Bait, page 14
She smiled. Their date-night conversation had covered everything from the views they shared and what they didn’t agree on, to their hopes for the future. “Do you have another pair of glasses at home?”
“Somewhere. I can see enough without them, but I shouldn’t drive unless I can find my spare.” He blew out a breath. “I think I know where I put them.”
The State Patrol officer glanced in the rearview. Was he concerned about Gabe?
Caisey studied the officer again. “What did you say your name was?”
“Bill Peters.”
“And how long have you been a trooper with this fine state?”
“Eons now, or so it feels.”
Caisey smiled. “I know what you mean.”
“You’ve been with the FBI a while?”
She nodded. “Coming up on six years. My dad was an agent too, shot in the line of duty four years ago. The Bureau was everything to him.”
It hurt to say, but it was the truth. Her dad had been more concerned about whatever case he was working than anything else. Then when Caisey got hurt, it seemed like he withdrew even more into his job, bound and determined to keep the two separate. Sure, it was an honorable pursuit in life to uphold the law; too bad it seemed to come at the expense of a personal life, and of love. It had cost her a family that was hers alone, as much as she loved the makeshift one she’d built. Belonging to people who loved her without question was everything that made this world worthwhile outside of her faith.
And yet what she really wanted was out of reach, like trying to catch a snowflake.
She focused on the cop again. “That’s why I can’t stand people who take the responsibility of this job for granted.”
“Take a right just up here.”
The patrol vehicle made it up the mountain at a caterpillar’s crawl. Caisey had never been so relieved to see her car in her life. Home was good; her own pillow, even better. She slammed the door and blew out a breath. The car’s headlights lit up the cabin, which looked intact except from the broken front door that had been shattered by the blast of the sheriff’s shotgun.
Gabe got out and came to stand beside her. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive? We can crash here tonight instead of heading back out, if you want. I’ll take the couch…if it’s still in one piece.”
Caisey squeezed his elbow. “That’s sweet.”
Gabe gave her a jaunty smile. “That’s me, Mr. Sweet.”
Caisey chuckled and walked with him to the cabin. Apparently the trooper was going to watch them go inside. She looked back at the vehicle, but couldn’t see anything beyond the blinding brightness of his high-beams. Caisey lifted a hand in thanks, stepped over debris and went inside.
“I love what you’ve done with the place.”
Gabe groaned. “I doubt it’s even livable now.” He flipped on the light. The floor was a smorgasbord of papers, torn up books, and leaves. The computer screen was completely shattered.
He ran his hands through his hair. “This is unbelievable. I get hauled into the sheriff’s office for questioning about Emma’s disappearance, now she’s a murder victim and the sheriff tried to kill us? My home is completely wrecked, and for what? I can’t live here now and all my work has been destroyed.”
Sure enough, the tower had been shot through. “Do you want the facts, or a consolation speech? You said you backed-up online.”
Gabe blinked. “What?”
“Do you want me to tell you the sheriff probably murdered his niece and tried to pin it on you because he doesn’t like you, or for whatever other reason? He even tried to make it look like you’re the Chloroform Killer. Guess he didn’t figure Liam and I would show up ahead of a team of FBI agents and not just take his word for it. So the sheriff has to scrap his plan in favor of a new plan, which happened to involve yet another homicidal episode.”
Something niggled at the edge of her thoughts, only she couldn’t pin-point what it was. “Or I could tell you that your stuff was an extension of the person you are and you’ll need time to honestly grieve its loss. But it’s only for a season, until you can rebuild your life.”
“What if I don’t like either of those?”
“I could just help you clean up.”
Gabe smiled. “That would be appreciated. If you didn’t look about as good as I feel.” He pointed to the couch. “Brush yourself off a seat and I’ll get you a blanket.”
Caisey started to shake her head. “I really should hop in my car and get back to Liam before I crash completely.”
“He’s a nice guy, isn’t he?”
“I’m kinda partial to him, he’s a good partner. He became a Christian a few weeks ago, so he’s in that beginning stage where everything’s new and exciting.”
It took a second, but realization washed over Gabe’s face. “You saw my Bible when you were here before?”
Caisey nodded. “And the verse on the sticky note on your bathroom mirror. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” She blew out a breath. “That’s a tough one.”
“How about you?”
“Sure, I go to church.” Caisey didn’t want to get into a deep theological conversation about how she wasn’t nearly the Christian she should be. Not just because she was so tired and liable to say too much. She pushed off the wall and walked to the door. “I really should be going.”
“So it’s goodbye then?”
She shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know what else it would be.”
Nothing tied them together, not anymore. Caisey needed to get back to work so she could get on with her life. Gabe’s presence here was curious, but it made sense her dad hid him somewhere familiar if he thought he couldn’t trust anyone else to protect Gabe from his uncle. Caisey needed to get home to Grams, Jenna and Jake where she belonged.
**
Holden Arturo curled his fingers around the telephone cord and gripped the handset while he was briefed on the situation in Buckshot.
The man said, “What are your orders?”
Holden leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking. “Samuel’s daughter is collateral damage. I want my nephew.”
“Yes, sir.”
**
“Hold up a second.” Gabe’s hold on her arm was gentle, but that didn’t mean she was going anywhere. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She didn’t look like she should be driving all the way to Denver. More like taking a twelve hour nap. “It’s been a long week.”
“So this isn’t just about the sheriff, or my uncle?”
She frowned. “Why would it be?”
“I don’t know.” Gabe crossed his arms. “Maybe because the sheriff said his name right before he tried to kill us?”
Caisey slumped onto the couch and ran her hands down her face. “Okay, I think we need to run this down. My brain isn’t firing on all cylinders.”
Gabe strode to the kitchen, heated some water and found some black tea at the back of the cupboard. Thankfully his electric kettle hadn’t been smashed up like the rest of the house. He didn’t know what he was going to do about work. He was going to have to order a new desktop, or make a day trip to a computer store.
All he knew right then was he didn’t want Caisey to leave.
**
Liam studied the State Patrol officer, trying to figure out where he knew him. The guy was younger, but not by much, and his accent had a twinge of Boston to it. Was he trying to cover it up by softening the sound? Liam ran down the specifics of the case and the state of the investigation into Emma Allens’ murder while Officer Maddens looked around the room, checked his phone, and generally acted like he had a million places he’d rather be.
Liam talked through the specific pieces of evidence, rambling on for the sake of drawing out the conversation. While Officer Maddens’ eyes were on his phone, Liam made like he was checking the computer file. He pulled up an internet search engine and typed in ‘Boston Cop’ just on the off-chance his hunch was right.
Bingo.
An article popped up of a disgraced officer facing charges of corruption who’d been acquitted on lack of evidence after the whole case fell apart, making everyone involved look like inept idiots. Liam didn’t like it when honest lawmen and women looked bad and a criminal who was a disgrace to the uniform walked. It really ticked him off.
Liam rambled on at length about the backpack and what they knew about that completely generic brand, which could have been bought anywhere, making it sound like key evidence.
What was a disgraced Boston cop doing in Colorado dressed as a State Patrol officer? Whichever way you swung it, this wasn’t good. Liam needed to get to Caisey. She had no weapon and Gabe had no training, going up against a fully loaded gun in the hands of...whoever that old guy was.
Liam lifted his chin. “And so you can see, Officer Maddens, clearly this was the work of someone emotionally pre-disposed to violence. More than likely they will strike again.”
Unless the dead sheriff was the killer, in which case he wouldn’t be doing much of anything ever again.
Liam pushed back from the desk and stood. “I think that covers it. So if you’re happy taking it from here, I’ll get out of your hair and let you get to work.”
Officer Maddens looked up from his phone. “Sure, whatever.”
Liam strode through the main office straight to where Officer Kurter was at her desk. He put one palm on the center of the page she was reading and leaned in. “Call the State Patrol. Tell them you have two guys in town impersonating their officers.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Already did. Clocked them the minute they came in. State patrol—real ones—are an hour out.”
“You did?”
She smirked. “My brother is a Sergeant with Colorado State Patrol down in Colorado Springs. Seriously, these guys didn’t hardly even make an effort to be real. It’s pathetic really.”
“Right then.”
“You should probably go check on your partner.”
Liam straightened. “You’ll hold down the fort here?”
Completely straight face, one of her eyebrows lifted.
“Right. You’ve got it covered.” Liam grabbed a notepad and scribbled the real name of the disgraced Boston Cop.
And then he booked it up the mountain.
He slammed the car door and Gabe came out. As he approached the cabin, Gabe put his finger to his lips.
“What’s going on?”
“She fell asleep.”
Liam’s whole body relaxed. “That’s a whole lot better than I what I’d imagined.” He blew out a breath. “I guess I’m tired and seeing danger where it isn’t. I swear I thought that cop who drove you back here was going to try and kill you guys, or something.”
But the State Patrol officers weren’t cops. They’d been sent there by someone to impersonate them. The question was, who was behind all this? There had to be a bigger plan, since someone had gone to a whole lot of trouble to insert themselves into this scenario.
He followed Gabe inside, where Gabe handed him a steaming cup. “I made this for her, but...”
Liam dumped a spoonful of sugar in to make it more palatable and stirred. While he drank, he studied the man who had put a serious crimp in Caisey’s ability to have a romantic relationship.
Gabe leaned his hip against the kitchen counter. “Something you want to say?”
Interesting, most people asked it as a simple question and not one that invited confrontation. Liam shook his head, but it was a lie. He wanted to sit with the man and ask all the questions he had, followed with what his intentions were toward Caisey, and who that other woman was. “Maybe—”
Caisey jumped off the couch, yelling one of Jake’s fake curse words. She brushed off her jacket and winced when her hand touched the area where the knife had gone in.
Chapter 20
LIAM STRODE OVER with Gabe right behind him. “You all right?”
Caisey nodded, vigorous like she was trying to convince herself.
“The Chloroform Killer?”
Her eyes were glazed, as though the nightmare was still dissipating. “Then it was my dad, the prison chaplain, and then the sheriff. And he didn’t just stab me in the leg.”
“Someone stabbed you in the leg?” Gabe grasped her elbow, like she was about to fall over. “Are you okay?”
Caisey set her hand on his forearm. “We need to figure this out. I need it straight so my head can be straight.”
Liam nodded. “Sit down.” He took a seat on the armchair while Gabe sat with Caisey on the couch and handed her a full cup. “So we show up in town and immediately get on the sheriff’s radar. You spring Gabe out of his hands and what either one of us, or both of us, do is enough for the sheriff to come after you and Gabe and try to kill you.”
“But this wasn’t the Chloroform Killer, any of this.”
“Right.”
Caisey clutched her mug with both hands. “Are we assuming the sheriff killed Emma?”
Liam shrugged. “That would be my guess. Maybe he was trying to pin it on Gabe, make him look like the Chloroform Killer, or a copycat, but it fell through when you got in the middle of it.”
“And that was enough for him to try to kill us?” Caisey squeezed her eyes shut. “It’d make more sense to me if something else pushed the sheriff to come after us. Like Arturo.”
Gabe’s head whipped around. “He said Arturo before he came at us on the ATV. But what does my uncle have to do with the sheriff? He doesn’t even know I’m here.”
Liam’s brain connected the pieces like a puzzle. “And the two fake cops.”
Caisey gaped. “Both of them?”
Liam nodded.
“Then it’s all linked.” Caisey turned to Gabe. “Think about it, if your uncle wants to get rid of you, what better way than having an officer of the law pin a murder on you? You wind up in jail just like your dad. But Liam and I showed up and screwed up that plan, so he decides to gun us down and just get rid of us once and for all. To earn points with your uncle. Or because Arturo told him to.”
**
Caisey was supposed to be here to see the cabin, and maybe draw out the killer. Instead she’d walked back into Gabe’s world. Which might not be bad, if she hadn’t led Gabe’s uncle right to him.
Gabe glanced between her and Liam. “What about the two guys pretending to be cops?”
Liam scratched the stubble on his chin. “They arrived too fast to have been brought here by the sheriff. But what if Arturo sent them right after we arrived? Separate, but all tied together.”
Caisey nodded. “That makes sense. I’d love to get a look at the sheriff’s phone records, see if he called your uncle after we arrived.”
Gabe shook his head, like all this was unreal. “If he knew where I was this whole time, why now?”
She strode across the room and set her mug in the sink. “He might not have.” She sat again, her lips pressed together. “What if I led him right to you?”
Gabe’s face betrayed nothing. Was he mad at her? She hadn’t done it on purpose. “Did you?”
“Your father wrote a letter. The prison chaplain brought it to my house, looking for my dad to pass it on to you.”
Gabe’s eyes widened, and for a second Caisey saw a hurt little boy in there. “Why would he do that?”
Caisey bit her lip. This wasn’t the way she wanted to tell him this. “Your dad has terminal cancer. The prison chaplain said he recently became a believer. Evidently he wants to make amends.”
“So that’s why you’re here? To deliver the letter.”
Caisey shook her head. “The letter was stolen from my house during a break-in.”
“But you knew I was here? You came to tell me.”
“I had no idea you were living in my dad’s cabin all this time. Liam came here because of Emma, and I was going to check on the cabin and get some space for a few days while my leg heals.” Caisey scratched her hairline. “But if your uncle found out about the letter, maybe he thought I’d know where you were. He could have followed me up here. We might have led him straight to you.”
Gabe’s jaw flexed. He blew out a breath, took two steps away and then turned back. “So he’s still trying to kill me? Even after all these years he hasn’t let it go.”
Caisey’s heart hurt for him. “I’m sorry. But it doesn’t explain the Sheriff trying to pin Emma’s murder on you, if it really is connected.”
Gabe’s face softened. He didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help thinking it meant he wasn’t sorry they got to meet each other. Caisey wanted that to be true, which wasn’t good at all. Why did her heart have to be so tied to a man who was virtually a stranger to her? Why couldn’t she have moved on?
“I’m sorry, Gabe.” She didn’t want to do this, but he needed to go if he was going to be safe. “You’re going to have to move again.”
Gabe turned away and walked down the hall.
Caisey looked at Liam. “I guess he didn’t take that too well.”
“He’ll be okay. And he’ll be alive.”
Caisey nodded, even though she didn’t like it.
“I’m going to head back to the sheriff’s office now. See you back in Denver.”
“What about the team?” She walked with him to the door. “Will you tell them not to come?”
“I’ll call Burkot and let him know it wasn’t the Chloroform Killer.”
“Will you tell him about Gabe?” Caisey wasn’t sure she wanted it to get out. “It’d be pretty easy for word to get out, and then his uncle will know we’re involved.”
Liam nodded. “I’ll let you decide on that one.”
“Okay.”
He squeezed her elbow. “Take care on the drive back, you look tired.”
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