Against the Odds (30 page)

Thirty-Two

T
he house on Sand Spring Trail, a two-story
beige stucco with dark brown trim and thick-trunked trees branching over the
front yard, was crawling with sheriff’s cruisers, white-and-blue patrol cars and
a dozen other official vehicles. Jake pulled off to the side, double-parking
next to an empty patrol car, jumped out with Alex and headed for the officer in
charge.

SWAT wasn’t yet there. But the house was completely surrounded
by uniformed police and sheriff’s officers. Clearly, they’d confirmed Edward
Bagley was inside.

Alex reined in the fury burning through him. He wanted to rip
the bastard apart limb by limb, wanted to see him lying dead in a pool of blood
where he couldn’t hurt a child ever again.

Alex took a calming breath. Ginny needed him. He had to keep a
cool head.

Recognizing Detective Pete Devlin, the officer he had worked
with on the Carrie Wiseman case, Alex strode toward him. Devlin was approaching
fifty, big, tough and capable. He’d been an outspoken opponent of the judge’s
decision to throw out the DNA that had incriminated Edward Bagley.

Devlin spotted Alex, met him halfway. “Good call,” he said.
“Bagley’s inside. Unfortunately, he’s using the little girl as a hostage.
Lieutenant Gleason’s en route. Negotiator’s setting up. SWAT’s on the way.”

Alex tipped his head toward Jake. “You know Cantrell?”

“By reputation.” Devlin extended a hand. “Nice to meet you,
Cantrell.”

“Same here.”

“Jake’s former Special Forces,” Alex said. “Marine sniper. He’s
the best marksman I’ve ever seen.”

“My rifle’s in the Jeep,” Jake said. “I’d like your permission
to set up somewhere, cover the house at least until SWAT arrives.”

“Officially, I can’t do that,” Devlin said. “Unofficially,
you’re licensed to carry, right?”

“That’s right.”

“He’s trained for this,” Alex said. “He won’t take the shot
unless it’s safe and there’s no other choice.”

Devlin was wearing a mic and earbuds. He let his people know
that Jake Cantrell was in the area, that he was a sniper and he would be
positioning himself to cover the house. As Jake headed back to his Jeep, another
officer approached.

“Bagley’s on the line with the hostage negotiator,” the young
officer said.

“That’d be Sergeant Norris,” Devlin told Alex as they walked
toward the white communications van parked to the right of the house. A stocky
guy with a crew cut sat at a card table next to the truck, a mobile phone in his
hand.

“We can work this out, Edward. You said the girl was okay. You
said you didn’t hurt her. Let her come out of the house. Give yourself up and
we’ll find a peaceful way to resolve this.”

The negotiator listened to Bagley’s response and shook his
head, telling them it was a no-go. “All right, tell us what we can do for you.
What is it you want? Here’s the deal. We get you whatever you need and you let
the girl go. That’s the way it works.”

Bagley said something.

“Just a minute.” The negotiator put the phone on hold. “He’s
talking about some guy named Justice. Any idea who that is?”

Alex’s jaw hardened. “That would be me,” he said, the angry
heat returning to the back of his neck.

“Sergeant, this is Alex Justice,” Devlin said. “Alex is the guy
who brought in the DNA that led us to Bagley in the first place.”

“Nice work. Too bad it didn’t stick.”

“You got that right,” Alex said. “What’s the bastard want?”

The negotiator went back on the line and the conversation
resumed. “I’m afraid we can’t allow that. You need to come out, Edward. All you
have to do is cooperate and no one gets hurt.”

Norris listened again, put the phone back on hold and turned to
Alex. “He wants to talk to you. Can you handle it?”

“Oh, yeah, I can handle it.”

“Ginny’s Alex’s niece,” Devlin explained as Alex took the phone
and pressed it against his ear. Norris lifted a second receiver to listen in on
the conversation.

“Hello, Edward,” Alex said as if he was a friend instead of
someone he’d like to see dead. “You know, my sister’s a little upset with you.
Setting her house on fire and hitting her boyfriend in the head with a baseball
bat? I have to give you credit, that was a pretty smart move. Though it doesn’t
look like it’s going to work out exactly the way you planned.”

“You don’t think so?” Bagley’s lilting voice floated over the
line. “How about this? You want Ginny, you can have her. All you have to do is
come inside and get her.”

Alex’s fingers tightened around the receiver. “Count on
it.”

The phone line went dead.

* * *

They had almost reached the address on Sand Spring
Trail. Ben was driving his big black Denali, his jaw set in a hard, angry line,
Sage riding next to him, Rina buckled into the backseat.

Ben wasn’t happy with either one of them.

Twenty minutes after Alex and Jake had left, Annie had called
the office. The media had uncovered the story of Edward Bagley and Ginny Wyatt,
the five-year-old he’d abducted. The broadcast said Bagley was involved in a
hostage situation out at Lake Houston.

Rina, Sage, Sol and Ben had all scrambled into the conference
room and turned on the flat-screen TV, tuned in the news and seen the chaos
going on out at the lake. There was no sign of Alex or Jake, who hadn’t had time
to get there, but Rina was no longer willing to sit and wait.

Instead, she and Sage had staged a coup, demanding Ben take
them out there.

“I’m going, Ben,” Rina said as the argument progressed. “Aside
from tying me up, there’s no way you can stop me.”

“Don’t tempt me,” he’d said darkly.

“Please, Ben,” Sage pressed. “We’ll go by ourselves if we have
to but we’d be a lot safer if we went with you.”

Ben shook his head. “No fucking way. Alex will kill me if Jake
doesn’t get to me first. You need to stay here where it’s safe.”

“What if something happens to that little girl?” Rina said.
“Alex will be devastated. I have to be there in case he needs me.”

“We’ll stay out of the way,” Sage promised. “Please, Ben?”

He blew out a frustrated breath, raked a hand through his thick
black hair. “Get in the goddamn car and once we get there, you do exactly what I
tell you—got it?”

“We will,” Rina said meekly, but she couldn’t suppress a grin
that they had won.

“You’re the best, Ben,” Sage said, gliding past him toward the
door.

Ben cast Sol a disgruntled look, grumbled something about
pain-in-the-ass women and followed them outside.

They had run into traffic crossing town, which slowed them down
a little, but Ben seemed to know all the shortcuts and soon they were back on
the freeway.

He turned the SUV onto Crosby Huffman Road, heading north, then
turned and began winding through the neighborhoods that bordered the lake.
Overhead, the
whop, whop, whop
of a chopper signaled
they were near their destination.

Rina’s heart kicked up another notch.

* * *

Sergeant Norris cursed. “I don’t like this. We need to
wait for SWAT, let them get into position to cover you.”

“I want Ginny out of there,” Alex said. “Once she’s safe, you
can deal with Bagley, figure out a way to bring me out, too.” Or he’d take the
bastard down himself.

“Bagley’s got a real hard-on for you, Justice. There’s no way
to know what he’s got planned.”

Alex pulled his shirt back on over the borrowed flak vest he
was wearing. His .45 rode in the waistband of his jeans at the small of his
back. He had an ankle gun strapped to his leg and a knife in his low-topped
boot.

He’d have to give at least some of the weapons up. Bagley
wasn’t a fool. But he didn’t know how the scenario might play out and he wanted
to go in prepared.

“You ready?” Devlin asked.

“I’ve been ready for this since the day I found out Edward
Bagley murdered that little girl.”

The negotiator picked up the bullhorn. “He’s coming in.”

Beneath the roar and spotlight of a media helicopter overhead,
Alex crossed the lawn in front of the house. He knew Jake was out there, looking
for a clear shot. If the negotiations went south and either Alex or Ginny was in
danger, he knew his friend wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

Alex took comfort in that. And the fact that one way or
another, Bagley was going down.

In the meantime, he had to get Ginny out and safe.

As he reached the steps leading up to the porch, Bagley opened
the door and walked out with Ginny propped against his hip, an arm around her
waist. His other hand held a cocked revolver pressed against the side of her
head.

“Uncle Alex...” Ginny was as pale as cotton, her blue eyes
huge. He could see tears on her cheeks and when he looked at Edward Bagley, a
blind, nearly uncontrollable rage seared through him. If the prick had touched
her...

He forced himself under control.

Bagley smiled, enjoying himself. “I know you’re armed. Get rid
of the gun.”

He took it out from behind his back, set it on the porch at
Bagley’s feet. “I’m here the way you wanted. Now let her go.”

Bagley kicked the gun away and laughed. It wasn’t the soft,
oddly gentle laughter Alex remembered, but a grating lunatic laugh that said
Bagley had slipped over the edge.

“I’m sorry if that’s what you thought, but it isn’t going to
happen. We have a destiny, you and I. That destiny includes your little
Ginny.”

Alex’s pulse took a leap. He fought for control. “Let her go
and we’ll go inside, talk things out. You can do whatever you want with me.”

Bagley turned his head and kissed Ginny’s soft, pale cheek.
Fresh tears sprang into her eyes and Alex felt a surge of fury so thick it
nearly blinded him.

His jaw hardened. “Let her go, Bagley. Do it or I swear to God
I’ll take you apart piece by piece.”

Bagley just smiled. “Yes, I think we should all go inside where
we can talk. You first, Alex.”

He clenched his jaw. He was weighing his options, trying to
decide his next move, when Bagley made a mistake. Enjoying his moment of power,
he swung the weapon away from Ginny and pointed it at Alex. A split second.
That’s all he had.

Alex sprang forward, knocking Bagley off his feet and sweeping
Ginny out of his grasp. Two shots rang out almost simultaneously. Alex felt the
impact of the bullet like a punch in the chest, and Bagley dropped like a
stone.

Alex hit the ground hard, turning at the last moment to keep
his weight off Ginny, jarring the gunshot wound in his side. He clamped his jaw
against a jolt of pain, looked over to see Bagley lying a few feet away, blood
spurting from a hole in the middle of his forehead.

“Uncle Alex!” Ginny cried, clinging to his neck, sobbing
against him as a swarm of police officers rushed up on the porch.

“I’m all right, honey. We’re both okay.” He kept her head
turned away from Bagley and kissed her cheek, damned grateful for the vest, even
if the whack from the bullet hurt like hell and his side was burning.
“Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Devlin strode toward him, leaned down and lifted Ginny out of
his arms, turned and handed her to Becca and Joe, who appeared out of
nowhere.

“You okay?” the detective asked Alex, giving him a hand as he
climbed to his feet. He could hear his sister crying, hugging her precious
daughter, and relief hit him hard.

“I’m okay.” Alex rubbed the center of his chest as they walked
off the porch. “Glad I was wearing the vest.” The adrenal rush began to fade and
he started shaking, his fear for Ginny dissipating, leaving him
light-headed.

He spotted Jake, standing at the side of the yard, his rifle
beside him, and gave him a grateful wave.

Jake waved back.

“You were right about Cantrell,” Devlin said. “Guy’s one
helluva shot.”

“Lucky for Ginny and me.”

“I’m glad you’re both okay.” Devlin walked away as Joe strode
toward him, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into a fierce man-hug.

“Thanks, Peaceman. You okay?”

“I’m all right.” Alex unbuttoned his shirt, took off the vest
and handed it to a passing patrolman, surveyed the growing bruise in the middle
of his chest, then pulled the shirt back on. “Good thing the little prick wasn’t
carrying a .45.”

Joe glanced toward the porch where the police were taping off
the crime scene. His worried gaze swung back to Alex. “You don’t think he hurt
her?”

“I’m praying he didn’t. I figure that’s what he intended until
the cops showed up. That forced him to change his plans. I think he was aiming
to do something pretty gruesome once he got me in there to watch.”

Still holding Ginny, Becca walked toward him, tears in her
eyes. She opened her arms and drew Alex into a hug. “Thank you, big brother. Oh,
Alex, thank you so much.”

He worked to keep the emotion out of his voice. “I’m just glad
she’s safe.” He hung on to the two of them a moment, then stepped back to let
Joe take his sister and Ginny over to the ambulance to have Ginny checked
out.

Feeling suddenly drained, Alex sank down in the grass,
exhausted clear to his bones. He heard Sabrina’s voice as if it came from a long
way away, and then she was there, falling to her knees on the grass beside him,
gathering him into her arms.

“Alex...” She just held on to him and he found himself holding
on to her, his heart beating softly, a strange ache settling in his chest.

“Oh, Alex. When I saw you up there with Ginny and Bagley, I
just...oh, God, I was terrified. For a moment when the gun went off, I thought
he’d killed you.” She rested her head on his shoulder and he could feel her
trembling.

“I’m okay, baby. Jake did his job and both of us are safe. I’m
a little bruised, but I’m fine.”

He saw Sage had found Jake, whose arms were tightly around her.
Everyone was okay.