Trail Angel: Brotherhood Protectors World (Angel Series Book 2)

Chapter 1

Haley groaned as she left the parking lot and headed into the multi-storied office building. Why’d she have to forget her cell phone, on a Friday night, at that? She quelled the odd thrill of danger as she strode up the steps in the gloom of night, Downtown Asheville was wonderful during the day and even in the evening, but the business district never felt friendly at night.

She passed the security desk, empty as usual. The downturn in the economy had resulted in several businesses closing their doors, as well as in the elimination of “nonessential workers”, security being one of them. With all of the employees having the codes to the exterior doors, the building owners had been adamant that no one would be in danger in the financial services sector, as no building held monies in house. Still, as she strode down the hall to the elevator, Haley wondered if other employees wondered, as she did, that the profits of the business owners sometimes outweighed their concerns for their personnel.

She rode the elevator up to the eighth floor, missing the canned music usually piped in. As she exited the floor and headed to her office in accounting, she thought she heard voices.

“You didn’t say we’d be in this deep,” the man’s voice drifted from her boss’s office at the end of the hall and Haley stifled a sigh. If Mr. Winters found out she was in the building after hours, he’d write her up for it. She stepped lightly and silently unlocked her door and opened it, trying to ignore the heightened volume from the men in the office.

“You signed up for this when we came up with the idea. You can’t back out now.”

“I didn’t sign up for a prison sentence,” the other voice said. “And I’m not taking the blame for you.”

“You aren’t leaving me with this whole thing,” Winters voice blasted through the hall and to Haley’s room. She glanced up from retrieving her cell from the desk pad and frowned. Her boss never shouted, never really seemed to lose his temper. He just got colder and meaner when he chastised the staff for mistakes, real or imagined.

“I’ll do whatever I need to do to protect my family,” the man said. Haley thought she could recognize the voice but wasn’t sure.

When the loud retort came, she wasn’t sure she recognized it, but she did identify the thud of a body falling to the floor. Worse yet, she knew the sound of a man moaning in pain. She stepped to the doorway and glanced around the door jam, wondering if she should approach to see if she could help. When Mr. Winters came to his door with a pistol in his hand, she knew she had paused for too long.

“Boyd, what are you doing here?”

She stared at him, her voice gone. Had he shot the man?

“Boyd?” His eyes, usually flat and expressionless, now held something of a purpose. “Come in my office. I need you to do something for me.”

She shook her head and backed away from the door into the hallway and hopefully toward escape.

“Boyd.” He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. “How long have you been here?”

She didn’t answer, just backed down the hall, coming into contact with the wall along the way and trying to correct her course. Winters started toward her.

“Mr. Winters. Is someone hurt in your office?” She bit her tongue at the words as they left her mouth. She’d told him exactly what he’d been looking for.

“No, no one’s hurt.” His voice and his eyes were flat, emotionless again, almost like a snake’s. Haley sent a quick prayer up that whoever was in the office hadn’t suffered, the moans had stopped before the door closed. Now, she prayed for herself to escape this man she’d worked for for five years and thought she knew.

He advanced another couple of steps and Haley turned to run. She passed the elevator and headed to the fire exit door, praying all the way. His shout followed her as she started down the stairs, her running shoes sure on the treads.

She’d made it to the sixth floor when the first shot bounced off the walls of the stairwell. Haley squeaked out a scream and sped up, trying to concentrate on the stairs ahead. Fifth floor, fourth. By the third floor, she was panting, trying to get a breath. Her heart thudded, drowning out the pounding feet above her.

“Boyd!” Winters yelled and she forced herself to keep going. She was past the second floor and near the ground when the next shot hit the railing beside her, sending off sparks. She winced and then hit the landing, reaching for the door ahead. She sprinted, hoping her breath would hold out to her car.

Winters’ entrance in the lobby coincided with her exiting the building and Haley tried to dial emergency as she ran but dropped her phone instead. She cried out and continued on. All that and she’d lost her phone anyway.

Her car started immediately, and she put it in drive. As she passed Winters, Haley ducked at the sight of him aiming the pistol at her. Wheeling out of the parking lot, Haley saw her boss pick up her cell phone through her rear-view mirror. Her phone, unlocked, with all of her personal information on it.

By the time she’d decided her home or those of her friends wouldn’t be safe, Haley had stopped at an ATM for cash as well as a gas station where she’d filled up and bought a cheap pay by the minute phone. She dialed as she drove toward the Blue Ridge Parkway. When Nikki answered Haley was near tears.

“Hi, you.”

“Hi,” Haley tried to keep her voice steady, but her friend immediately knew something was up.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to Dylan, I think.” Haley sniffed and reached for her purse and a tissue.

“Ok, but I need to know if you’re okay,” Nikki’s tone was a familiar one, with resolve and determination, something Haley had always admired in her friend.

“I’m okay right now, but I think I need your help, both of you.”

Nikki called for Dylan and after a minute, his steady tone came over the line. “Haley? What’s up?”

“I think I witnessed a murder, and the killer is after me.” The stark statement, one she’d never imagined uttering, was met with silence then Nikki exclaimed.

“Where are you?”

“I’m on the way to Grand Dad’s cabin.”

“That place you’ve talked about on a mountain in the middle of nowhere?”

Haley nodded then said. “It’s the only place I’ve never mentioned at work. I can’t think of anywhere else to go right now.”

“Come here, I’ll meet you at the airport in Albuquerque.”

“I can’t afford that right now, and besides, I need to call the police. Or is it the FBI?” Haley realized she was rambling and stifled a sob.

“Are you okay to drive, Haley?” Dylan’s voice was steady and calmed her a bit. When she answered yes, she actually realized she was okay and thanked God for giving her some calm.

“If you think the cabin is safe, go ahead but I want the address, okay? I’ll make some calls but first I want you to tell me exactly what happened.”

She spent the next ten minutes going over the incident in the office, realizing she needed to tell someone to put it all into place. If she ever had to give a report, she’d need that ability to recall details.

At the end of the story, Dylan was silent for a split second then said, “We can get your ticket out here, Haley. You’ll be safe here.”

She felt a surge of warmth for the man she’d only met once. “You and Nikki are fresh from your wedding and starting a life together. You don’t need a guest now, Dylan. I’ll be fine, I just needed someone to talk to.”

Nikki protested but, firm and calm for the first time since she’d stepped into the office building earlier that night, Haley held her ground until the argument petered out. “Okay,” Dylan said. “I’m going to make some calls and I’ll take care of contacting the authorities. Give me that address.”

She rattled off the address to her grandfather’s cabin, taking care to detail the way to the house, as it was off even tertiary roads in the country. Dylan reassured her he’d be in touch soon and she hung up and made her first turn off the parkway and into the small mountain communities.

Nathan wokewith a start at the trill of his phone. He’d fallen asleep in the recliner again. He ran a hand through his too long hair. Time to get out the clippers.

He glanced at the embers in the fireplace as he reached for his phone. Needed to bring in some firewood before he turned in for the night. The late spring days were warm enough on the mountain, but nightfall still brought a chill that permeated the stone and log building.

“Hello.” His voice, raw and rough from his sleep made the simple word a staccato bark. When there was a pause, he repeated the greeting.

“Nathan, this is Hank Patterson.”

Nathan closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the worn fabric. A call from Patterson only meant one thing. A return to the kind of work he’d ran away from when he left the military. “I don’t need any work, Hank.”

“I remember our conversation, Nate. No more armed security or surveillance work. This is a little different. I need you to protect a witness to a crime.”

Nathan pulled oxygen into his lungs. “Tell me about the witness.”

Hank filled him in and, as he listened, Nathan became aware of the surge of energy flowing through his veins. He’d been out of the military for almost five years, away from society for nearly as long and hadn’t felt the need to return. Now, was he regretting leaving the service? No, he’d never regret leaving the violence of his past.

“Nate? What do you think?”

“Sorry,” Nathan shook himself and realized he hadn’t heard the last of Hank’s remarks. “I was thinking of something else. Run it by me again.”

Hank knew him, knew him from when he was the expert marksman, tracker and surveillance specialist for the SEAL team. Had known him when he lost it all and left the Navy. Yet, he was willing time and again to throw jobs Nathan’s way, to help him keep his head above water.

“I’ll talk to the witness. What’s his name?”

“Haley Boyd,” Hand replied.

“A woman?” That could change things, he thought. Women needed pampering and soft talk to get them through stuff, not the kind of rough and tough language he favored.

“She’s a friend of one of my operatives in New Mexico. It could all be cut and dried, but she dropped her phone and the shooter got it. She’s afraid he’ll access all of her personal info.”

“She doesn’t have a password?” Everyone had protected phones these days.

“She’d unlocked it to make a call to 911 and then dropped it. She thinks it was still unlocked when he got to it.” Hank paused then continued. “Look, Nate. I know this is a more up close and personal case than I’ve had you work before, but I think this lady is in deep trouble. She’s headed to a cabin near you and you were the best of the best when you were in the service. If anyone can keep her safe in your neck of the woods, it’s you.”

“Give me her coordinates, or address or whatever. I’ll get in touch with her and then let you know.”

“That’s just it. Dylan Wright tried to call her after we’d talked and can’t reach her. I suspect she’s out of range but I’m not sure.”

Nathan’s pulse tilted upward for a second before calming again. “You think someone caught up with her?”

“No, I think she may have gotten off the main road and is in a dead zone, but she also is driving those mountain roads of yours in the dark and could have gotten into some trouble.”

“Where was she the last time she talked to your guy? And where was she headed?” He straightened the recliner into an upright position and leaned forward to grab a notepad off the end table. As he did, Sampson, his bloodhound/lab mix, raised his head and thumped his thick long tail. Somehow, his old friend knew they’d be hunting again.

A few minutes later, Nathan had Sam in the truck and was headed down the mountain. The coordinates of the cabin Haley Boyd was headed for was on the next ridge and off all main roads. He figured it’d take at least forty minutes to get there. And he was at a loss. No one knew her car type, he had sketchy info on her whereabouts, and no idea what she looked like. On a whim, he called Hank. “Hey, you got a picture of this woman? Yeah, it’d help. Okay, I’ll be on the lookout.” When he hung up, he wondered what would a woman who was on the run and without any survival smarts do right now?

Haley pounded her fist against the steering wheel of her compact car. The same car she’d bought for great gas mileage was worthless on the gravel road that seemed forty-five degrees uphill. She’d spun her wheels and almost driven off the guardrail-less road three times before finally finding a pull-off to back into. Now, as she brushed her hair out of her eyes, she heaved a sigh. According to the GPS, she was at least a mile from the cabin. Should she walk? Stay in the car for the night? Or turn around and head back home.

“Maybe I overreacted,” she murmured then shook her head. She’d heard a man murdered, been shot at by her boss, a man she couldn’t like but had trusted not to kill her. And she’d trusted her gut by leaving Asheville. She had to keep trying to get to Grand Dad’s house.

She checked the cell phone and sighed, still no bars. Another reason she’d left Asheville, she reminded herself, to escape being found by GPS on a cell. Well, that had worked and backfired at the same time. She couldn’t be found but also couldn’t call anyone.

The sound alerted her first, and she straightened to stare out of the rear-view mirror. A huge motor roared on the road below her, and light shown around the curve before two bright lights glowed. Haley checked her door locks before twisting in the seat to observe the car’s journey uphill.

This vehicle handled the terrain much better than her car, coming up the road with ease. Haley waited for the truck to pass her, hoping he might redistribute the gravel and make it easier for her to navigate her car. “Hopeless, but hopeful,” she muttered and waited for the car to pass her.

It didn’t. The bright headlights almost blinded her as she looked in the rear-view mirror and the vehicle pulled in behind her. Haley reached for and gripped the burner phone, hoping beyond hope that she’d be able to call for help if this was someone dangerous.

When the tap on her passenger door came she let out a staccato scream, fell back against the driver’s door and stared at the hulking shadow outside of her car.