Chapter 12 #2
“I hope you’re right.” Dom surprised her by pressing a quick kiss to the back of her hand. “Bad enough my father ended up taking two innocent people down with him. I refuse to make the same mistake.”
“That wasn’t your father’s decision.” She frowned at him. “Your father was a victim in this too. Just like my parents.”
Dom shrugged and released her hand. “How much farther until we reach the safe house?”
“Griff is turning left at the next intersection.” She waved toward the lead SUV with its blinker on. “Looks like the road isn’t as well plowed as the others.”
“Yeah.” Dom shifted in his seat. “If you need me to drive . . .”
“I’m fine.” She gripped the steering wheel tight as she made the turn. The wheels chugged through the snow without a problem. “I’m sorry the SUV is smaller than what you’re used to.”
“I’ll survive.” He didn’t look at her, keeping his gaze on the road. “There doesn’t seem to be much traffic.”
“That’s a good thing. Hopefully, the shooter is far away and will have no way to track us moving forward.
” She pushed her SUV forward, following Griff’s taillights.
There weren’t a lot of residential homes either, which was why there wasn’t a lot of traffic.
She wasn’t as familiar with this part of the city.
There were deeper drifts of snow in the open areas from the wind. Kendra kept her pace steady, fearing if she slowed down, she’d get stuck.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Griff took another turn. This highway had been plowed recently.
Another fifteen minutes passed before Griff tapped his brakes. Kendra leaned forward, trying to see beyond Griff’s SUV. When he turned to the left, she belatedly realized he’d reached the driveway.
She hit the gas, forcing her car through the deep snow. Following Griff’s tire tracks helped and soon she could see a large log cabin flanked by tall evergreen trees.
“Wow, this looks really nice,” she said as she came to a stop beside Griff. Her brother-in-law was out of his car and walking up to the front door. She assumed he had a key code, much like those used by rental properties.
“Yeah.” Dom scowled as he pushed open his passenger-side door. “I hope this doesn’t get shot up like the last place.”
She flashed him an annoyed look. “Come on, Dom. This is a federal safe house. Let’s stay positive, okay? No more doom and gloom.”
He shrugged and shifted to get out. She hit the back hatch, freeing Smoky. Dom grabbed her backpack and the laptop. She crossed to the back of the SUV to close the door. “Come, Smoky.”
She and Dominic headed up to the log cabin. A moment later, Levy, Raine, Justin, and Stone pulled up behind them.
Smoky wheeled and took off after Stone. She sighed and slipped around Dominic to get control of her K9. She understood her high-energy dog hadn’t had much play/work time, but Smoky needed to obey her commands.
“Smoky, come!” Her sharp voice told the K9 she wasn’t messing around.
Thankfully, Smoky stopped abruptly and turned, running to her side. She gave Smoky the hand signal to heel, and the dog sat, staring up at her adoringly.
“Good girl.” She stroked Smoky’s fur. “Good girl.”
Justin and Stone joined her as they headed up to the house. Dom stood in the doorway, watching as if he were afraid the shooter might show up at any moment. Justin nodded toward him. “He’s really worried about you.”
“For some reason, he feels guilty about this.” She frowned. “As if it’s his fault Stuart Ramsey confessed to killing his father.”
“Yeah, I agree he’s an innocent victim in this.” Justin shot her a sidelong glance. “And if he feels guilty, it’s because he’s worried about you, Kendra.”
She hoped her brother couldn’t see her blush. “He’s a good person, he’d care about anyone being in danger.”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, sis.” Justin patted her on the back. “He’s crushing on you.”
Highly doubtful that Dom was crushing on her, but she decided there was no point in arguing with Justin. Her older brothers liked to stick their nose into her personal business. Further denials would only make Justin think she was crushing on Dom too.
Maybe she was, but that was something she had no intention of confiding to Justin. Even if she was closest to him compared to the others.
Her brother opened the front door for her.
A wave of warmth washed over her from the blazing fire in the great room.
Smoky and Stone ran around the living room for a moment, until Justin directed them to sit under the table.
Kendra eyed the massive stone fireplace that extended all the way up the cathedral ceiling.
A curved staircase led to the second-floor bedrooms, and the hallway loft overlooked the living and kitchen area.
She had no idea how many bedrooms were up there, but this was by far the nicest place she’d ever stayed.
“You feds get paid too much if this is your safe house,” Levy drawled, looking around with his hands on his hips. “We don’t get this level of treatment. Then again, most of our witnesses are scumbags.”
“Not my father,” Dom quickly interjected.
“Whoa, I said most, not all.” Levy looked embarrassed at being called out.
“Okay, let’s talk about how we can draw the shooter out so that we can grab him.
” Griff took over the conversation. Kendra could tell her brother-in-law wasn’t thrilled about Levy’s comments either.
She imagined Levy had worked with a lot of bad guys, which had likely grated on him after a while.
Still, he shouldn’t paint every witness with the same blackened brush.
“I think we need to focus on Bartoli’s known contacts.” Raine reached down to stroke Stone’s soft fur beneath the table. “He’s high on our suspect list. We can also try to see if any of the employees at Dom’s company are involved.”
Kendra glanced at Dom. “Are you sure about your new trick to reroute the ISP address?”
He shrugged. “Nothing is one hundred percent.”
“Okay, that’s a starting point.” Justin moved into the kitchen. “I don’t suppose we have anything to eat here?”
“Check the freezer,” Griff suggested. “Frozen pizza is better than nothing.”
Kendra didn’t feel very hungry, but the hour was going on noon. They’d spent more time at the last rental property than she’d anticipated. “We should have stopped to grab something along the way.”
“Levy, maybe you can head back to pick up lunch?” Raine gestured to the driveway. “You have a clear pathway out of here.”
Levy frowned, then shrugged. “Sure, if that’s what you want.”
“No need, there are three frozen pizzas in the freezer,” Justin said. “I’ll toss these into the oven now and figure out something else for dinner.”
As Justin went to work on their frozen pizzas, Dominic set the laptop on the kitchen table and turned it on. “Give me a few minutes to see if I can get into the network the feds have here.”
“I still think placing Dominic in witness protection is the way to go,” Levy groused. “We shouldn’t have lost his father to a plane crash. I don’t want to be known as the US Marshal who also let his son be killed.”
“No.” Kendra’s tone was sharp. “Drop it. We’re going to work on a way to arrest the shooter. Then you and Griff will convince him to turn on his employer.”
“You’re assuming the shooter knows Bartoli’s real name,” Levey pointed out. “Bartoli is smart enough to use a middleman to make the deal.”
“Fine, then we’ll get that guy’s name and convince him to cooperate.” She drilled Levy with a hard look. “Those are the types of people who end up in witness protection, right? That’s what you just said.”
“Fine.” Levy dropped into the closest chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “You guys take the lead on this. I’ll help in any way I can.”
She didn’t appreciate Levy’s hands-off approach, feeling as if he was just waiting for the opportunity to say, I told you so. Then again, she could maybe understand that he was worried about his reputation, especially if he lost another witness.
Her only concern was to find and arrest Bartoli so he could be held accountable for murdering Dom’s father and her parents. That was the only way to ensure that she and Dominic would be safe.
A few minutes passed while Dominic worked at the computer.
But then he abruptly stopped, sat back in his chair, and pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes.
“I changed my mind. You need to set me up as bait.” He dropped his hands and looked between Griff and Levy.
“Rent another safe house and put me in plain sight. I’ll log into the internet and draw the shooter out into the open.
That worked before when we thought Levy was the bad guy. ”
“No way,” Levy protested. “It’s not smart for you to be there alone. At the very least, I need to be with you.”
“Yeah, I don’t like that idea either.” Griff gestured to the laptop. “What’s wrong, can’t you bypass the internet the way you’d hoped?”
“No, I can do it,” Dom said. “But I’m not sure I should. I just can’t shake the fact that every single time I bypass the ISP address, we get found. It’s almost like that move alone is drawing attention to our location.”
“Is that possible?” Kendra asked. “I mean, does what you’re doing leave enough of an electronic footprint to make it obvious where we are?”
“No, it shouldn’t.” Dom sighed loudly. “But I’m second-guessing myself now that I’m about to do it again. We’re pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. If this guy shows up, it will take longer for the police to get here.”
“Yeah, but this time, the shooter would have to get closer to the house to try taking you out,” Raine said. “Maybe this is the best place to use to draw him out.”
“Maybe he’ll bring reinforcements this time,” Dom said. “If you’re right about Bartoli using a middleman to take me out, they must be getting nervous that the job hasn’t been completed yet. How much longer before he gets antsy and sends more gunmen after us?”
The thought of a small army coming after them made Kendra’s blood run cold.
“Let’s decide this after we eat,” Justin said from the kitchen. “The pizzas will be ready in less than ten minutes.”
“Yeah, it’s probably better to avoid going on the run without food in our systems,” Griff said, half joking, half serious. “I’m starving.”
“Fine.” Dom closed the laptop. “I won’t do anything yet.”
Kendra pulled another chair over from the living room so they could all eat at the table. When the pizza was finished, Justin cut them up and piled the slices on a large platter.
“We need to say grace,” Raine said, as Levy moved to grab a slice.
Kendra had to smile at the surprised look on Levy’s features. But the US Marshal folded his hands in his lap and bowed his head.
Griff cleared his throat. “Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to keep us all safe in Your care. Please bless this food and give us the strength and courage to find those who would do us harm. Amen.”
“Amen,” Kendra, Dom, Justin, and Raine repeated. Levy bobbed his head without answering.
The dogs shifted beneath the table, no doubt getting restless. When they finished eating, Raine jumped to her feet and carried empty plates to the kitchen. Kendra chipped in to help with clean-up duty, then noticed Smoky had moved toward the front door, looking at her expectantly.
“Okay, girl. I’m coming.” She reached for her coat, then glanced back at Dom. “Don’t make any decisions until I get back.”
He nodded. “Understood.”
Kendra shoved her feet into her boots, opened the front door, and held it open for Smoky.
Her Alaskan malamute ran outside as if desperate to get busy.
Kendra followed her K9 as the dog headed out toward the side of the house where one of the large evergreen trees was located.
Smoky didn’t pee on trees the way the male dogs did, but she sniffed the area around the tree with interest.
“Come on, girl. Get busy.” Kendra hunched her shoulders against the cold wind coming from the north. There was a low rumbling sound in the distance that made her wonder if someone was driving down the road. She turned to look for headlights or the dark shape of a car but didn’t see anything.
Smoky did her thing but then turned and sniffed the breeze. Suddenly the dog turned and ran around the pine tree as if she’d caught an interesting scent.
“Smoky!” Kendra broke into a run, fearing her K9 had latched on to the scent of a moose or an elk. Especially as Smoky was heading in the opposite direction from the road. As she rounded the tree, she heard a sharp bark.
Smoky’s alert? Kendra quickly unzipped her coat to reach for her weapon. Her dog was sitting by a tree near the back corner of the property. The way her K9 stared at her, Kendra knew she’d alerted on a specific scent. Not an animal.
The bad guy? Someone else? A wave of apprehension washed over her as she hurried toward her K9, weapon drawn. She didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean the shooter wasn’t nearby.
Just waiting to make his move.