Chapter 52
“Would you stop moving for two seconds?” Jane’s attacker rasped and muscled her flat on her back, mostly because she sagged in shock as she stared up at him.
“Gunther?”
He smiled down at her before rolling her toward Christian, keeping his body between her and the shooter, who popped off three more rounds.
She heard thuds but couldn’t see anything past Gunther Rapp’s big body.
Then the man who’d worked alongside her on the Code Blue Killer task force rushed away into the forest, leaving her, Christian, and an unmoving and bleeding Victor Bednarek all alone.
Jane hurried to fetch her gun and aimed it at Victor. She approached with caution. “Victor Bednarek, you’re under arrest.” She toed him onto his back and stared at four bullet wounds. One between his eyes, one in his throat, and two in his chest.
Dead. And it hadn’t been Gunther who’d done it either.
She still had no idea what the special forces slash FBI agent had been doing in the Greenbelt.
Unless he was the backup Lionel had insisted Jane use. Had he been the one in the car following her? Or had that been the shooter?
Had Gunther actually saved her life?
She stood there, thinking, reviewing what had happened. No. The shooter had taken his shots once Jane was out of the way. Although she could have been hit that first time. Killed even.
Christian moaned and hugged himself, so Jane hurried to him and checked for injuries, still alert for possible danger.
“Shh. It’s okay, Christian. I swear, you’re my best CI ever. The bravest.”
His tears kept coming, but the keening stopped. “J-Jane?” He launched himself at her, hugging her tightly.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re safe. The crazy bad man is dead.”
She ripped the bottom of her shirt to tie around his slender neck, staunching the bleeding. Once she’d done that, she managed to calm him down and called for backup, taking Christian with her to the road.
It didn’t take long for the police to arrive, having apparently already been called to assist the FBI. Gunther’s doing, she’d bet. She left an officer with Christian while she showed the others to Victor’s body. After promising to return to answer questions, she hurried back to the boy.
Jane couldn’t get over the surprises heaped upon her today.
Victor Bednarek. Now dead.
Christian, kidnapped but safe.
And Gunther Rapp.
She hadn’t expected to see him. And she didn’t see him again.
There and gone.
But at least Christian had survived.
She found him sitting in the back of an ambulance with a first responder and smiled at him. “I owe you so many snacks from Whole Foods.”
He smiled through tears while the paramedic patched him up, tossing her dirty makeshift bandage.
“Christian, I have to get back to the police and the suspect. You’ll be okay with these guys.”
Christian gave a hesitant nod, obviously still scared.
The paramedic, a big burly guy with dark curls and a lovely smile, said, “Dude, you’re a hero. I heard all about it on the way over. I think you helped catch the home invasion guy. That’s big news. And you get to ride in an ambulance.”
“I better call my mom.”
The man handed him a phone. “Go for it. The FBI agent has to do her job, but I’ll take care of you.” He flexed, showcasing huge biceps. “Trust me. No one gets past Reggie.”
“Or any of us,” said one of the many officers standing nearby.
Reggie’s partner shrugged. “Meh. The cops are tough too, I guess. But nothing like us hardworking paramedics.” Then he and Reggie high-fived. To Christian, he murmured, “Firefighters rule, cops are fools.”
Christian relaxed and chuckled as he phoned his mother. “Mom, guess what? I’m a hero.”
With the boy in good hands, Jane felt confident to leave him and went back to the clearing where Victor lay.
“Wow. Nice shots,” one of the officers said.
“Thanks. But it wasn’t me.” Jane picked up her knife. “You’ll want to bag this, though. I stabbed the suspect a few times. The bullets came from someone else.”
“Someone not too far away,” another officer said, crouched by the body. “This looks like a .45 to me.”
“Hey, watch the crime scene or the ME will go ballistic,” another officer cautioned.
Jane stood away from the body and called Ray.
When he answered, she heard sirens and a lot of gunfire in the background. “Ray? It’s Jane.”
“We’re in a gunfight, believe it or not.
You were right. They were waiting for us.
Just one casualty so far. One of our guys didn’t listen and got shot through his leg.
Idiot.” Ray paused. “It’s all good. We have them pinned and are covered.
Jane, get this. I got a call from someone calling himself August Kaminski. ”
“No way he’d admit it’s him.”
“I know. I don’t think I believe it. But—damn.”
“What?”
“There’s a boat screaming away from the docks. I have a bad feeling it’s our guy.”
Jane heard an explosion followed by swearing and screaming all around.
“Ray. Ray!”
“Holy crap. Jane, that boat just blew up. No one could have survived that. I gotta go. I’ll fill you in when I can.”
She wondered what to make of so much chaos.
She made her way back to the ambulance and spoke to a detective, answering questions.
Then Christian’s mother arrived, and Jane had to explain to the poor woman that her son was okay if a little banged up. And that he was one heck of a brave kid.
A glance down the road showed a dark vehicle. Like the one that had followed her? Why would its occupant still be watching?
She took a step toward it.
The vehicle must have been running, because it did an illegal U-turn and headed in the opposite direction.
Clear and gone.
Like Gunther Rapp.
And August Kaminski, apparently.
Which left just one more criminal.
Where the heck was Casimir Bednarek?