensified. Apparently, acknowledging the wound gave his pain sensors permission to squawk. He reached back, intending to pull the glass out, but Sami jerked on his arm.

“Oh, no, you don't. Let the paramedics take care of you.” She mimicked his words.

He grinned and conceded the point with a nod.

Two paramedics rushed to their side. One attended to Sami's laceration while the other dealt with his wound.

“Sir, we'll need to remove this at the hospital.”

That didn't sound promising. He sent up a prayer that no vital organs had been punctured.

Before they left the scene, he passed off the evidence to a police officer. Sami dug her credentials out of a pocket. “Get that to Forensics ASAP and send the results to the Portland FBI field office.”

The officer nodded and hurried away with the bag.

Sami rode with Drew in the ambulance. He lay on his side, facing her while one paramedic stabilized the hunk of glass.

“I'm going to give you a mild pain reliever,” the EMT said. Drew felt the pinch of a needle, then a slow-spreading numbness across his back.

As the vehicle rolled away, Drew took Sami's hand. “I'm sorry about the loss of your home.”

She squeezed his hand. Tears formed in her eyes. “Me, too. I liked that house.” She heaved a heavy sigh. “But it's only things. And things I can replace. We survived.”

Her reaction surprised and impressed him. “Most people wouldn't be so cavalier about their possessions going up in smoke.” He wondered if he'd feel the same if he lost his home. All the photos and mementos and memories. Some good, some bad.

“Believe me, I'm furious and sad and every emotion you could possibly name.” Her voice shook with the intensity of her feelings. “But I can't undo what's done. I hate that he did this. I hate that he invaded my home. I hate that he's trying to destroy my life. But what's that saying—you can't take it with you?”

She shrugged. “Relationships, especially one with God, are more important than material possessions. That's something Birdman will never grasp.” A fat tear rolled down her cheek. “There are days when my faith is tested to the brink.”

His heart ached for the pain she suffered. “I agree with you that it's hard to be in our line of work and not have our faith waver when we deal with so much evil.”

A small smile touched her lips. “Exactly.”

He was suddenly gripped by the urge to bury his hands in her hair, pull her close and see if her lips were as soft as they looked. Deliberately, he concentrated on the pain in his back to chase the longing away.

Once he regained his composure, he said, “And you're right—relationships are more important than material possessions.”

If only his mother and Gretchen had believed that. Being betrayed by the two people whose love and commitment he shouldn't have had to question had left him wary of ever fully trusting again.

Another thought struck him and he grimaced. “All your research is gone. All your hard work and energy destroyed. Birdman's intent, no doubt.”

“Probably. But he's not as clever as he thinks. I have copies of everything in a safe-deposit box.”

“Amazing foresight on your part.” Respect for this astonishing woman blossomed within him. “Were you anticipating something like this?”

“No. But I had an instructor at Quantico who always made a point of duplicating his files and keeping them off-site, so to speak. He was old-school. I respected him and the idea of always having a backup copy appealed to me.”

And she appealed to Drew. She was smart and brave. He liked how her mind worked. He couldn't have asked for anyone better as a partner in the field.

Partner only, he reminded himself. A partner on a case. Nothing more, nothing less.

At the hospital, the ER doctor removed the piece of Sami's front window from his back and stitched up the gash. He instructed Drew to change the bandage often and gave him a couple of pain pills to take until he could fill a prescription. Drew had no intention of impairing his judgment with the pills, so he wrapped them in a tissue and slipped them in his pants pocket.

When he left the exam room, he found Sami in the waiting area sitting on a hard plastic chair in a long line of similar chairs. In the corner a television blared the news, showing the charred remains of Sami's house.

She was talking with an older man wearing a gray striped suit. Her light-colored cargo pants had grass stains, and soot smudged her blouse. Her hair had been tied back with a rubber band and a white bandage covered the cut on her scalp.

As Drew approached, Sami broke off the conversation, stood and studied him. All signs of her tears were gone; in their place was determination. “You okay?”

Glad to see she was back to her feisty self, he nodded. “Five stitches. Thankfully, the glass didn't puncture any vital organs.”

Relief flashed in her blue eyes. She touched the bandage on her head. “Two butterfly stitches.” She gestured to the man and made the introductions. “Drew, this is special agent in charge of the Portland FBI office Rob Granger.”

Ah, her boss. Drew shook the man's hand. “Sir, nice to meet you.”

Granger's lips pressed into a grim line. “I wish it were under better circumstances, Inspector Kelley. Thankfully, you both walked away from the explosion with your lives.”

“Yes, that is something to be grateful for,” Drew agreed. He sent up silent praise to God for the favor of His protection.

“The FBI forensic team is on the scene as we speak,” Granger said. “I've been in contact with Deputy Director Moore from Homeland Security, who in turn has been in contact with your consulate general.” Drew had never met Director Moore, who called the shots on the American side of IBETs. “We've agreed to a joint operation with the RCMP and FBI, as well as IBETs, utilizing our combined resources to find and capture this man.”

With that much manpower behind them, taking down the perp Sami had been chasing on her own should be a piece of cake. Though somehow Drew had an unsettled suspicion that underestimating their prey wouldn't serve them well.

“Birdman,” Sami said. “He's slippery. And we don't know when or where he'll strike next. He may have already—like killing the man who owns the credit card we found in Canada.”

Drew slanted her a glance. It was unnerving how in tune Sami was to his own thoughts. “Mr. Clark is still missing. I would like to hope he's not dead, but...”

“Doubtful,” Sami interjected, clearly anticipating his next words. “We should get his DNA and send it to the forensic team here for comparison.”

“Good idea.” Drew made a mental note to contact the Toronto local law to have them collect a sample from Mr. Clark's home.

Sami explained their reason to her boss. “Birdman left me a present in my house before the explosion. A body part. We sent it to Forensics for DNA testing. We believe it came from another of Birdman's victims.”

Granger inclined his head in agreement. He looked them both over, then removed a notepad and pencil from his pocket and handed them to Sami. “Both of you need to make a list of what you need, clothes and essentials. I'll have Agent Foster bring whatever you need. I booked you rooms at a hotel downtown. Come on—I'll drive you.”

They followed Granger out of the hospital to the parking garage. Granger walked a few paces ahead, his long stride eating up the pavement.

Drew's gait was slowed by the pulling of the stitches in his back. The numbing agent fortunately hadn't worn off yet. Sami adjusted her stride to match his. He appreciated her thoughtfulness. She worked on her list as they walked.

Granger reached a black SUV. The beep of the locks disengaging echoed off the garage walls.

The sound of a revving engine reverberated through the stone-and-concrete structure. Tires squealed as a blue sedan shot out from a parking spot ten feet away. The car barreled forward, aiming right at them.

Within Drew adrenaline spiked. With one hand he withdrew his sidearm; with his other hand he shoved Sami at the exact moment she shoved him. Using their combined momentum, they each dived sideways seconds before the car sped past.

Drew grunted as he hit the ground, taking the impact on his shoulder and rolling onto his stomach to protect his back.

A barrage of gunfire split the air as Drew, Sami and Granger fired at the car. The rear window and taillights exploded.

The car fishtailed before careening out of the parking garage and speeding into the late-afternoon traffic. Angry motorists cut off by the assailant honked as the sedan disappeared from view.

Sami jumped up and ran to his side. Frantic, she grasped his shoulders. “You okay?”

Rolling gingerly to his backside, he grunted as the pain overcame the numbness he'd been so grateful for just moments ago. “Yes.” He took her offered hand. “You?”

“Yep.” Relief shone in her eyes. She pulled him to his feet.

The stitches protested. He arched as another hiss of pain zipped across his flesh.

Sami put an arm around his waist and moved in close. “You can lean on me.”

Though he didn't need a crutch, he couldn't deny how nice it felt to have her pressed so close.

Granger joined them, holstering his weapon. “Did either of you get the plate numbers?”

“I did,” Sami said.

“Good.” Granger eyed Drew. “We should have the docs recheck your wound.”

He grimaced, not wanting to go back inside. He looked at Sami. “Will you check it?”

Her eyes widened at the request. Then she nodded, her expression intent. She lifted his shirt. Her cool fingers probed around the tender edges of the bandage before she gently peeled away a corner. “You didn't pop any stitches and they aren't bleeding.”

“Then there's no reason to go back to the emergency room,” he said firmly. “Did you see the driver?”

“He had on a baseball cap and sunglasses. The car's visor was pulled down also,” she replied after reattaching the bandage and lowering his shirt.

“Yeah, that's what I saw, too.”

She moved in close again. “Cliché but effective.”

“Couldn't be sure of ethnicity either.” He couldn't keep frustration from coating his words. “The guy's bold.”