Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
W ake up.
Esther’s dream abruptly ended at the simple command that floated through her mind. She blinked at the ceiling, confused.
Rolling over, she glanced at the clock. The digital display glowed a bluish white and read two thirty-two.
Why was she awake?
Flopping onto her back again, she closed her eyes. Maybe she could get back into her dream. It had been a good one. She’d been strolling with Asher on the beach.
But an uneasiness kept her mind from shutting down. Something had awakened her.
Heaving a sigh, she pushed back the covers. She’d go downstairs, make sure all the doors and windows were locked—they were because she and Edie both checked before going to bed—then come back up and try to sleep again.
“What is wrong with you?” Edie mumbled from the other side of the bed.
“My brain woke me up for some reason and won’t let me go back to sleep until I check all the doors and windows.”
Edie groaned. “Hang on. I’ll go with you.”
“No. You stay here. I probably just heard Audra downstairs and with all the craziness happening, my sleeping brain decided it was foreign and needed to be checked out. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Go back to sleep.” Before Edie could say anything else or follow her, Esther left the room.
She tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to wake Audra on the couch if she wasn’t already awake.
Creeping around the corner of the hall, she headed for the back door.
“You heard it too?”
Esther yelped. Her hand landed on her chest, and she spun around to see Audra standing behind her. “Dear God in Heaven! Geez, Audra.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. What did you hear?”
“I don’t know.” Esther frowned. She’d really thought her mind was making up things. “I was dreaming and my brain just told me to wake up. What about you? I take it I wasn’t imagining things?”
“No. The motion light in the backyard came on, and I heard scraping at the back of the house. By the time I got over here and looked out, there was nothing.”
A quiet clink came from the garage. Both women spun toward the sound.
“What was that?” Esther breathed.
“Stay here.” Audra held up a hand as she crept forward. She paused at the knife block and pulled a knife from the wood. “Talk about déjà vu…”
“What?” Esther whispered.
“Never mind. Stay put.”
Esther didn’t listen. She shuffled forward, staying close to Audra’s back. They only made it a few steps when they heard the door leading to the yard from the garage slam shut.
“Dammit!” Audra ran forward.
This time, Esther didn’t follow. She whirled and ran for the back door. Pressing her face to the glass, she peered outside and saw the backside of a man fleeing the illuminated circle of the security light and into the darkness. “He’s running!” she yelled, hoping Audra heard.
A moment later, Audra burst through the garage door and into the yard, chasing after him.
Footsteps sounded overhead. A few moments later, they were on the stairs.
“What’s going on?” Edie burst into the kitchen.
“Someone was in the garage.” She wished now she’d listened to Asher and let him put up cameras and perhaps install a security system. Luckily, the man hadn’t made it into the house.
Edie hurried forward and nudged Esther to the side, throwing the door open.
“Edie, no.” Esther grabbed her arm. She knew what her sister wanted to do. “You can’t go after them.”
“The hell I can’t!”
“You’re pregnant. You can’t go running into the unknown. Jordan will kill us both if you put yourself in danger like that.”
“He doesn’t have to know.” Edie twisted her arm free.
“Edie!”
Edie huffed. With a quick glare at Esther, she turned her fierce look onto the yard and the darkness beyond. “Fine.”
“What is going on down here?” Brooke rounded the corner, Annabeth on her heels.
Esther quickly explained what happened.
Annabeth shook her head. “We need to call the police. I think we touched a nerve with our digging.”
“That or the guy just wants Esther?—”
A sharp crack rent the night.
“That was—” Brooke started.
“A gunshot.” Edie nodded. She stepped out the door. “You can’t stop me this time, Essy. Audra could need help.”
“I’m calling the police.” Brooke already had her phone in her hand.
Edie took off, barefoot, through the grass.
“Edie!” Esther took several running steps after her sister, then growled in frustration. “Dammit!” She ran a hand through her hair and turned around. Brooke had her phone to her ear, talking to the emergency dispatcher.
Letting out a soft groan, Esther let her hand fall back to her side. There was no keeping secrets now. Detective Stroud would skin them all when he learned everything they’d kept from him.
Within minutes of Brooke’s call, sirens pealed through the neighborhood. Soon, flashing lights illuminated her yard and the houses around hers. Esther watched from the window as several police officers exited their cars and ran around the side of her house. A man she recognized walked toward her front door. It was Detective Stroud.
She let out a soft huff and went to answer. Might as well get the inquisition over with.
When she opened the door, he was on her front stoop, hand poised to knock. With a quick frown, he lowered it.
“Since when are detectives some of the first ones to arrive on shots fired calls? Don’t they usually wait until the heat dies down to investigate?” Esther was genuinely curious.
“I recognized your address when the call came in over the scanner.”
She blinked at him, surprised. “You know my address? Better yet, you were awake?”
He lifted one shoulder. “I couldn’t sleep. And I know your address because it was on the report you filed about your friend. Can we stop the small talk and you let me in?”
“Right. Sorry.” She stepped back. Once he was inside, she closed the door.
“What happened?” He glanced toward the hall as Brooke and Annabeth moved away from the back door and came toward them. “And who are they?”
“Friends. So—” She sucked in a breath, then let it out slowly. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. “You were right to suspect I might stick my nose into your investigation.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, then crossed his arms. “What did you do?”
“Called my sister.”
“The one who sent your friend who disappeared? The former CIA guy?”
“Yes.”
He sighed, his frown deepening as he stared past her at Brooke and Annabeth. “Which one of you is the sister?”
“Neither of them,” Esther said. “She and Audra ran after the shooter.”
His arms dropped and his eyes rounded. “They what?” Exasperation colored his tone. “Was dispatch aware of this? Do my officers know?” He reached for his radio.
“I told the dispatcher they went after the guy.” Brooke stepped closer.
“Someone broke into the garage,” Esther said. “It woke me and Audra up. When we went to investigate, he ran out. Edie, Brooke, and Annabeth came down, hearing all the commotion. We all heard the gunshot, and that’s when Edie went after them.”
“Were either of them armed?”
“Audra had a kitchen knife.”
“You know there’s a saying about not bringing a knife to a gunfight, right?”
Brooke scoffed. “That doesn’t apply to Audra.”
“Let me guess.” Stroud’s tone was dry. “She’s CIA too.”
“British intelligence, actually,” Brooke replied.
His short chuckle dripped disbelief. He swiped a hand over his face. “So, what are you two, then? FBI? DEA? Some other alphabet soup agency?”
“No. I’m an executive for Appalachia Resorts,” Brooke replied.
“I’m a doctor,” Annabeth said.
“We’re losing the point.” Esther waved a hand. “I called Edie, looking for help to find Asher and Leah. I know it’s your job, but she and her friends—not just these”—she gestured to Brooke and Annabeth—“have resources well beyond yours. When we talked earlier, I wasn’t entirely truthful with you. Actually, I wouldn’t say that. I just failed to mention some things.”
“Such as?”
“What Asher found when he was looking into the man I saw lurking around the Tylers’ house.”
“He knows who it is?”
“No. We do now, but he doesn’t. We uncovered some things about Connie Tyler’s past that could have bearing. She doesn’t want it getting out, but she agreed that it might be necessary.”
“What might be necessary? Miss Campbell, you need to tell me what you know. Right now.”
“I’m trying to.” She glared at him. “Connie Tyler’s real name is Lindy Nieman. Her parents were murdered almost eleven years ago. It’s possible the man who murdered them is the same man who took Asher and Leah.”
“And who would that be?”
“Leah’s biological father, Bradley Lennox.”
Stroud muttered a soft curse, closing his eyes for a moment. “When did you find all this out?”
“We’ve known something was off about Connie for over a week. That’s part of the reason Asher came here. But we’ve only known Bradley’s name since yesterday. A friend of Audra’s did some digging.”
“Is Bradley the man you saw tonight?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see his face. Even if I did, I don’t know what he looks like. We haven’t been able to find a picture. We have someone on it, though.”
“Your friend’s friend?”
“Yes.”
“Tell them to stop searching. I’ll handle it.”
“No offense, Detective,” Brooke said, breaking into the conversation. “But you don’t want her to stop. We’ll find answers quicker than you will. You can do the physical part, but leave the information to us.”
Stroud’s expression hardened. “Ms.—” he paused, waiting for Brooke to fill in her last name.
“It’s missus. Mrs. Wagner.”
“Mrs. Wagner?—”
Brooke cut him off. “You have no clue who you’re dealing with. The woman chasing the intruder took down the Brogan crime family in Las Vegas. My husband, and hers”—she pointed at Annabeth—“took down a murderer. So did Edie and her husband. We’re not amateurs.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering under his breath.
“We’re wasting time arguing about this, Detective,” Esther said. “Do you want to find Leah and Asher or not?”
“Of course I do,” he shot back, pinning her with a steely-eyed glare.
“Then let’s work together.”
Finally, he nodded. “Fine. I knew you were up to something, for the record. The officer at the Tylers’ house reported that you’d stopped by. Along with friends of Connie’s from work. I’m guessing it was the rest of you lot?” He glanced at Brooke and Annabeth.
“It was.” Esther’s head bobbed once. “We needed to confirm what we found out, and we wanted her side of the story.”
Stroud ran a hand over his hair. “I guess I need to have another conversation with Mrs. Tyler.”
“Be gentle with her,” Esther said. “She was just trying to protect her daughter. Bradley Lennox is not a good man.”
Understanding lit his gaze. “I will be. Now, can I talk to this friend of your friend’s? I have questions.”
Esther shared a look with Brooke and Annabeth, unsure what to say. Her instinct was to say no. Jo couldn’t get officially involved. And it wasn’t her call, anyway. She turned to Stroud. “I doubt it. But we’ll talk to Audra when she returns.”
“Sounds good.” He wandered over to the dining table and pulled out a chair.
“What are you doing?” Wrinkles creased Esther’s forehead.
He took his notebook and pen from his pocket and laid them on the table, along with his radio. “Waiting.”