Shadow of Vengeance (51 page)

Jake laughed. “Smooth transition.” He waved at Walt. “Maybe one of these days we’ll grab a beer and you can tell me what’s with you two.”

Owen welcomed the warmth infusing his cheeks, but not the reasons for it. Instead of dwelling on Rachel and how he could make things right between them, he greeted Walter. “Cold enough?”

Walt tugged on his ugly earflap hat. “Nah. This ain’t nothing,” he said even as a shiver wracked his body. “Jake, been looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about Bill’s funeral.”

Sensing Walter was going to discuss something personal, Owen edged away from the two men. “I’m going to walk around. I’ll meet up with you later. Walt, I want to leave as soon as this thing shuts down. The cold might be nothing to you, but it sure as hell is to me.”

After he left the two men, he weaved through the crowd. Fortunately, the polka band had only been scheduled for last night. Unfortunately, the country trio playing now wasn’t any better. They sang like a pack of whining dogs, and either the cold had affected their ability to play an instrument, or they just couldn’t play worth shit.

When he reached the edge of the crowd, he turned and watched the hundreds of people milling around the town square. Some morons had donned Bigfoot masks, making them look like distant cousins of Chewbacca. Then again, those morons were probably warmer than him. At least their faces weren’t exposed to these ridiculously low temperatures.

Besides, who was he to call anyone a moron? Because he had to play by the rules, he’d screwed everything up with Rachel. Instead of obeying his boss, he should have gone to Rachel first. He should have told her that Ian wanted detailed updates as to how she’d conducted herself during the investigation. Even if he’d been upfront with her, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have given Ian an honest report. If she wasn’t ready to work in the field, she could jeopardize herself, another agent, an assignment and even CORE. But he hadn’t been upfront with her. Instead, he’d betrayed her trust. He’d not only taken something she’d said and used it against her, he’d allowed his need to keep her safely tucked away in CORE’s evidence and evaluation room, and his love for her, to skew his judgment.
 

He froze.
Love
? Hell, yeah. What else could explain why his chest ached and his stomach knotted every single time he considered she might not have anything to do with him outside of work? He’d told her he was crazy about her, and that was the truth. But his actions, her reactions, had made him realize this was more than sexual infatuation. The thought of never having the chance to be with her, on every level possible, made him sick, especially because if that happened, the blame would lie solely on him. He could have controlled the situation. He could have told her the truth. He could have
showed
her how much he valued and loved her by giving her the honesty and respect she deserved.

Now he was fucked.
 

She’d made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. While he couldn’t blame her, he also couldn’t walk away without a fight. He’d done just that when he’d left the U.S. Secret Service. Instead of fighting for his reputation after he’d been exonerated, it had been easier to walk away and start fresh. Granted, leaving the Secret Service and joining CORE had ended up being the best career choice for him, but the way he’d handled the situation had haunted him for years. Regret had made him a workaholic. He’d kept busy so that he couldn’t stop and consider what his life might have been like had he fought for what he wanted.

As he stood at the fringes of the crowded square, watching the band, the people with the Bigfoot masks, it occurred to him that maybe he hadn’t fought for his reputation because he hadn’t cared enough. Maybe, deep down, he’d been ready to leave the Secret Service, but couldn’t admit it to himself. While he’d loved what he’d been doing in Italy, there had been times when he’d longed to come back to the States, where he could be closer to his family. But it had been more than that. He’d grown…bored.

His breath hung on the frigid air as he released a deep sigh. Shit. Why did it have to take Rachel walking away from him to make him realize he’d wasted too many years hanging onto a regret that—in the big scheme of life—hadn’t even mattered? As his stomach balled at the thought of losing her, he clenched his jaw. Screw that. Rachel would
not
walk away from him. This time he’d fight. Because this time, the fight was worth it. Professionally, personally and physically, they were more than good together. More than that, he did love her. Now that he could wrap his brain around the emotion that had been nagging him for a long time, thinking the “L” word was becoming easier and easier. Telling Rachel how he felt? Well, telling and showing were two different things. And before he opened up, laid his heart on the line, he needed her to
see
his love in action.
 

Headlights pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder as a dark SUV slowed along the curb and stopped in front of a wooden barricade. When the passenger side window opened, he took a step forward.

“Owen?” a woman’s familiar voice called.

He took another step, then caught Melissa, Jake’s receptionist, leaning across the SUV’s center console. “Hey. Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know. Marty called the station and said he couldn’t get in touch with you or Jake. I guess he and Rachel are looking for you two. He said everyone needs to get to Wexman immediately.”

As anticipation thrummed through his veins, he looked over his shoulder and did a quick scan of the crowd. When he didn’t spot Jake, he moved closer to the SUV. “Where’s Jake now?”

“I already found him. He sent me after you.”

Then why not call him? Owen dug into his coat pocket and retrieved his phone. Shit. He’d missed a call from Rachel. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll head to Jake’s office—”

“Hop in, I’ll give you a ride.”

He’d parked in the lot outside of the Sheriff’s Department. Rather than waste time and hoof it in the cold, he opened the passenger door and climbed in. “Appreciate it,” he said and closed the window. He dropped his cell phone in his lap and held his gloved hands in front of the vents. “Any idea why they want to head to Wexman?”

As she did a quick U-turn, she shook her head. “Beats me. Apparently Marty didn’t think I needed to know.” She stopped at a stop sign, then turned the SUV down the road leading to the Sheriff’s Department. “I’m just a girl sending a message.”

“Too bad he didn’t give you a message to send,” he said, and picked up his phone. Rather walk into Jake’s office unprepared, he hoped Rachel’s voice mail could give him an indication of what had been discovered that had them rushing to the university.
 

“You misunderstand.
I’m
the one sending a message,” she said, reached to her left, then swung.

A wooden baton connected against his forehead. The unexpected blow jarred his head, made him dizzy, and warped his vision. The phone fell from his ear as he raised his hand and reached for the steering wheel. Before he could veer them off the road, she cracked his hand with the baton, then elbowed him in the jaw. Blood instantly coated his tongue as his head jerked back. She jabbed him in the stomach, then nailed him in the groin. Dazed and writhing in pain he reached for the weapon, and caught it as she swung.

She let go, slammed on the breaks and threw the SUV into PARK. Breathing hard, she pulled a butcher’s knife from inside her coat and stabbed him in the thigh. Not about to let the others fall into Melissa’s trap, he swung the baton and connected with her shoulder. She let out a furious cry, then thrust the knife up, slicing through his coat and penetrating his forearm. As he tried to hit her again, he reached for her throat, made contact and squeezed.

An eerie smile tilted her lips as she grunted and dragged the knife. Excruciating pain radiated from his arm as she sliced. He fought to hold the baton, fought to choke her until she lost consciousness. But she twisted the knife, dug deeper into his flesh. Wave after wave of dizziness exploded in his head. His grip on the baton loosened. Terrified of losing consciousness, he dropped it, let go of her neck and went for the knife.
 

She punched him in the throat. Wheezing, his eyes watering, blood soaking his coat, he clutched his neck. She ripped the knife from his arm, grabbed the baton, then swung. Hard.

The instant the weapon slammed against the side of his head, he fell against the seat. Caught between fading into a black oblivion and consciousness, he struggled to keep his eyes open.
 

“Give it up,” she said, her voice tinny and distant over the buzzing in his head. “You’ve been invited to Hell Week, and as you can tell…I won’t take no for an answer.”

As his eyes drifted shut, the engine revved and the SUV lurched forward. Then everything went black.

*

Rachel parked Joy’s car outside of the Sheriff’s Department, climbed out, then sprinted toward the town square. Pushing her way through the crowd, she didn’t slow down until she spotted Jake. She rushed to his side, and gripped his arm.

He pulled her aside to where there were fewer people. “What the hell happened?” he asked, his voice and face filled with alarm.

“I tried calling you and Owen,” she panted. “I couldn’t get an answer.” She inhaled and tried to catch her breath. “Owen…I need to find him.”

“He’s over there somewhere.” Jake pointed over her shoulder, then pulled out his cell phone from his coat pocket. “Sorry. Looks like I missed your call. What’s going on?”

“I think Kaylie Gallagher might be the woman we’re looking for.”

He looked up from his phone and frowned. “The grad student Bill liked? What makes you think—?”

“I watched the footage from the security camera again,” she began, then told him what she’d seen, or rather what she hadn’t. “Plus she lied about that last time she was with Bill.”

He pulled off his knit cap, then scratched his head. “Look, I’m not saying we shouldn’t question her again, but that’s a pretty big leap.”

“Yes, but—”

“So she lied to you, or maybe she got her days confused. Either way, that doesn’t make her an accomplice to kidnapping and murder.”

Frustrated that his reasoning made sense, she looked away. Her already elevated heart rate took another jump. “Well, she’s right over there. Why don’t we ask her?”

Jake raised a brow, then replaced his knit cap. “Why don’t we?”

Kaylie stood with a couple of girls Rachel recognized from the interviews they’d conducted at Stanley Hall. As Kaylie raised a Styrofoam cup to her mouth, her eyes widened when she saw them. “Sheriff, Ms. Davis, how are you?”

“Good,” Jake said. “Mind if we talk to you for a sec?”

“You guys go ahead,” Kaylie said to the girls. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

As the girls walked off, Rachel searched the crowd for Owen. She didn’t find him, but she did find Walter, and waved him over.

“What’s going on, Sheriff?” Kaylie asked.

Refocusing, Rachel turned her attention on Kaylie. “Were you at Stanley Hall the night Josh Conway and my brother were kidnapped?”

The steam emanating from Kaylie’s cup caught on the breeze. She nodded. “I was there, tutoring Melissa.”

“When did you leave?” Rachel asked.

“Around eight. I needed to get back to my apartment before eight-thirty. It was my dad’s birthday and my mom wanted me to Skype them. Everyone but me was going to be there, but at least I could help sing Happy Birthday and watch my dad blow out the candles.” Her hands shook as she raised the cup to her lips. “He’s sick and we’re not sure how many more birthdays he has left. I wanted to be there, but Professor Stronach wouldn’t give me the time off from my TA job.”

“TA?” Jake asked.

Kaylie sent him a tired smile. “Teaching Assistant. I work about twenty hours a week as Stronach’s TA. Between my scholarship and the TA job, next semester’s tuition is covered. I only have one more year left, but I won’t be applying to be a TA again. It’s too much work and takes away from my courses.”

“As Stronach’s TA,” Rachel began, “shouldn’t you have been at the library for his study session? You know, the one Josh and Sean were supposed to make?”

“I…ah…yeah.” She nodded. “But I lied to him and told him I was sick. If I couldn’t go home, I wasn’t about to miss seeing my dad blow out the candles for a study session Stronach could run on his own. Look, he can’t know that I lied or I could lose my job. That’s…that’s why I lied to you.”

Kaylie could lose more than that if she’d helped with the kidnappings and had murdered Bill. Rachel shoved her gloved hands in her pocket and fingered the tip of a pencil. “Okay, I can see why you lied about being at Stanley Hall, but your timeline doesn’t work.”

“How so?” Kaylie tilted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “I got there at around a quarter to four, worked with Melissa until six, then another girl until eight. If you don’t believe me, just ask her. Her name’s Emma and she was one of the girls I was with a few minutes ago.”

“We will,” Rachel said. “Before we do that…I watched the security camera footage from last Saturday. You said you and Bill weren’t in a relationship, but you looked…friendly. Plus, another source said you invited Bill to lunch on Sunday.”

Kaylie pressed her lips together. Her chin trembled as she nodded. “I did. Bill is…was a sweet guy. I really liked him. Wexman has a strict policy about university employees dating students. I wouldn’t get in much trouble considering I’m the student, but I didn’t want Bill losing his job over me.” She looked to the ground. “Being away from home, especially with what’s going on with my dad…Bill lost his mom and he knew what I was going through. Being with him…” She shook her head. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll introduce you to Emma and she can verify the time I left Stanley Hall.”