Chapter Thirteen
Bitterroot Falls
Jackson poured another cup of hot coffee and sipped it while watching Chance and Winter as they spoke privately in the dining room.
They didn’t appear to be arguing, but she wasn’t onboard either.
Jackson was aware the situation was complicated for Winter.
The Stratton sisters were practically family to him.
The youngest one, Summer, was engaged to his brother Logan.
They all hung out together, with the rest of the IPS team as a part of their clan.
Sunday funday brunches, drinks, game night get-togethers when he was able to drive up from Missoula and crash at someone’s house.
Summer and Logan’s engagement party had reunited him with his parents, who Jackson hadn’t seen since his oldest brother got married.
With his siblings getting engaged and hitched, Jackson had finally started to thaw, warming to the idea of seeing his folks.
He’d stayed away from home for so long—since he was eighteen—Logan had told him the family joked that Jackson was the forgotten son.
No one ever talked about him since he was a sensitive topic.
His brother hadn’t intended it to be mean, but it had been a telling reminder that in icing out his parents, he’d inadvertently done the same with his brothers.
Distanced himself to punish his parents as much as himself.
All because of Christina.
“Hey,” Autumn said, coming up alongside him. “Are you worried my sister is going to turn you in?”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“Don’t worry, she won’t. It would make things too awkward at Summer and Logan’s wedding.” She flashed a smile.
He appreciated her attempt to distract him with humor, even though he knew Winter well enough to understand she didn’t mind making others uncomfortable, especially if she was doing something she believed in.
The DCI agent would feel zero remorse about turning him in if she thought it was the right thing to do.
“Winter only wants to protect you and Chance.”
“It’s not her job to protect us.” Autumn put a hand on his arm and rubbed.
“Besides, if Winter interferes with Chance’s work, it’ll sow the seeds of distrust between them and open the door to Chance doing the same to her.
She doesn’t want that. You’re in no danger of her handing you over to the authorities. ”
Bo joined them. “You’re safe with us.”
“What about him?” Jackson gestured to Declan Hart, who was helping Eli connect his laptop to the television in the living room.
Autumn smiled. “Declan is a team player.”
“But which team takes priority?” Jackson wondered. “IPS? DCI? Or just having Winter’s back?”
“If it comes down to him choosing, I think IPS will win,” Bo said, sliding a side glance at Autumn.
Maybe Bo was picking up on the same things as Jackson. That Declan was Team Autumn all the way. The DCI agent was always sneaking glances at her and seeking to be helpful wherever she was concerned.
Jackson was counting on the ties that bonded them.
“Walking us all through the details of what happened helped,” Autumn said. “Declan and Winter needed to hear it. They needed to be convinced as cops, not as friends or family.”
“Is that why you had me go through that exercise? For their benefit?”
Autumn tipped her head from side to side. “We all needed a clear picture, but it was mostly for them. We’ll be better off having their assistance on this every step of the way.”
“Hey, can everyone come into the living room?” Declan said. “Eli found something.”
All sidebar conversations stopped, and they gathered in the other room.
“I finished going through the metadata on the phone,” Eli said, bringing up the phone screen on the television. “Christina didn’t contact anyone.”
“You’re sure?” Winter asked.
“Yep. A hundred percent.” Eli nodded. “No calls. No texts. But seventeen minutes before Jackson contacted Chance, someone downloaded an app for a smart ring onto the phone.” Eli typed some command on the laptop and brought up the open app from the phone onto the television screen for everyone to see. “The ring has a GPS tracker.”
They’d confiscated Christina’s weapons and cell phone, but they hadn’t removed her jewelry.
“We didn’t book her in Missoula,” Jackson said.
“Christina was still wearing a ring. She must’ve downloaded the app as a way for me to keep tabs on her.
To prove to me that I could trust her.” The misery he’d caused her with his suspicion.
She’d tried to tell him that they were in this together, allies, and he’d treated her like the enemy.
“This means I can find her.” And get her away from Aguilar.
“Looks like she’s about an hour’s drive from here,” Eli said, bringing up a map and pointing to the spot. “The GPS location looks fairly accurate. Pinpointed down to a house in a remote area.”
Jackson set his coffee down. “Then that’s where I’m headed.”
“Hang on,” Winter said. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Like hell I’m not. I came here for help. Not to be hindered.”
“Let me finish.” Winter crossed the room over to him. “You’re not going anywhere alone. If Autumn and Chance are in this thing, I am, too.”
“So am I.” Declan put a hand on Jackson’s back. “But we need a plan.”
“You’re right.” Jackson took a beat and gathered his bearings. “If we go up against Aguilar half-cocked with no plan, we’re all as good as dead.”
Deer Valley
Saturday, April 14, 1:40 a.m.
TRAPPED.
No way out.
Christina got up from the floor, the handcuff on her left wrist jingling, put the lid down on the toilet seat and sat. She wondered exactly when Aguilar had decided he was going to hold her hostage at his house.
He had installed a twenty-four-inch ADA grab bar on the wall in his bathroom and handcuffed her to it. She hadn’t noticed it earlier when she changed clothes.
At least he’d left her with water and access to the facilities. It could’ve been worse, considering. A lot worse.
My compassion for you is inconvenient.
Sometimes he said and did things that proved to her he was complicated. It tempted her to believe he wasn’t really a big, bad beast.
That was what truly made him dangerous.
The boogeyman was obvious. Alvaro was more subtle. More insidious.
A well-disguised monster, with two sides to him. One that showed her glimpses of humanity.
Then there was the other side. The Grim Reaper, doing what he did best. That side had murdered her father and slaughtered most of the Iron Warriors and the convoy to the airport in cold blood, along with countless others.
And when the time and place were right, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her, too.
Part of her thought he’d relish it, find satisfaction in taking her life.
Putting her feet on the wall, Christina pulled on the eighteen-gauge stainless steel bar. It didn’t budge in the slightest, and all she got for her efforts was a sore wrist.
She shifted on the seat, turning as much as she could, and checked the drawers of the vanity beside it. Tipping her head back, she groaned in frustration.
Empty. Alvaro had cleared out the drawers.
The only other things within her reach were a ceramic soap dispenser, a hand towel and the sink. There was no built-in medicine cabinet behind the mirror. If only she had a bobby pin or a paper clip, she could use it to unlock the handcuffs.
The bedroom door opened. Leaning forward, she peered around the vanity into the adjoining room.
Hector limped into the primary bedroom, still wearing his leather jacket.
Sitting back out of his line of sight, she yanked on the cuffs again and again. To no avail. She looked around for anything she could use as a weapon, but Alvaro had made sure to leave her with nothing.
“Abejita.” Hector stopped in the doorway to the bathroom, resting his forearm on the frame. Three of his fingers were bandaged together. “You’re so quiet now. What happened to all your buzzing?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be downstairs? Where it’s safe for you?”
“Don’t you mean safe for you? Alvaro is almost in Bozeman. Too far away to protect you now.”
“Protect me from what?” She grinned at him. “The likes of you?”
Hector shoved his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a Taser. “What do you have to say now?”
Her grin faded as the knot of fear in her gut tightened. “You should be afraid of not listening to Alvaro, but if you were smart, you’d also be afraid of what I’ll do to you if you get close enough.”
“You’re a dirty snitch, but you won’t tell him.
I can’t see you whining to him about me giving you the beating I owe you.
Not with the position you’re in, traitor.
And I won’t leave any bruises on your face to tip him off.
” Hector hit a button on the Taser, and the stun gun crackled with electricity.
Standing, Christina grabbed the soap dispenser and smashed the mirror. Using the towel, she picked up a large, jagged shard. “Come on, toad. Take your chances. Let’s see how it goes for you.” No matter what, she wasn’t going to let Hector get out of this unscathed.
The toad shuffled inside the bathroom, and Christina prepared herself.
“Cuidado, Hector.” Alvaro’s voice came over a speaker. “If she doesn’t kill you, I’ll do far worse to you than break more fingers. You’re going to have to drink all your meals through a straw for the next month.”
Hector looked around, checking the ceiling and corners.
Christina knew some of the security features included cameras throughout the house. Fortunately, she had discovered them and their locations before trying to bug his place the way Kehoe had wanted.
She hadn’t thought Alvaro would’ve been monitoring things while he was gone and busy driving to Bozeman.
Then again, why wouldn’t he?
Backing out of the bathroom, Hector shoved the stun gun in his pocket. “Hey, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Alvaro said. “I can.”
“I took something for the pain.” Hector limped through the bedroom, headed for the hall. “It made me loopy. I wasn’t thinking straight.”