Chapter 14 #2
“No way. He’s involved. I think the shooting at the previous house was a cover-up.
Levy suspected we were onto him, so he changed tactics.
And we bought his I’m innocent act, didn’t we?
” She raked her gaze over the area. “The only way Jennifer could have found us here at the FBI safe house was if Levy told her where we were. Abandoning the snow machine was a setup as well. Maybe because she heard Smoky’s bark and knew the gig was up.
Her mistake was thinking we’d fall for her innocent act the way we did with Levy. ”
Justin grimaced and nodded. “Okay, I admit, it’s strange we were found here. I’m on board with treating Levy as a hostile enemy.”
“Don’t forget, the gunman is still at large too.
” Kendra’s pulse raced as she tried to remain calm.
She wondered why Jennifer had gotten herself lost a few days ago, requiring Kendra to find her.
Was that to make sure Smoky didn’t see her as a threat?
Maybe. But that had ended up working against her.
Not something to think about now, though.
They needed to find Dom. She looked at Smoky, doing her best to inject enthusiasm into her tone.
“Are you ready? Search! Search Dominic!”
Smoky wheeled around and led the way, crossing the backyard where multiple sets of footprints marred the snow. Kendra ignored the footprints. They’d all walked around in the back, so following a specific set of prints now to find Dom and Levy would be impossible.
Smoky’s keen nose was their only hope of finding Dom. How far could Levy have taken him anyway?
She was afraid they may already be too late. Once Levy had Dominic in a moving vehicle, their chances of finding him dropped dramatically.
When gunfire rang out, Kendra’s heart lodged in her chest. Was he hit? Or worse, dead? “Dom! Where are you?”
There was nothing but silence.
“Maybe we should spread out,” Justin suggested.
“Do what you think is best.” She’d used Smoky to find Dominic before, and her K9 would follow the scent now. “Smoky will find him.”
Justin frowned but didn’t argue. Rather than leaving her, he stayed close to her side as she hurried behind her K9.
Smoky was clearly on Dominic’s scent, alternating between sniffing along the snow and up in the air.
When Smoky picked up her pace, her tail wagging back and forth, Kendra’s heart filled with hope.
Was Dominic on foot? If so, she knew Smoky would find him. If not . . .
No, she wasn’t going there. She broke into a run, keeping pace with her dog as she silently prayed. Please, Lord Jesus, help us find Dominic in time!
Smoky abruptly veered off, heading deeper into the woods. Kendra’s steps floundered, doubt seeping in. Was Smoky on the right path? Or had she somehow gotten sidetracked?
“Keep going.” Justin’s encouragement was just what she needed. “Smoky is on his scent.”
Desperate to believe that, she pushed forward, ignoring her exhaustion.
Her fluffy dog zigzagged through the trees with seemingly boundless energy.
Kendra noticed there was only a single set of footprints in the snow now.
They were also spread far apart, more so than what she could manage.
They had to belong to Dominic. She could easily imagine him running full out.
Somehow, he’d gotten away from Levy!
Kendra wanted to call out to him but held her tongue. Dom may have escaped, but someone had fired at him.
Levy? The gunman? Both?
She glanced back at Justin. “You should go back to Griff and Raine. They may be in danger.”
“Not happening.” Her brother scowled. “They’re cops. They’ll handle it.”
Arguing would be useless. The only person more stubborn than a Sullivan was another Sullivan.
Smoky disappeared behind a large evergreen tree. Then she heard the sharp bark as Smoky alerted.
A fresh surge of adrenaline pushed Kendra forward. She ran around the tree, stopping abruptly when she saw Dominic kneeling beside Smoky.
“Good girl,” she managed as she closed the distance between them.
Dominic straightened and came to meet her, sweeping her into a big hug. He held her close for long seconds until Justin and Stone appeared.
She wanted to protest when Dom let her go. But then he got straight to the point. “I’m glad you’re here, but there’s no time to waste. Levy is involved. He had the gunman waiting in the black GMC Sierra down the road.”
“Did he give you any hint as to why? What’s his relationship to Bartoli? Or does he have another motive?” Justin asked.
Dom shook his head. “No, but I assume it’s money. Where are Griff and Raine?”
“They’re guarding Jennifer.” Kendra bent to praise her K9, wishing she had grabbed the stuffed hippo.
She’d have to do more training with Smoky now that these two recent searches hadn’t been properly rewarded.
Although based on Smoky’s leaping around in joy, her K9 didn’t seem to mind not getting her toy.
Smoky ran off, leaping and playing with Stone. Kendra figured that would have to be enough of a reward for now.
“That Jennifer looks familiar, but I can’t place her.” Dom’s brow furrowed as he struggled to remember. “I wish I could say when I met her. Not that it matters anymore. The most important thing is to make sure Griff and Raine know Levy’s dirty.”
“Texting Griff now,” Justin said, his thumbs flying across his phone screen. “Although I think they’ve already figured that out for themselves.”
Kendra arched a brow. “Really? Then why did I have to convince you about Levy’s involvement in this?”
Justin shrugged. “I was leaning that way but thought it was strange that he’d risk being shot by the gunman just to insert himself into the group.”
“Yeah, we’ll it’s clear he wants to kill me,” Dom said bluntly. “For whatever reason, he wanted to get me out of there. Forced me to leave at gunpoint.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t just shoot you and be done with it.” Justin frowned. “Easier that way.”
Kendra shot an infuriating look at her brother, although what he said was true. A shiver that had nothing to do with the freezing temps danced down her spine. It was scary how Levy had almost succeeded in eliminating Dominic. And the danger wasn’t over yet.
“Well, he said he’d prefer to take me alive but would settle for dead,” Dom admitted,
She managed a reassuring smile. “Thankfully, you were smart enough to get away. You’re safe now. But we need to go back to the log cabin.”
“What if Levy and the gunman are still out there?” Dom didn’t move an inch, but his gaze continuously tracked back and forth as if expecting the men to show up at any moment. “I don’t want you anywhere near him, Kendra. He won’t hesitate to shoot you to get to me.”
“I know, but we outnumber him,” she pointed out. “That’s probably why he tried to get you into the truck alone. Separating you from us was his best chance of trying to come up with an alternate plan.”
“I guess,” Dom said with a frown.
She reached out to touch his arm. “It’s not like we have another option but to go back.” She tipped her head toward the landscape beyond. There was nothing but woods and snow for as far as they could see. “The dogs are having a blast out here, but we can’t hang out here in the cold forever.”
Still, Dom didn’t move. “What about texting Griff and Raine? I’m worried we’ll walk into a trap.”
She shrugged and glanced at her brother. “You told them about Levy, right? Did either of them respond?”
“Not yet.” Justin’s scowl deepened. “I hope they’re not in trouble. I agree, it’s time for us to get out of here.”
“Sounds good.” She turned toward the dogs. “Smoky, come.” Her K9 turned and bounded to her side. Stone ran toward Justin, as if anticipating he was next.
“I’ll take the lead.” Justin unzipped his coat and pulled his weapon. Kendra mirrored his action, although her gun was heavy in her hand. Chase would be disappointed in how often she forgot to reach for her gun.
“Look out!” The shout was punctuated by the sharp crack of gunfire. Something struck her hard in the back, sending her face-first into the snow. Kendra’s breath whooshed from her chest as her heart thundered in her ears.
What was going on?
More gunfire rang out. Kendra struggled to free herself of the heavy weight on top of her. She needed to find Smoky! What if her K9 was hit?
“Stay down.” Dom’s voice was near her ear. Realizing he was the one who’d jumped on top of her helped a little, but she was still desperate to save her dog.
“Smoky!” Her hoarse cry was muffled by snow.
She lifted her head, trying to breathe as she searched for her K9.
Her dog was half covered in snow, making her blend into their surroundings.
The K9 was growling low in her throat, staring at something in the distance.
Levy? Or the gunman? For all she knew, both men may have joined the fray.
Where was her gun? Kendra almost sobbed when she realized she’d dropped it when Dom barreled into her. She was failing miserably at this and hated to admit Chase had been right to be upset with her for embarking on this plan of protecting Dominic on her own.
That thought made her wonder about Justin.
She twisted her head to see better. Her brother was sprawled on his stomach just a few feet away.
She watched him for a long second, panicking when she realized he wasn’t moving.
Stone was stretched out beside him in the snow, his nose inches from Justin’s face.
Her heart squeezed painfully as she feared the worst.
Had Justin been killed?
They needed to do something! Frantic now, Kendra bucked against Dom’s body lying on top of her. “Get off, get off!” She searched the snow for her weapon. “We need to save him!”
“Raine is here,” Dom said, his voice irrationally calm. “Stay down.”
She didn’t want to stay down! Knowing Raine had arrived brought some measure of relief, but that wasn’t good enough if her brother was bleeding to death.
Changing tactics, she abruptly wiggled backward.
Her movement took Dom by surprise, and Kendra was able to get out from beneath him.
Finally free, she pushed herself to her hands and knees, crawling through the snow toward her brother.
She reached for his foot, grabbing his ankle and shaking it hard. “Justin! Talk to me! Are you hurt?”
To her surprise, he lifted his head and turned to look at her. Now that she was close, she could see he had one arm wrapped around his K9. “It’s a flesh wound. Get down!”
A flesh wound! She belatedly noticed a sprinkling of red droplets of blood across the snow near his right arm. Maybe it wasn’t serious, but Justin was right-handed. And that meant he couldn’t return fire.
She needed her weapon, and fast! The report of gunfire had stopped, but she was afraid it would start again any second. Especially if Raine was facing off against two men.
Keeping her head down, she turned to crawl back toward Dominic. “We need to find my gun,” she whispered.
Dom pushed up to his knees and dragged his hands through the snow.
His arms moved like a giant windmill, and if she wasn’t scared to death, she might have laughed.
A moment later, he triumphantly held up her gun.
It was wet and covered with snow, but that didn’t matter.
She knew it would still fire if she could manage to hit what she was aiming at.
A big if, under the circumstances.
“Thanks.” She held out her hand, but he shook his head.
“I’ve got it.” Dom’s expression was grim. “You need to stay behind me.”
Frustrated, she almost snapped. Then she realized Smoky was standing with her nose to the air, sniffing intently. She crawled behind Dom, then called to her K9. “Smoky, come.”
Thankfully, her dog obeyed her command. Dom was still on his knees, but he was so tall that he may as well have been standing upright.
She wrapped one arm around Smoky, pulling the dog close, then grabbed the back of his jacket with the other, needing the physical connection to face whatever threat lurked in the distance.
“Kendra? Justin? Are you okay?” Raine called.
“I’m fine.” Kendra relaxed her grip on Dom’s coat.
“I’m okay too,” Justin said. Looking around Dom’s back, she realized Justin had pushed himself up to his feet. The way he cradled his right arm across his chest indicated he was hurt more than he let on.
“Good. I have the gunman in custody.” Raine’s voice rang with satisfaction. “But there’s no sign of Levy.”
Kendra grimaced, knowing Levy must have taken the opportunity to escape. The coward.
“Who is the shooter?” Dom asked. “Do you recognize him?”
“Never seen him before in my life.” Raine stepped out from behind the trees, pushing a man dressed in black.
Kendra didn’t recognize him either, but one thing was clear.
He wasn’t a younger white guy, the way Levy had claimed.
The US Marshal had lied about that. The man Raine had in custody had darker skin and black hair, almost as if he were from Romania.
Or maybe some other Eastern European country.
Was he involved in the South African cartel?
“I recognize him,” Dominic said, breaking the silence. “His name is Jake Hutchins. He’s my second-in-command at Data Intelligence Services.”
Hutchins? The last name clicked in her mind. This guy was married or related to Jennifer Hutchins. Likely married, as Jennifer had fair skin.
Stunned, she realized the cartel had infiltrated Dominic’s company. No wonder every time he’d used the computer they were found. This guy had likely learned the technique from Dom himself.
The immediate threat was over, but Kendra knew they still needed to find Levy before he struck again.