Dangerous Passage (Southern Crimes Book #1): A Novel (19 page)

“What happens when you’re done saving the world?”

Avery laughed. The last thing she felt like today was a superhero, but maybe her sister had been right—she didn’t have to take on the world. All she had to do was help one person at a time. Losing her heart in the meantime to Jackson Bryant wasn’t a bad way to go. “If we can bring in Sourn today, I plan
on picking up takeout from the Jade Palace near my parents’ house and spending some time with Tess before crashing.”

He leaned against the desk beside her, still holding her hand. “And if things do settle down tomorrow, I’m hoping there’s a day off in sight for you?”

“I’m hoping for church with Tess and my parents, lunch somewhere so I don’t have to cook, and a long afternoon nap.”

“If it works out that you can, I could pick up you and Tess?”

“I’d like that.” Her smile widened. It might not be the perfect date for the two of them to be alone, but she’d take joining him for worship as a close tie. They both needed the spiritual renewal. “I’ll call you with an update later, but I promised my parents I’d stay at their house tonight, so Tess and I will both be there.”

“Perfect.”

“Which means you can get a good night’s sleep too.”

“I have to admit that sleeping in my own bed is more appealing than hanging out in Mitch’s Dodge Shadow.”

She took a step closer, needing to feel his nearness, along with the assurance that everything was going to turn out okay.

“I need to go.” He looked down and caught her gaze. “Call me when you can with an update.”

“I will.”

He let go of her hand, and she watched him walk away. Long, steady stride, confidence in every step, with a down-to-earth realness that made her want to get to know everything about him. He was providing that calming balance in her life that she craved.

Fears of overcommitment still simmered near the surface, but she was slowly learning to shove them aside. She needed someone who didn’t make her life more complicated, but who could help her pick things up when they got messy.

Jackson was looking more and more like that person.

B
y the time the judge signed the search warrants, Avery had ensured that their teams had detailed instructions and were geared up to carry out the search. There were two planned raids coordinated with SWAT. Tory and Carlos rode with the team to the Sourns’ private residence, while she and Mitch joined the second team headed for the complex that housed the warehouse and the import company’s main offices. They might have video evidence that linked Sourn to the kidnapping of Malaya, but Avery needed more—a connection to the human trafficking ring they’d stumbled across and, if Sourn was their killer, answers to Tala’s murder.

She sat in the back of the van transporting their team and tried to keep her mind focused. The combination of the dull ache pulsing in the back of her head and the reality of the risks involved in executing a raid had her distracted. She’d warned Tory of the lethal combination, but sometimes, the opposing strains of responsibility were hard to ignore.

She shifted in her seat and felt a bruise on her hip she hadn’t noticed before. She let out a low sigh. This morning’s attack wasn’t the first time she’d found her life in danger. Sometimes her need to pursue justice clashed with her concern for Tess, making it hard to justify the former. They ended up being two
desires that simply weren’t compatible. But counting the cost was not a foreign notion. Serving her community through the police force had become a family tradition and was how she’d learned firsthand about both sacrifice and the pain of loss.

God, you know the risks to take down men like this, and while part of me doesn’t understand why you don’t just wipe them off the face of the earth, I also know that you allow us to make our own decisions. It’s just hard to see the fallout when girls like Malaya are paying the price for someone else’s greed. Which is why I need your protection today. For my team, the SWAT guys, for the girls out there we still need to save
. . .
for everyone involved in this game.

“We’re going to get this guy, Avery,” Mitch said.

“I know.” She stared out the window at the oncoming traffic. “He’s already gotten away with too much.”

He’d taken these girls’ lives, taken away their hope, and left them in a wake of despair with nowhere to run. No one deserved that.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand what makes these guys tick.” Avery pressed her fingertips together. “Power, control, sex, greed? How do they look in the mirror every morning, straighten their tie, and head off for work like nothing’s wrong?”

“That’s a good question and one I don’t have an answer for.”

“Sometimes I just wish I could find the victims before they end up nameless in some back alley.”

“Life can’t be controlled. Life can’t be bottled.”

Avery raised her brow.

“Superman versus Brainiac.”

She chuckled softly and shook her head. “You have an answer to everything, don’t you?”

“Think what you like, but there is truth there. You can only control a small fraction of what goes on around you. But every
criminal we help convict puts us one step closer toward making this world a better place.”

Avery shoved away the conflicting thoughts and tugged on the bottom of her bulletproof vest as the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse. Through the tinted window, she refocused her mind and studied the scene. Outside was quiet. A few scattered cars in the parking lot, trucks pushed up to the loading docks, but no sign of workers on this side of the building. No sign of Sourn.

The van door slid open. Avery took in a slow, deep breath and checked her weapon. Ideally, she preferred waiting until after dark or early in the morning for a raid, but the risk that Sourn would destroy evidence relating to the case was too great.

She jumped out of the van ahead of Mitch, and as her team members filed into position, she mentally rehearsed the plan she’d laid out to each of them. Their initial entrance had to be both quick and precise as they relied on designated teammates to ensure the perimeter was contained, leaving no avenue of escape for anyone inside. They’d conduct their preliminary search, detain and cuff everyone, then search for evidence that would aid in Sourn’s conviction.

Avery felt the familiar rush of adrenaline spread through her as the SWAT team burst through the heavy side door of the warehouse ahead of her. The wooden frame groaned at the impact, then splintered as the metal hinges popped lose.

The moment they stepped inside, chaos erupted.

Someone shouted from across the room. Weapons pointed at her team. Gunfire exploded. A bullet smashed into the wall behind Avery before she had a chance to react. They’d landed in the midst of an ambush.

There was no time to figure out what had gone wrong. Avery took aim at one of the men and shot. He dropped his weapon and grabbed his arm. A bullet whizzed past her ear, pinging
against a metal plate on the wall. She ducked behind a row of crates.

It was over as quickly as it started. Someone shouted for them to stop shooting. Three men on the other side of the warehouse were surrendering. They stepped out into the open, then froze with their hands held high.

Avery was barking an order to the team when she saw him. The gunshots had ceased, but Mitch lay on the ground in a pool of blood.

“Mitch!”

Avery was only vaguely aware of what was going on around her as seconds ticked by in slow motion. Someone called for medical backup, while the SWAT team rushed to secure the warehouse.

Silence filled the aftermath of the gun battle. She crossed the cement floor to where Mitch lay and dropped onto the ground beside him. Everything around her faded until all she could hear was his raspy breathing. If the bullet had punctured a lung . . .

Oh God, please
. . .
No
. . .
no
. . .
no
. . .
Not now. Not this way . . .

“Mitch?”

This should have been a routine raid. Take the search warrant, secure the premises, and find their evidence. No one, especially not one of their own, was supposed to have gotten hurt.

She leaned closer and started searching for the bullet hole. “Mitch. Talk to me.”

He looked up at her, his pupils dilated. “I . . .”

“Listen to me, Mitch. The bullet hit your vest. You’re just stunned. You’re going to be okay.” Why was there so much blood? If the vest had stopped the bullet, there shouldn’t be any blood. Avery fumbled to find the bullet hole. “We’ve got an ambulance coming. We’ll get you to the hospital, and they’ll patch you up.”

“Kayleigh . . .”

“Stop it, Mitch.” She found where the bullet had entered his side, pulled on the Velcro closure to loosen the vest, then pressed her hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She searched for an exit wound with her other hand. Nothing. Her mind struggled to compute what had happened. The vest hadn’t stopped the bullet, and there was too much blood. “You’re going to be fine.”

Mitch caught her gaze. “Please. Tell her how much I love her.”

“I said you’re going to be fine.”

“You’re a lousy liar, Avery. But a very good partner.”

Not if she let him die. How could she forgive herself if he died after she let him walk into an ambush? She shook her head. She wasn’t ready to give up. Because he had to be okay.

Tears burned her eyes. She blinked them away, pressing harder against the wound, her hands shaking, and started praying. “What was it that Spider-Man said to Mary Jane? You have a knack for—”

“For . . . for getting into trouble.”

“Which is why you’re going to have to tell Kayleigh that yourself. Just hang in there.”

“Tell her, Avery . . . tell her that I’m so sorry.”

Sirens wailed in the distance. All they needed was a few more minutes and there was a chance he could make it.

Someone from the SWAT team knelt down beside her and handed her a pressure bandage. “The ambulance is almost here. We’ve secured the scene, and your team has begun their initial search.”

Avery nodded her thanks, then turned back to Mitch, but something in the background pulled her away for a split second. Her mind struggled to focus. Mason Taylor stood against the back wall, hands cuffed behind him. The man who’d betrayed her family. The man responsible for her brother’s death.

She couldn’t breathe. She shook her head and turned back to Mitch. Mason shouldn’t be here, but for the moment it didn’t matter. Taking down Sourn, Mason’s presence, and everything else swirling around her seemed insignificant. None of it mattered compared to losing Mitch.

A
very stormed down the hall of the precinct after spending fifteen minutes changing her clothes and trying to get rid of all the blood covering her hands. Soap and water might work to erase the stains on her skin, but she’d never be able to get rid of the images of Mitch lying on the ground.

And that hadn’t been all she’d seen. Avery felt the knot anchored in her stomach dig deeper. Why had the man responsible for her brother’s murder been at that warehouse?

Revenge might be yours, Lord, but surely you don’t mind some help every now and then. I can’t let him get away with this again.

No matter what explanation he came up with, Mason Taylor had to be responsible for the ambush at the warehouse, and this time she would prove it.

Carlos stood outside one of the interrogation rooms, talking on his cell phone.

Avery cut him off. “Where is he?”

“Just a minute.” Carlos pressed the phone against his chest. “Who?”

“Mason Taylor.”

“He’s in interrogation room one, but—”

“Alone?”

“For the moment. I’m waiting for Captain Peterson to—”

She didn’t have time for explanations. Avery shoved open the door to the room. Three chairs, one long, narrow table, and Mason. “I want to know what happened back there at the warehouse—”

“Avery.” Carlos was right behind her.

The metal door slammed shut behind them. “I just want five minutes, right now.”

Mason stood, uncertainty marking his face, but he didn’t fool her. He never had. Dark blond hair that needed to be cut, day-old beard, and muscular frame. Her brother had trusted this man with his life. That had been Michael’s first mistake. Mason might as well have pulled the trigger on him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Sit down, Mason.” Ignoring Carlos, Avery leaned forward, her hands braced against the table between them, waiting until he complied. Mason looked back at her, more confusion than defiance in his eyes, then finally sat down. “I was just told that my partner probably won’t make it out of surgery alive, and I want to know why. What were you doing this time? Playing the role of the inside man? The mole in the department we never found? They let you explain away my brother’s death, but if Mitch dies . . . this time I’m going to make sure you don’t get so lucky.”

Mason managed to find his composure and shook his head at her. “I didn’t betray Michael, and I didn’t betray this department today.”

“Really. Then explain it to me. Because the way I see it, you have everything to do with it. You were there at the warehouse. What else needs to be explained?”

“I was your brother’s best friend. When are you going to realize that I had nothing to do with his death?”

“When the evidence stops pointing in your direction.”

At one time, she’d considered him a friend as well. He’d spent almost as much time at the Hunt dinner table as her brother had. But Michael’s death changed everything. And as much as she hadn’t wanted to believe the compelling evidence of Mason’s guilt, neither could she ignore it.

“You knew Michael was walking into a trap. I have phone calls and a paper trail, all pointing to your involvement, and just because the department cleared you doesn’t mean I’m going to stop looking for the truth. You can’t tell me you didn’t know. And now Mitch?”

“Michael wasn’t supposed to be there that day, and you know it.” Mason’s voice rose, tinged with anger. “I warned him that he needed to stay away. I don’t know why he didn’t follow my instructions. I guess we’ll never know.”

“Which is all very convenient for you, isn’t it?”

“Avery, we’ve gone over this a hundred times.”

“And we can go over it a hundred times more until I finally get the truth from you. And this time, you can add why my partner is now fighting for his life.”

“I had nothing to do with what happened today.”

“You can’t be serious. You were there. You’ve been arrested for harboring arms and as an accomplice to attempted murder.”

“Avery?” Captain Peterson stood in the doorway. Arms crossed. Anger evident across his ebony features. “To my office now.”

“I—”

“Now.”

She followed the captain down the hall, furious for the interruption. They could yank her off the case, but that wouldn’t change anything. She would find her brother’s killer.

With only a few weeks on the job, the captain hadn’t had time to decorate his office. All that hung on the wall were a couple family photos of his wife and two grown children and a few awards. No clutter, frills, or excess, simply direct to the point
like he always was. She missed the hands-on, fatherly approach her father had always taken with the officers. Captain Peterson was here to get things done. Nothing more.

He pointed at the open chair and took the one behind his desk. “Sit down.”

Avery hesitated. Standing would make her feel more in control, even if it went against the older man’s request.

“Mason Taylor is responsible for what just happened. We were ambushed at that warehouse, and now Mitch is probably not going to make it through surgery.”

“I understand how hard this is for you, and because of that I’m giving you a little slack for your behavior, but that doesn’t mean a screaming match between the two of you is justified—”

“My behavior?”

“Detective.” He pointed to the chair again.

Avery closed her mouth and sat down.

“I’ll start. Then, maybe, I’ll let you say your piece. Like I said, I realize that you just witnessed your partner getting shot. Something that is extremely traumatic, which is why I’m not sending you home on disciplinary leave, but don’t ever try and take over an interrogation like that again.”

Avery balled her hands into fists. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with trauma. Maybe now you’ll believe the evidence I have against Mason Taylor in my brother’s case. We all know that there’s a mole in this department, and his presence at the warehouse proves—”

“It doesn’t prove anything. He’s not under arrest.”

Avery felt the air gush out of her lungs, suddenly glad she was sitting down. “What do you mean he’s not under arrest?”

“Taylor has been working undercover. He infiltrated a ring of smugglers working at that warehouse and has already handed over a growing amount of evidence all tied to money laundering, fraud, weapons selling, and now apparently, human trafficking.
Mason Taylor isn’t your bad guy. He’s in one of the interrogation rooms so no one on the outside realizes he’s undercover.”

The room spun around her. “He was responsible for my brother’s death, and now Mitch . . . I don’t believe this is just a coincidence.”

“I’ve read the file and your complaints against him, and while I can see where the evidence might point to him, there has never been enough to back up your theory. And despite what you think about the man, he’s always performed his job in an exemplary manner.”

“But what about today? His presence at the warehouse wasn’t simply a coincidence. Surely you don’t believe in coincidences any more than I do.”

“I told you, this wasn’t a coincidence. He was undercover.”

Avery tried to make sense of what he was telling her. “Then why didn’t you tell us before we went in there that he might be in the middle of this? Mitch wouldn’t be in surgery right now. And if Mason really is working on our side, why didn’t he stop the ambush from happening?”

Captain Peterson leaned forward. “Mason’s been working undercover, helping the FBI with a gun-trafficking investigation first discovered by our department. But even I wasn’t privy to all the details, including today’s meeting with the buyers. Mason tried to stop it once he realized what was happening. Which means that if Mason hadn’t been there, more of you could have been hurt.”

Avery still didn’t buy it. “They met us with open fire.”

“They thought it was a raid on the weapons they were getting ready to transport. The reason more people weren’t hurt is because of Mason. He told them to stand down once he realized what was happening.”

But by then it had already been too late.

The captain’s arguments did nothing to convince her of
Mason’s innocence. Too many things simply weren’t adding up. “What if I get you the evidence you need?”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I’ve found another witness that slipped through the cracks—or as I’m beginning to believe, was purposely covered up.”

“You do it on your own time and don’t let it affect your work. And don’t bring anything to me until you can back it up with hard evidence.”

“Yes sir.”

“I need you to stay on this case, because you’re one of the best detectives I’ve got, but I won’t hesitate to pull you off if you can’t put your feelings aside. If you can’t do this—”

“I can.”

“And you’ll do it with Mason’s help.”

Avery bit back the angry retort that surfaced. “You expect me to work with him?”

Captain Peterson ignored her question. “He’s been working for the Sourns, and he has information he’s been gathering that might help with your illegal alien case. Maybe between the two of you, you’ll be able to put Sourn away for good.”

“This isn’t just a case of illegal aliens. Girls are being trafficked across the country, and Sourn is our biggest lead right now.”

“This is exactly why I want Mason working with you. And why I need you to put aside any personal feelings you might have and work with him to solve these cases. Right now we’ve got two murdered girls, a police raid gone bad, and one of our own that might not make it through the day—not to mention the gun running and everything else Sourn and his people are involved in. I want this case closed and put behind us before anyone else gets hurt.”

“Yes sir.”

“And in the meantime, I want you to take the rest of the day off—”

“I can’t—”

“You don’t have a choice, Detective North. You won’t be following up on what happened today, anyway. I’m putting Rogers’s team in charge of wrapping up what happened at the warehouse, though I’ll let Tory and Carlos join them if that makes you feel better. You’ll be working with Mason on tying Robert Sourn to the trafficking and weapons smuggling. But not today.”

There was no use arguing that she wanted to be the one to take down Mitch’s murderer as well. From day one, Captain Peterson had run the precinct like a military general and made it clear that just because she was the daughter of the previous captain, there would be no special treatment.

“What about the Sourns?”

“I’ll make sure someone lets you know when they’re brought in, but for now, I want you to rest. I’ll see you on Monday morning at oh seven hundred hours for a meeting between you and Mason. Maybe by then you’ll have cooled off a bit, so you won’t end up killing each other.”