Secret Delivery (11 page)

So had he. “You remember eating anything?”

“Just the food that Tessie brought me.” But then she stopped. “Wait. I also had some orange juice. It was on the tray after I came out of the bathroom, so I had a few sips.”

Orange juice could have masked the taste of a drug, and anyone could easily have placed the glass in her room. Her brother, Sean, was still Jack’s prime suspect. Or maybe Eldon Thatcher had done it in an attempt to sedate Alana so he could get her quietly out of the hospital.

But how did Parker fit in?

It wouldn’t be standard practice for an agent to drug
an informant, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t done exactly that. Maybe Parker thought the drug would make Alana comply with his plan. Then perhaps something had gone wrong? Maybe she’d wandered away before Parker could get to her?

“There are two issues here,” Jack said, thinking out loud. “The diamond deal and your disappearance.”

She turned in the seat, stared at him. “You think they’re connected?”

“Not exactly. But Sean might have used the opportunity to capitalize. He might have rationalized that he was keeping you safe from Thatcher by locking you away at Sauder.” Though that would have taken a mountain of rationalization. Still, when money was involved, Jack knew people could do all sorts of things.

“After our talk with Margaret, I want you to check your accounts and see if any money’s missing,” he instructed. “If it is, that might give me enough for a search warrant to go through your brother’s financial records to see if he profited from your stay at Sauder.”

Alana nodded. Then paused. “But does Parker fit into that?”

“Maybe. If Sean is the one who put you in Sauder, then maybe he drugged you so he could get you there. Or he could have worked with Parker to do that.”

She made a face to indicate she wasn’t sure she believed that. “You think Parker drugged me?”

“He was there at the hospital.” Still, it was stretch. Unless…

Jack kept coming back to the possibility that Parker was dirty. And if he was truly was, then that made this situation even more complicated.

And dangerous.

“Don’t borrow trouble,” Alana mumbled. “Let’s just focus on my brother and Thatcher for now. We can try to find a money trail leading to my brother while trying to capture Thatcher before he causes us any more problems.”

Jack was about to agree when he heard a loud pop. Before the sound barely registered in his head, his SUV jerked to the right.

A blowout.

On the front passenger’s-side tire. Alana’s side.

He fought to keep the SUV on the road. But there was a second pop and another violent jerk of his vehicle. Jack knew he was losing control.

He also knew why.

Someone had shot out the tires.

He couldn’t draw his weapon because he needed both hands on the wheel. He had to stay on the road. Because if he crashed, they would be sitting ducks.

“Do you see the shooter?” Jack asked.

“Shooter?” Judging from the way she blurted that out, she’d just realized what was happening.

His SUV careered off the asphalt and launched into the thick underbrush that flanked both sides of the road. He saw the sprawling live oak, but there was nothing he could do to stop. Still, he tried. He fought with the steering wheel, trying to wrench it in the opposite direction.

But it was too late.

“Hold on!” Jack yelled.

He barely got out the warning before his SUV slammed into the tree.

The airbag punched into Alana, pinning her against the seat and smothering her. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. But she knew she had to do something.

Somewhere amid the trees and the wild shrubs, there was a gunman who was responsible for what had just happened.

And that man was probably Eldon Thatcher.

He’d shot out the tires, and that had caused Jack to lose control and career into the tree. Worse, this might be just the start of the attack.

Beside her, Jack batted aside his airbag. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

Alana quickly tried to take inventory of her body. Other than her constricted breathing, she wasn’t in any real pain. But she was terrified.

Jack frantically drew his weapon from his shoulder holster. “Try to push down your airbag. I need to see if the shooter’s coming.”

Oh, God. Thatcher might be coming to finish them off.

With her heartbeat pounding in her ears, Alana
latched on to the airbag fabric and shoved it away so she could look out the windshield. Both it and her side window were shattered, making it impossible to see if they were about to be attacked.

“Get down!” Jack shouted.

It wasn’t a moment too soon.

A bullet tore through the already shattered windshield and sent a spray of safety glass spewing right at them.

Jack cursed and took aim at the gaping hole that the bullet had left. He fired. The blast echoed through the cab of the SUV and caused Alana’s ears to pound.

She thought of Joey. Her precious son. Alana prayed that this latest attack was confined only to Jack and her. Maybe Reyes had already gotten her baby to safety at the ranch. She didn’t want Joey anywhere near this.

“Stay down. I need you to call nine-one-one.” Jack’s voice somehow made it over the noise in her own head, as he thrust his phone into her hand.

Before she could dial the first number, another bullet sliced through the metal roof. The large gash brought in heat and blinding sunlight. It was also a reminder of how little protection they had.

Even though her hands were shaking, Alana punched in the numbers, and Deputy Kirby Ward answered. “Someone’s shooting at me and Jack,” she practically shouted into the phone. And she gave the man their location as best she could.

Another shot fired.

Then another.

Both ripped through her side of the door and came so close that she could almost feel the heat from them.
She sank lower into the seat, but she knew that might not do her any good.

Jack levered himself up and returned fire.

“The deputy’s on his way,” she relayed to Jack. But the question was, would he get there in time? Or would his arrival just make him a target, as well?

“The guy’s using a rifle,” Jack let her know.

Because the adrenaline and her heartbeat were roaring through her, it took a moment for her to realize what that meant. The shooter was probably hiding behind some of that thick brush or even in a tree. He might not be close enough for Jack’s gun to stop him.

The next bullet proved that.

It tore into the seat just above her head.

“Get on the floor!” Jack yelled.

She tried, though the airbag was in her way. Alana shouldered it aside and slid to the floor. For all the good it’d do. Those bullets were eating their way through the SUV, and there was no place safe she could hide.

“You need to get down, too,” she told Jack. “You could be hit.”

Just the thought of it made her sick. Jack was in this position because of her. She’d put him in danger, and he was taking the majority of the risk by trying to return fire.

Behind them, Alana heard the sound of a car approaching from the road. She didn’t dare try to see who it was, but since there was no siren, it probably wasn’t the deputy. It was likely an innocent bystander who could also be hurt by one of those flying bullets.

But just like that, the shots stopped.

The silence came so quickly that it caused yet another surge of adrenaline. She knelt there, waiting. Listening.

Jack glanced down at her. “The car must have scared off the shooter.”

Good. Except that it meant the gunman might be getting away. Jack must have realized that, as well because he reached for the handle of his door.

Alana latched on to his arm. “You’re not going out there.”

“I have to.”

She was about to argue that point, but she heard a welcome sound. A siren. Backup was close.

Jack pushed her hand from his arm and opened his door. Alana held her breath and prayed that the shots wouldn’t start again.

They didn’t.

There was only the sound of the siren and Jack’s movements.

She levered herself up slightly, and through the hole in the windshield, she saw him take cover behind the tree. His gaze darted all around, looking for the person who’d just tried to kill them.

And then he looked down.

His attention snapped to her. “Get out of the SUV. The gas tank ruptured. If he shoots again, it could cause a fire.”

“Oh, God.” Alana didn’t waste any time. She grabbed the handle, but when it wouldn’t budge, she rammed her shoulder against the door to open it. Because of her position, she couldn’t get her footing and tumbled onto the ground and scrambled for cover.

“Stay behind the tree,” Jack instructed. “Get ready to run if he fires a shot at that gasoline.” And then his attention snapped behind them.

For one terrifying moment, she thought maybe the
shooter had managed to sneak up on them, but Alana soon realized from the badge he wore that it was the deputy, Kirby Ward. He was young, probably not much older than twenty-one, with a slight build, but he was armed. The moment he was in place, guarding her, Jack stepped out from behind the tree.

Mercy, he was going out there. Alana wanted to tell him to stop, but she couldn’t. The shooter was almost certainly Thatcher—a man who’d already tried to kidnap her—and he needed to be stopped. Still, this lull in the shots could be a ploy.

But Jack stepped out into the open anyway, just as another shot rang out.

Alana heard herself scream. She tried to move, to get to Jack so she could help him. But the deputy hooked his left arm around her and held on. She struggled, fighting him, but he wouldn’t let go.

“I’m okay,” Jack said. “The bullet didn’t even come in this direction.”

She stopped fighting and went limp with relief. Thatcher hadn’t shot at Jack after all.

“What the hell?” Jack mumbled.

The deputy inched away from her and peered around the tree. Alana, too, wanted to know what had caused Jack’s reaction.

Both Jack and Kirby had their attention fastened to something in front of the tree. They had their weapons aimed and ready, but neither looked on the verge of firing.

Jack cursed again and rushed out of her sight. Kirby did the same and shouted, “I’ll call an ambulance.”

An ambulance? Why? Had Thatcher shot himself?

She couldn’t stay put. Alana eased out from the cover of the tree and spotted Jack and Kirby racing toward someone. A man. Staggering, he had a rifle in his hand, but he dropped it to the ground. And Alana soon realized why.

He wasn’t surrendering, exactly. There was a bright red stain across the front of his shirt.

Blood.

He’d been shot in the chest.

It wasn’t Eldon Thatcher.

It was Ted Moore, the security guard from Sauder.

Judging from Jack’s and Kirby’s reactions, they were just as surprised as she was.

Since the man was either dead or very close to it, Alana hurried out to the spot where Ted had fallen.

Jack crouched down, but Kirby kept watch around them in case the worst happened: another attack. But Ted certainly wasn’t in any shape to continue shooting.

When she approached the man on the ground, Ted immediately angled his eyes in her direction. He opened his mouth and lifted his hand to point at her.

“I…” He drew in a labored breath. His hand dropped, but his gaze stayed fastened on her. “He took your money.”

“Who?” Jack and Alana asked in unison.

Ted opened his mouth again, but he said nothing else. He sucked in one last thin breath and made a choking sound in his throat. And that was it.

Ted Moore was dead.

J
ACK TRIED TO MAKE HIMSELF APPEAR
as calm as possible. Tessie looked terrified and her hands were shaking when she hugged him.

“You could have been killed,” his aunt said under her breath.

Yeah. Alana, too. But they’d both made it out of the crash and the shooting without so much as a scratch. They’d gotten lucky. Unlike Ted Moore. And while Jack wasn’t sorry about having a suspect out of the way, he would have preferred Ted alive. The man’s death had left them with far more questions than answers.

Alana’s hands were shaking, too, but that didn’t stop her from picking up Joey the moment they walked into the family room of the ranch house. His son didn’t look so apprehensive this time and offered Alana a tentative smile. When she smiled back, Joey began to babble.

Reyes walked to Jack’s side. “I need to get out to the scene of the shooting. You can manage things here?”

“Yes.” But the problem was, Jack didn’t know what exactly he had to manage. Eldon Thatcher was still out there. Jack didn’t know if Ted’s death affected Thatcher or not. The men could have two entirely separate agendas, or they could have been partners.

“The medical examiner should have had time to check the body.” Jack kept his voice low so that Tessie and Alana wouldn’t hear. Thankfully, both women were engrossed in Joey’s antics. “I need to know if that gunshot wound was self-inflicted.”

“You think it was?”

Jack wanted to say yes. He wanted that to be true. But he had his doubts. It wasn’t impossible to self-inflict with a rifle to the chest, but it wasn’t the simplest of maneuvers. He settled for answering, “I’m not sure.”

Reyes made a sound of agreement. “If Ted was murdered, that means someone else had to be out there.”

Yeah. It did. And that’s why Jack wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.

“Check the area for any sign that Ted wasn’t acting alone,” Jack instructed. “I also want Margaret questioned. She insisted Alana and I meet her at the sheriff’s office, so she might have known which route we’d be taking to get there. She might have set all of this up.”

“It’s possible. She left your office after Kirby responded to your nine-one-one for backup.”

Not exactly a surprise, but it was a disturbing development. It could mean that all of them—Thatcher, Ted and Margaret—were working together.

If so, he had two more people to stop.

And then he had to figure out how Alana’s brother, Sean, and Special Agent Parker Howell fit into all of this. He needed plenty of information, and he wasn’t sure Alana was up to getting it. Still, he didn’t have a choice. Yes, she was shaken from the shooting, but he had to do everything within his power to stop another attack.

Reyes made his exit, and Jack went to the front door to lock it and set the security alarm. All the doors and windows were wired, and while this wouldn’t necessarily stop another shooting, it would alert him if anyone tried to break in.

Alana looked in his direction as Jack walked back into the family room. His expression must have said it all because she kissed Joey and handed him to Tessie. Jack could see the loss in her face. It was painful to hand over her son when she’d had so few precious moments with him. But there would be other moments.

Moments he’d have to learn to deal with.

“You need me to call about my financial records,” Alana said. She blew out a deep breath and pushed her hair from her face.

Jack nodded, and that was Tessie’s cue to head for the kitchen. “Joey’s probably hungry by now. I’ll fix you both something to eat, too.” His aunt closed the double doors behind her.

He took your money,
Ted had warned. It had to be checked. Alana definitely had more than enough money to make a greedy person do all sorts of criminal things.

Jack pointed to the laptop on a corner desk. “If you remember your account passwords, it might be faster.”

She gave a choppy nod, went to the computer and got started right away. He watched her as she clicked her way to a bank Web site. Her hands were still shaking. She was probably close to an inevitable adrenaline crash. Even though this was critical, the task wouldn’t stop the crash. Nothing would. Very soon, Alana would realize just how close she’d come to dying today.

“Someone changed the password,” she let him know.

That didn’t surprise him. A criminal would have done that as soon as he’d gotten control of the account, which wouldn’t have been hard to do with Alana drugged. Heck, she might even have given the person the info.

Alana reached for the phone that was next to the laptop. “I’ll call my assistant.” But she stopped with her hand poised over the phone. “If I still have an assistant.” She groaned and shook her head. “God knows what’s happened to my business since I’ve been gone.”

“Your brother said he managed it for you,” Jack reminded her.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Anger flashed through her eyes, and she snatched up the phone. “I’m calling my assistant on her personal phone. I’m pretty sure I still remember the number.”

Several moments later, Alana was speaking to her assistant, Deidre. Alana cut through the woman’s questions about where she’d been and said, “I can’t explain all of that now. Sorry.” She paused. “Deidre, I need you to go through my accounts. All of them.” Another pause. “Yes, I know it might take a while, but call me the second you know the balances.”

The adrenaline had drained him, as well, so Jack pulled over a chair and sat down beside her. He listened to her responses, and judging from her expression, this conversation wasn’t giving her much good news. When she finally hung up, worry had bunched up her forehead.

“Sean told my assistant that I was away on an extended vacation.” The emotion caused her voice to break on the last word.

Jack had to tamp down some emotion, as well. But in his case, it was anger. “Wonder why he was so convinced you weren’t in danger?” But Jack knew the answer to that. If Sean had been the one who’d kept her at Sauder—and it was looking more and more as if he was—he would have told her assistant that all was well so as not to raise any alarms. He wouldn’t have wanted the police brought in.