Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Sienna had just gotten Bailey to sleep when she heard the gunfire and Zeke’s shouting. Without wasting a moment, she grabbed the diaper bag and held Bailey close as she ducked into the bathroom.
Heart racing, she hid behind the door. Where was Taylor?
Please Lord, keep us all safe in Your care!
She should have let Taylor put Bailey down for her nap. After this, she wouldn’t blame Taylor for giving her notice. As it was, Taylor wasn’t keen on traveling for the next three months. The lure of moving around seemed to be wearing off.
At the rate these attacks were coming, Sienna worried she may be forced to cancel her tour altogether.
Swallowing hard, she did her best to soothe Bailey as she listened. Then she heard Zeke calling her name.
“Sienna? Sienna, are you okay?” He opened the bathroom door, his dark eyes filling with relief when he saw her and Bailey. “You’re not hurt?” When she shook her head, he nodded. “Good. We need to get out of here.”
“And go where?” She couldn’t imagine they’d be any safer in another hotel. Although clearly staying here wasn’t an option. She resisted the urge to throw herself into Zeke’s arms. “I don’t understand what happened.”
“I don’t either. Get your stuff together. I’m hoping we can use the safe house.” Zeke already had his phone out and was turning away. “Rhy? We’re in trouble. The gunman showed up and fired at Flynn.”
Taking a steadying breath, she shifted Bailey in her arms and packed what she could in the diaper bag. Thankfully, there hadn’t been time to unpack her large suitcase. As she worked, the fear she’d have to cancel her tour wouldn’t leave her alone.
She had an obligation to uphold her contract, but at what cost?
Was this Josh’s master plan? She’d assumed he wanted her to be in danger to get custody of Bailey, but maybe he also wanted her to give up the income from her shows.
Paying a lawyer would be difficult if she had to refund the advance she’d been given.
Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment, she pulled her suitcase with one hand while still carrying Bailey. She froze when she found Taylor inspecting Flynn’s bleeding arm.
“What happened?” Releasing the oversized suitcase, she rushed forward. Zeke hadn’t mentioned anyone had been hurt. “You were hit?”
“It’s nothing,” Flynn said. “Just a flesh wound.”
“Sienna, hand me the diaper bag, would you?” Taylor sounded amazingly calm. “I need the cleaning wipes and bandages.”
“Of course.” She shrugged the diaper bag off her shoulder and handed it to Taylor. As
Taylor rummaged for what she needed, Sienna glanced over at Zeke who finally ended his call with Rhy.
“We have the safe house for the rest of the week. Flynn, we’ll need to pile into your car. It will be tight, but I’m concerned the rental is compromised.”
“That works.” Flynn dug the key fob from his pocket and tossed it at Zeke. Then he frowned at how Taylor was gently cleaning the wound on his upper arm. “Hurry up and slap a bandage on that so we can hit the road.”
“Okay.” Taylor quickly did as he asked, then stood and slipped the diaper bag over her shoulder. “I’m ready.”
Zeke grabbed her oversized suitcase, carrying his weapon in one hand as he moved toward the door. “Sienna, you and Bailey stay close to me. Flynn, grab the car seat and the computers if you can. It’s not going to be a quick getaway, so I need everyone to be on high alert for anyone who looks remotely suspicious.”
“I can grab the phones.” Swallowing hard, she snagged the bag of disposable phones as she followed Zeke out to the front of the hotel where Flynn’s vehicle was located. There were several cars in the parking lot, which she felt certain must be a good thing. The shooter couldn’t know which one belonged to Flynn. Zeke gestured to a nice-sized SUV, but with four adults and a bulky car seat, he was right about it being a tight fit.
By unspoken agreement, she and Taylor squished into the back seat once she’d secured Bailey in the car seat. Taylor tucked the diaper bag at her feet so they could access it if needed. Zeke tossed her large suitcase into the back, then he took the driver’s seat. Flynn grumbled as he slid into the passenger seat.
“That didn’t take too long,” Sienna said as Zeke merged into traffic.
Zeke met her gaze briefly in the rearview mirror, then turned his attention to the road. “Flynn, did you get a good look at the guy?”
“White guy, about my height with brown hair.” Flynn scowled. “He wasn’t wearing a ski mask, but I had to duck when he fired at me. I was going to return fire, but by then, he turned to run.”
Sienna felt sick at how close Flynn had come to being badly hurt, or even dying. This situation had spiraled out of control. She could not in good conscience ask Zeke and Flynn to continue putting themselves in harm’s way for her and Bailey.
But what was the alternative? She refused to give Josh custody of their daughter. She could flee the country. Maybe go to South Africa or Australia. Find a way to buy a couple of fake names for her and Bailey. A drastic step that would make her a fugitive from the law. Yet right now that seemed the smarter path to take.
For Zeke’s and Flynn’s sake. And really, for anyone with the misfortune of being near her and Bailey.
A cloak of despair settled over her shoulders as she tried to smile and softly sing to her daughter. Bailey was making it known she hadn’t gotten her nap, but soon the soothing car ride lulled the little girl to sleep.
“It’s going to be okay,” Taylor whispered. “Zeke and Flynn will keep us safe.”
“I know.” What Taylor said was true, but it was also the crux of her dilemma. This running from threats and gunfire was wearing her down. She had not anticipated Josh would go to these lengths to get to her.
She wanted to pepper Zeke with questions about how the gunman had found them and what they were going to do next but held back so as not to wake Bailey.
Everyone was silent as Zeke navigated the streets. She noticed he eyed the rearview mirror several times along the way, making sure they weren’t followed.
She hadn’t used her phone in the hotel, so how had the gunman found them? By tracking Zeke’s rental car? That seemed like a stretch, but then again, if Josh had access to unlimited funds, maybe he’d hired a former cop to find her.
“Does Josh know about our friendship?” Zeke’s voice was a whisper.
She shook her head. “I didn’t talk about you to him. I don’t know if Luke ever mentioned your name, but I doubt it. Luke didn’t care for Josh.”
Zeke nodded without saying anything more.
After nearly twenty minutes of driving, Zeke turned into what appeared to be a residential neighborhood. Flynn turned in his seat to look back at them. “You’ll like the safe house,” he said in a whisper. “There are three bedrooms and a kitchen. And the windows are all made of bullet-resistant glass.”
“Sounds good.” She tried to smile, but the fact that they were at the point of needing a safe house with bullet-resistant windows was hardly reassuring. Sure, they’d be safe unless they wanted to walk out the door.
Zeke pulled into the driveway but kept the engine running in an effort to keep Bailey asleep. He pushed open his door and jumped out.
Flynn did, too, and soon the two guys had all their belongings inside the safe house. She gently eased Bailey from her car seat and carried her inside.
She went into the closest bedroom and put her daughter on the bed. Then she placed pillows around the little girl so she wouldn’t roll off. Keeping the door open an inch so she could hear her if she awoke, Sienna returned to the living room.
“Rhy? We’re set.” Zeke was back on the phone. “We could use a replacement vehicle, though, just to be extra cautious.” Zeke met her gaze, then added, “I have to assume this guy found us by tracking the rental. I parked it in the back of the City Central Hotel, and that’s the same door he used to access the building.”
She sank into the closest chair, thinking back over their morning. The shooter had left the theater before they had, was it possible he’d been sitting somewhere nearby and had seen which car they’d gotten into?
Was this guy really that good?
Although he hadn’t hit what he was aiming at, so maybe he was better at finding them than at hitting his target.
She shivered, despite the warmth of the room. First Zeke had nearly been hit by gunfire, then Flynn.
It was only a matter of time before the gunman would turn his sights on her. Or worse, her daughter.
Now that they were safe, she needed an exit plan. A way to disappear, forever.
Zeke could tell Sienna was distraught over their most recent tussle with the gunman. He didn’t blame her and wished he’d asked Rhy about the safe house from the beginning.
Then again, he was fairly certain the gunman had gotten a line on the rental while they were at the Sinatra Music Center. Maybe it was better that they were able to escape the hotel while leaving the rental car behind.
He really needed to do a better job at keeping Sienna and Bailey safe. Thankfully, Flynn’s injury wasn’t serious.
But the gunman had still gotten far too close.
“Would you like me to look at your arm again?” Taylor asked Flynn.
“Nope. I’m good.” Flynn shrugged off her concern.
“I’m so sorry this happened,” Sienna said. “I feel terrible you were injured because of me.”
“Not your fault,” Zeke quickly said. “Don’t worry, we’ll find this guy. The description Flynn gave resembles Josh’s roommate Brett Voss.”
Sienna stared down at her clasped hands for a long moment before meeting his gaze. “It might be time for a new plan. One that involves me and Bailey obtaining new identities and disappearing for good.”
What? He stared at her in shock. “You can’t do that, Sienna.”
“Why not?” She spread her hands. “This isn’t working. I can’t ask you and Flynn to put your lives on the line just so I can sing.”
“For one thing, you’ll be in trouble with the law if you don’t show up in court to fight against your ex-husband’s request for custody.” She obviously didn’t understand what was at stake. “Every cop across the country will be looking for you and Bailey.”
“I have sole custody now,” Sienna said. “The next court hearing is a month away. Plenty of time for the two of us to disappear.”
He didn’t point out that he and Flynn were both obligated to uphold the law. Even if he wanted to skirt the legal issues, he’d never ask Flynn to do the same.
He took two long steps, then he knelt in front of Sienna, taking her hands in his. His mother’s engagement ring winked up at him, giving him strength. “We have three days until you’re scheduled to kick off your first show. A day and a half before you’re scheduled to do the morning show interview.” Time was slipping by faster than he cared for, but he continued to hold her gaze. “I’m asking you to be patient. To give us a little time to work on this. Don’t forget, we have the tactical team backing us up.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Sienna said in a low, anguished voice. “It feels selfish to keep moving forward.”
“The gunman has broken the law,” he reminded her. “He is the one being selfish. Along with the guy who hired him.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “I guess I can give you a few days. But if I have to cancel, it would be better for everyone if I at least gave those ticket holders some advance notice. At least twenty-four hours.”
“I’ll see what we can do,” he rashly promised. Two days would be pushing it. Unless Gabe was able to find something on Josh Allenton that would help turn the tables in their favor. “I think we’re on to something with Brett Voss who is likely living in this area. And we still need to dig deeper into Ken Holt.”
Sienna’s fingers tightened around his for a moment, then she nodded. “Okay. Two days. If we’re not farther along in identifying the gunman, I’ll cancel the show.”
While she didn’t add anything about leaving under a fake name, he understood that was still her backup plan. One that he could not morally or legally get on board with.
But that was a problem for another day.
“Thanks.” He released her hands and rose to his feet. Flynn was in the process of setting up the two computers in the kitchen. With the sound of a ticking clock echoing in his mind, Zeke quickly joined him. “Let’s pick up where we left off with Voss.”
“Yep.” Flynn had already brought up Brett Voss’s photo. After studying it for a long moment, he grimaced. “I don’t know, Zeke. This might not be the guy I saw. The perp’s eyes were closer together, and his nose wasn’t as prominent.”
Like all cops, Flynn had a keen eye for detail. The information was depressing, but he wasn’t ready to give up on Voss yet. “Maybe Voss has a buddy. Let’s keep searching. Oh, and we should probably follow up with Gabe soon.”
“I realize we just ate lunch, but we’ll have to think about food at some point,” Flynn said.
“I’ll check the cupboards,” Sienna said, coming into the kitchen. “Maybe the former residents have left some food items behind.”
Zeke watched Sienna as she moved through the kitchen, then forced himself to look away. This was not the time to think about how attractive she was. Or how much he liked and admired her.
Not when he only had two days to find this jerk.
He reached for his phone, hesitated, then opened the bag containing the disposable phones. After pulling one out, he dialed Gabe’s number.
“Who is this?” Gabe asked in lieu of a greeting.
“Zeke and I’m here with Flynn. Please make a note of this number, we’re going low profile from this point forward.”
“Yeah, I heard you guys were found at the City Central Hotel,” Gabe said. “Rhy and Joe have gone to smooth things over.”
He knew Rhy would pull out all the favors he had to keep the shooting incident off the radar, but the hotel wasn’t within their jurisdiction. Since there was nothing Zeke could do to help Rhy and Joe, he focused on Gabe. “Did you find anything we can use on Josh Allenton?”
“Nothing major. I uncovered a few underage drinking tickets, a disorderly conduct ticket, and a minor drug possession charge involving marijuana. Then, of course, there was the assault charges that Sienna filed against him.” It seemed as if Gabe had been busy. “I did notice that he had the same lawyer representing him for each offense. Dude by the name of Walter Rowe.”
“Walter Rowe,” Zeke repeated, causing Sienna to turn and look at him.
“That’s the Allenton family lawyer,” Sienna said. “Rowe didn’t represent him in our divorce, but he is the one Josh is using in his new joint custody request.”
“Good work, Gabe. According to Sienna, Josh’s lawyer is being paid for by his parents.” He thought for a moment, half listening to Gabe’s fingers clacking on the keyboard. “Is Rowe only licensed to practice in California? Or can he practice here in Wisconsin too?”
“He’s licensed in three states: California, New York, and Wisconsin,” Gabe said. “Why, is that significant?”
“I don’t know, probably not.” He wondered how the attorney had become so loyal to the Allenton family. “Although I would like you to keep digging into the family. Maybe this is just how rich people operate, but it seems strange to have a lawyer willing to drop everything on a dime.”
“More like a quarter, or even a dollar,” Gabe said.
“What?” He wasn’t following.
“The phrase ‘drop everything on a dime’ refers to the days when you could put a dime in a pay phone and make a call... never mind. Rhy’s on the other line. Gotta go.” Gabe abruptly ended the connection.
“I think it’s fairly common for wealthy people to have lawyers on retainer,” Sienna said. “At least, Josh has always had legal support to fall back on.” Her brow furrowed. “Rowe called me directly after I had Josh arrested for assault and battery. He tried to convince me to drop the charges.”
That shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. “I hope you told him off.”
“I did. Thankfully, my lawyer had prepped me well.” Her features relaxed. “From that day on, I refused to speak with Josh or his lawyer. I figured it was better to pay the legal bills than go through the stress and anxiety.”
“How did they make their money again?” He eyed her curiously. “You mentioned Josh grew up in Green Bay. Unless he was a professional football player, I don’t think that area boasts many millionaires.”
“No, it wasn’t football.” She frowned. “I believe Josh’s dad was one of the founders of a tech start-up business. Something related to microchips. Maybe it was the newest version of them, I can’t say for sure. All I know is that his dad’s business took off at warp speed.”
“And when was that exactly?” he asked.
“I think that was after our sophomore year. I was twenty, but Josh had just turned twenty-one.” She grimaced. “We were young and foolish really. But I remember Josh mentioning how his parents wanted him to transfer to Stanford University because they were moving to LA, which was ridiculous as his grades were awful. Not nearly good enough to be accepted to Stanford, even if that was what Josh wanted.”
“And that’s when you began to sing?” he pressed.
“Yes.” She looked down at the floor, then sighed. “I can’t lie, the lure of moving to LA was difficult to resist. We decided we’d give it a year or two to see if we could launch our singing career.”
He understood what she didn’t say. That Josh’s parents had supported them financially during those early years. He didn’t blame her for wanting something better. Although he wondered what her brother, Luke, had thought about that.
A subject for later. For now, he needed to stay focused on Josh and his family. There was nothing suspicious about a tech company growing like gangbusters. Or the desire to move to LA. Silicon Valley was home to the big tech giants. He could see why the move to California may have been helpful. “I appreciate you sharing that information.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but Bailey’s wail prevented her from speaking. “I’ll get her,” Taylor called.
Sienna turned away, leaning against the kitchen counter for a moment. Flynn shot him an arched look, so he stood and crossed over to her. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” The word was clipped. “Just wishing I’d been smarter back then.”
“You’re plenty smart. You were young and wanted to believe the best in people.” He hesitated, then added, “And I doubt Josh revealed his true colors until you decided you had enough and managed to escape.”
“Yes, that’s true.” Her smile was sad. “Josh did not expect me to fight back. I think he figured his money would be enough to keep me.” Her blue eyes darkened. “He was wrong. I don’t care about the money, other than what I need to fight his attempt to get custody of Bailey.”
He wanted to offer her his financial support, but cops didn’t make a high salary. Although he had inherited his mother’s house free and clear, along with her engagement ring. “I can mortgage my house if needed. We’ll figure something out so you don’t have to disappear with Bailey.”
She held his gaze for a moment, then turned away. “I’m not taking your money, Zeke. This is my problem. I’ll figure it out.”
“We’re in this together.” He caught her hand and tugged her to face him. “We’re engaged, remember?”
She jerked her hand from his and began wiggling the ring off her finger.
“Don’t, please?” He glanced over his shoulder to where Flynn was still working. “You gave me two days. Let’s keep things as they are for now.”
She sighed and nodded, sliding the ring back onto her finger. Then to his horror, a tear rolled down her cheek.
“Sienna.” He pulled her into his arms, hugging her much like he had when he’d attended her brother’s funeral. Totally platonic, despite their brief yet heated kiss. “We’re going to get through this. You need to have faith in God’s plan.”
“I’m trying.” Her voice was muffled against his shirt.
He drew her from the kitchen and into the living room to give her some privacy. “I know this has been hard. But I promise we’re safe here.”
“It’s not that. It’s everything.” She lifted her watery gaze to his. “I hate Josh for doing this. We’re supposed to forgive those who hurt us, but I can’t, Zeke. I don’t know how to forgive Josh for this.”
“You don’t have to,” he said, even though he knew from attending church with some of his teammates that she was right about what the Bible said. “You don’t have to forgive him yet. To be fair, we don’t know that he’s the one behind this.”
“Oh, he is responsible.” Anger flashed in her eyes. He preferred seeing the anger over tears. “Who else would do this?”
“I agree, it’s suspicious. But you don’t know for sure this isn’t the work of some deranged fan. Someone who has become obsessed with you.” He tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “You’re a beautiful woman with the voice of an angel. I don’t think we can discount an obsessed superfan just yet.”
“I wish this was the work of a not totally sane superfan, but you know as well as I do that these attacks are personal.” A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “But I appreciate the kind words.”
“I only speak the truth.” Despite his efforts to treat her like Luke’s sister, his gaze dropped to her mouth. The urge to kiss her was strong enough to have him leaning toward her. And even better, she held his gaze without pulling away.
“Hey, Zeke?” Flynn’s excited voice crashed the moment. “I think I have a line on our second perp, Josh’s old buddy Ken Holt. He looks more like our shooter, although I couldn’t swear to it in court.”
“Coming.” No point in wishing for something he couldn’t have. Their engagement wasn’t real.
Worse, if he didn’t figure out who their shooter was and soon, Sienna and Bailey were likely to disappear from his life forever.