Delivering Justice (16 page)

“Any chance that necklace is here on the property?” Tyler asked.

The doorbell rang.

Tyler excused himself and answered the door. “Janis, come in.”

“I brought food,” she said, carrying a full basket of muffins and pastries.

“Let me take that,” he said, and she seemed to know better than to argue.

Janis followed Tyler into the kitchen. Her gaze moved around the island, stopping on Jessica.

“Good morning, Mrs. Templeton,” Janis said. “I didn’t know you were here.”

Jessica shot Tyler a look. “I’m sorry, have we met?”

Janis stared, openmouthed. “You were here a couple of weeks ago with your husband.”

“I’m afraid that I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jessica said, but the light went on at the same time Austin turned the laptop around.

“Who’d she come with?” Austin asked.

“Her husband,” Janis said, confusion knitting her eyebrows. “But I must be mistaken.”

“Does Mr. Templeton look like this?” Austin asked, angling the screen toward Janis.

“Why, yes. It’s a little blurry but that’s him,” she said emphatically.

“Which means that Jenn and Ashton came here, and Milton must’ve known she would come back to a place where they’d already been,” Tyler said, and the sheriff nodded.

Tyler poured another cup of coffee. “Do you remember any details about their booking?”

“It’s been a couple of weeks. Let me think,” Janis said as he handed her a mug.

Hope blossomed for the first time since this whole ordeal started. If Jenn had been taken by Ashton, surely she’d be safe. If he loved her, he wouldn’t do anything bad to her. Would he?

The man stole a family heirloom from his wife and gave it to his mistress to hide, promising her they’d be together forever.
The short-lived burst of hope immediately died.

“If he gets the necklace, he’ll hurt her,” Jessica said. “We have to find them first.”

* * *

“I
S
THERE
ANYTHING
specific you remember about the couple?” Tyler asked Janis.

“They stayed in their room most of the time. Didn’t book a hunting trip, I remember that for sure because I thought it was odd this time of year,” Janis said. “I remembered thinking that they must be honeymooners.”

Reality hit Tyler harder than a ton of bricks. “She hid the necklace in the main house.”

The sound of bar stools scraping across tile echoed as everyone stood at the same time.

“I can check the registry and tell you which room they stayed in,” Janis offered, and they were already making a move toward the door.

“We’ll tear the place apart if we have to,” Austin said.

As soon as the group left, Jessica said, “They won’t be on the property. We might find the necklace, but with security here he’s not stupid enough to risk coming straight at us. He’ll take her somewhere else until he comes up with a plan.”

“First, let’s get the necklace. That’s the best thing we can do to ensure your sister’s safety. He won’t do anything to her if he thinks she’s useful.”

She followed Tyler to the garage where he fired up the SUV and backed out.

The drive to the main house took ten minutes. Denali was on the front porch waiting.

“Hey, buddy,” Tyler said as the chocolate lab trotted over to greet him.

“I’ll just check the registry,” Janis said.

The main house was set back, but they could see the road from the porch. An older model, white four-door Mazda pulled up in front of the gate, someone was pushed out and the car sped off.

“It’s her,” Jessica shouted. “It’s Jenn.”

Chapter Seventeen

Tyler darted toward Jenn as the guards in the shack bolted outside. “She’s clear. She’s with us.”

Most of the house emptied, with all the boys running close behind Jessica, and she had never felt so protected and secure in her life.

“Jenn,” she said as she dropped down beside her sister, who was folded onto her side. She wore a jacket over her shirt, which was odd considering the weather had warmed up.

“Go,” Jenn whispered, looking too weak to move. She made a grunting noise before repeating the word.

Sheriff Tommy knelt next to Jenn, his gaze sweeping over her. “Everyone back away.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jessica said, just as she noticed sweat beads on Jenn’s forehead. She wiped them away. “It’s okay. I’m here now and I won’t let those men hurt you.”

Jenn winced as she shook her head. “Go.”

Her sister was weak and clearly not thinking straight. Jessica had no idea what those jerks had done to her sister but she hoped they rotted in jail for their crimes. She vaguely heard the sheriff in the background giving a description of the vehicle that had sped away.

“Everyone needs to step away,” he said, unzipping Jenn’s jacket to reveal a bomb strapped to her body.

Tears fell freely as Jessica held on to her sister’s hand. “I’m not leaving you.”

There was a piece of white paper sticking out of her jacket pocket. Jenn angled her head toward it.

“Sheriff—” Jessica started but was cut off.

“I see it. Everyone needs to get back,” the sheriff demanded, leaving no room for doubt that he was serious.

The brothers did as instructed, except for Tyler. He didn’t budge.

“I have protocol to follow, Tyler,” the sheriff said.

“And I have my loyalties,” Tyler retorted.

“If you’re not going to make this easy, then scoot over so I can take a closer look,” the sheriff said. He took out a pair of something that looked like tweezers and put on rubber gloves. He removed the folded piece of paper and peeled it open.

“It’s easy. We get the necklace or she goes boom. You have one hour to leave it where you found her sister. No cops.”

“He used the term
we
,” the sheriff said. “We’re dealing with a network.”

“Which one of these guys has experience with explosives?” Tyler said.

“Chemical engineer,” Jenn managed to say. “Ashton.”

Everyone reacted to the news.

“She needs medical help.” Jessica fought back tears as she whispered reassurances to Jenn.

The sheriff leaned back on his heels and evaluated the situation. “Ashton must be our guy. He’s in charge.”

Heads bobbed in agreement.

Tyler glanced up at his brothers and shooed them back into the house to search for the piece of jewelry.

“They must think we already have the necklace,” Tyler said. “We’d have to hightail it to drive to Diablo’s Rock in an hour. I can get there on Digby in forty-five minutes.”

“Someone needs to show up whether we have the necklace or not,” the sheriff said. “It’ll be our best chance to nab them.”

“They’ll be watching for police,” Jessica said. “We mess this up and they’ll push the button.”

“They can do that anyway once they get the necklace,” Tyler warned, and he was right.

“This looks like pretty standard material.” The sheriff rattled off names that didn’t mean much to Jessica, then said, “They’d have to be using a wireless trigger mechanism.”

“Cell phone,” Jenn said through a coughing fit.

Both the sheriff and Tyler stiffened until she calmed again.

“So, if they need a wireless connection to detonate the bomb, then what happens if I take her out of cell range?” Tyler asked. “There are so many dead spots on the property, it would be easy to take her somewhere there’s no signal. In fact, Diablo’s Rock is a dead zone.”

“We need to be careful moving her,” the sheriff said.

“I’ll get the SUV,” Tyler said as Austin burst out the front door.

“Found it stuffed between the mattresses,” he said, holding out the Infinity Sapphire. The brilliant stones caught the light just right, leaving sparkly streaks in the air.

“You’re going to be okay,” Jessica soothed, brushing Jenn’s hair from her face. “You’re here and we’re not going to let anything happen to you.”

“So stupid,” Jenn managed to say. “Thought he loved me.”

“I know, sweetie,” Jessica said. “But he’s not good enough for you. And we’re going to make sure he spends the rest of his life in jail.”

Jenn nodded and a tear streaked her cheek.

“Move her carefully,” the sheriff said as Tyler moved to the other side of Jenn.

“You might want to step behind the SUV,” Tyler said to Jessica, but she was already shaking her head.

“I’m staying right here by my sister,” Jessica said. She expected Tyler to put up an argument but he nodded and kept going, gently moving Jenn into the back of the SUV on top of layers of sleeping bags.

“I’ll need you with me,” Tyler said.

She moved to the passenger side as soon as Jenn was secure. “I have no plans to leave her.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

* * *

“W
E
HAVE
TO
approach the same way you did with the ATVs,” Tyler said to Jessica as he parked the SUV a few yards from the rock. Her body language screamed fear. No doubt she remembered the last time she’d been there a few days ago.

His brothers were near, they’d fanned out around the area, but there was no cell coverage out there. Good for Jenn but bad for overall communication.

“Stay here,” he said, handing her the Sig Sauer she’d used before. “Don’t let on that anyone’s in the back of the SUV. Don’t even glance back there, okay?”

“I’m good.” She palmed the weapon and then double-checked the chamber.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side later.” He kissed her. “I need to check the area. The boys aren’t far and they know how to hide. The tricky part will be communicating with them if we get in trouble.”

“We’re going to be fine. We have to be.”

She didn’t say that their lives depended on it but they did.

Tyler moved to the rock and dug his boots in, moving to high ground to get a better look at the area. As he crested the rock he thought about how much his life had changed since the last time he was there. Everything had been turned upside down, he’d never been in more danger and never been more in love. The danger part he could handle.

He saw the glint of metal coming behind a bush on the east side just as the telltale flash of fire followed. The bullet pierced him. Shock registered as he missed his footing and tumbled the forty-foot drop from Diablo’s peak.

* * *

J
ESSICA
HEARD
A
gun fire. She bolted from the SUV in time to see Tyler tumbling down the face of the rock. Panic engulfed her and her pulse skyrocketed. Before she had a chance to rationalize her actions she was running toward him.

Please let him be okay.

Her stomach twisted as she got close enough to see him lying there, facedown, unmoving. All she could think about was getting to him and then she saw the blood through his plaid shirt.

There was no way to contact his brothers. Her own sister lay in the SUV, unconscious. All Jessica’s hopes had been riding on the cowboy and now he was dying, leaving her, too. It was a selfish thought and she knew it. She tamped it down and spun around to the sound of footsteps running up behind her. There were three men, all with weapons pointed directly at her chest. She pointed her own gun at the ringleader, Ashton. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

“Whoa,” he said to the others, holding his hands out for them to stay behind.

They were out of cell phone range. Tyler’s brothers had to have heard the shot, hadn’t they? And all of them were about to die.

Well, she planned on taking a couple of these jerks with her.

“Back off if you want the necklace,” she said, taking a step away as the men slowed their approach.

“You don’t have a play here, honey,” Milton said, and her skin crawled at the sound of his voice.

She retreated a few more steps until her back hit a solid wall of rock. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll start shooting.”

All three men stopped. The third fit the description of the man in the suit who’d been asking around for Tyler. It dawned on Jessica. The insurance adjuster must be in on it. Milton wasn’t working for Beauchamp, he was in league with Ashton.

“How did they talk you into joining them?” she asked the third man.

“This guy?” A wide smile broke on Ashton’s face. “Fraternity brothers forever.”

He and Ashton were friends? He must’ve been offered a cut.

“My sister thought you loved her,” she said as Ashton took another menacing step toward her. Anger burned through her chest. She hated the guy, but could she kill someone?

It was either kill or be killed.

Ashton ignored her comment and made a move to kick Tyler. “How’d this jerk get involved?”

Jessica closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. By the time she opened them a second later, chaos had broken out.

Ashton was on the ground, wrestling with Tyler, who had already shot Milton. She’d nicked the insurance guy who was diving on top of Tyler and Ashton.

Milton didn’t seem to realize he’d been shot because he lunged toward her.

“Bitch,” he said as he dived.

She whirled to the right and he smacked into the rock, shoulder first, but managed to knock the gun out of her hand. His thick hand clutched at her until he gained purchase on her shirt. He shoved her to the ground and she desperately felt around for the Sig.

Milton twisted until he was straddled over her. She glanced to the side in time to see that Tyler and Ashton were wrestling for a gun. Ashton’s friend was rearing back to deck Tyler.

In a burst, the gun went off and Tyler managed to roll on top of Ashton.

There was so much blood.

Milton raised his hand high and she could see a rock in his palm.

And then she heard the footsteps.

“Put your weapons down,” Sheriff Tommy’s familiar voice said.

Milton ignored the request. She wiggled but he was too heavy to buck him off. And then another gunshot roared. Milton’s eyes bulged after taking the second hit. He slumped to the side allowing Jessica to slide out from underneath him.

Austin wrangled Ashton’s friend away, pulling him by the foot. But Tyler and Ashton were too tangled up. A shot was as likely to hit Tyler.

Jessica scooted away from Milton and gentle arms pulled her to her feet. She wasn’t sure which one of the twins helped her, but she was grateful.

Tyler pushed Ashton off him and got in a solid punch.

Ashton’s head bobbled and then he fell forward, unconscious.

The sheriff was by Tyler’s side before she could open her mouth to speak. He zip-cuffed Ashton’s hands behind his back.

Jessica ran to Tyler to see just how much blood he’d lost. His brothers were by his side as his eyes closed.

“He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?” Jessica asked, tears streaking from her eyes. She must’ve looked as torn on the outside as she was on the inside. Tyler was bleeding, unconscious. Jenn was alone in that SUV where anyone or anything could get to her.

“Austin is with your sister,” the sheriff said, easing one of her fears as she heard the
whop, whop, whop
of the helicopter.