Chapter 21 #2
Her hands moved over his shoulders, touching the back of his neck, then to the sides of his face, where they stilled.
She eased her mouth away from his. The depths of her dark eyes filled with desire.
There was no hiding it. Then, she leaned in, gave him a light peck on the lips, rose, and returned to her seat to finish eating.
Dammit. After having shared what they had, he wanted more than kisses, but he understood all too well her dilemma.
He’d once let his emotions and feelings get the best of him, and that didn’t turn out so well.
Taking a breather to figure out what was real was the smart thing for both of them to do, he supposed.
Cap pulled his burner phone from his pocket. “I’m going to check with Chief Mertz to see if anything is going on.”
Emma nodded, stood, grabbed both of their plates, and stepped into the kitchen area.
“Hi, Chief, it’s Cap.”
“I’m glad you called. We’ve had a development.”
“Good or bad?”
“Both.”
“We figured out how the Colombians found you. It was Deputy Vanderwood’s radio.”
Cap’s adrenaline spiked. “What? Is she okay?”
“She will be. She’s at the hospital. She said the Colombians have drones, and they followed deputies.
They hit on her squad, followed her home, and kidnapped her.
They heard every radio communication, even the ones on the secure line.
When you guys escaped, the one with her, Dario, tried to beat your location out of her.
She thinks he’s the last one remaining from the team that was deployed here; the others are dead.
As you know, she didn’t have any information about your location to give him.
And I can tell you right now, if she had known, she wouldn’t have divulged it. She’s tough as nails.”
“Son of a bitch.”
The second the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could have sucked them back in due to the horrified look on Emma’s face.
“What? What happened?” Emma asked excitedly.
Cap held his hand in the air with his pointer finger extended and mouthed, “One second.”
“You sure she’ll be okay?” Cap asked the Chief.
“Yes.”
“Well, that explains a lot. How did she get away?”
“The guy holding her captive in an abandoned barn left her unattended to go to the hospital to kill Jonathan. While alone, she yelled enough to catch the attention of a guy walking his dog along the road. Pure dumb luck, but we’ll take it.
Dispatch got the call right after you left the hospital, so I’m glad you called so I could give you this information. ”
“So, the Sheriff’s department got to her before the asshole got back to her,” Cap stated the obvious.
“Yes, but we don’t know if he is aware yet.
He still has her radio, but we’ve gone silent.
We may try to draw him out via radio communication.
We’ve got eyes on the barn and his stolen license plate loaded into the plate reader system.
If that vehicle goes past any of those cameras, we’ll get him, unless he swaps out the plates. ”
“With the heat on this, I can’t believe he’d hang around town. If he cut his losses now, he might still be able to get away.”
“That’s what I keep thinking. I can’t believe he hasn’t already. Something more is going on. The lost drugs, and the drugs in Jonathan’s truck, while worth a lot of money, just doesn’t seem like enough incentive to stay in the game. Not with this much heat on the situation.”
“That’s all I know right now. You guys need to stay tucked away, but keep in touch so I can keep you posted.”
“You bet,” Cap said and disconnected the call.
“What? What’s happened?” Emma asked impatiently.
She’d heard enough of the one-sided conversation to know enough to be alarmed.
Cap filled her in on the details.
“Oh, no. Poor Donna.”
“Donna’s tough. She’ll be okay.”
“Still.”
“I know. But this is what Donna does. The risk is real, and she knows it.”
“You guys are so strong. This whole thing has made me realize just how strong and needed you all are. Law enforcement, that is. You take such a bad rap these days, but all the naysayers would change their tune if they experienced what I’ve gone through the past few days.”
Emma was spot on. It was tough to be in law enforcement right now.
But the reality was he wasn’t in it anymore, but over the past several days, he realized how much he missed making a difference.
Sure, being a full-time charter captain was better for his physical and mental health, but the satisfaction of really making a difference in the world, for people like Emma, well, he missed that.
“I’m not in law enforcement anymore.”
His words saddened him.
“You should be. You’re great at it.”
“I’m good at fishing, too,” he joked.
“I don’t doubt you are.”
“So now what?” Emma asked.
“We wait, and let the police and sheriff’s departments do their thing.
If he’s driving around and hits any of the main roads in and out of the county, the license plate reader cameras will pick up his plates.
In the event he’s smart enough to stay off the main roads here, hopefully, he’ll not be so cautious in the other communities he passes through, and the cameras will pick him up and flag him in the system.
The last time we looked for a person of interest, Brown County got a hit on the plates, and they nabbed the guy. ”
He had to stop saying we. He was just a citizen now.
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It kind of is now that his plate is in the system.”
“I hope so.”
Cap held his side as he rose from his chair. Sadly, he knew it would take weeks for his ribs to heal, so this pain would be with him for a while.
“Well, we have some time to kill. The Brewers are playing. Want to watch the game?” he asked.
“Sure.”
Her response wasn’t enthusiastic. Didn’t she like baseball?
“Do you follow the Brew Crew?”
She shrugged. “I guess a little. I’ve been to a few games.”
Cap moved to the living room area. A dull ache followed by a cramping sensation pulsed in his torso. The pain, predominantly on his left side, was unfamiliar. Raising his arms above his head, he leaned from side to side, hoping a good stretch would relieve the ache and cramping.
“Are you okay?” Emma asked.
Worry emitted from her dark gaze.
“Yeah. Just loosening up a bit. My ribs took a beating. I’ll be fine,” he said as he ran his hands lightly over his torso.
Emma stepped toward him and reached for the hem of his shirt. “Let me see.”
She moved so quickly, he didn’t respond. He just let her lift his shirt.
Her quick intake of breath let him know the bruising must have worsened since he last looked at it. The fight with the Colombian was hardcore, and when he got slammed into the corner of the kitchen counter, it stung pretty good.
“Cap, this looks horrible. I’ve never seen such a dark bruise before. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Cap pulled his shirt from her hand and lowered it.
“It’s fine. I’ve bruised my ribs before. They just need time to heal, that’s all.”
What wasn’t right was the nausea, which made his mouth water. His lunch wasn’t sitting well in his stomach. If he just gave it a minute, he’d probably feel better. Or, the distraction of the game might be helpful. He swallowed hard a few times to tamp down the bile rising in his throat.
Cap sat on the couch and patted the spot next to him.
Emma sat and leaned toward him, pressing lightly against his right side.
He lifted his arm to sling it over her shoulders, and pain shot through his stomach.
His reactionary wince seemed to go unnoticed by Emma.
That was good. She didn’t need the stress of worrying about him on top of everything else.
He snagged the television remote from the end table and flipped through the channels until he found the game. It was already in the second inning.
Emma’s head drifted to his shoulder, then she lifted her legs and curled them to the side, resting them on the couch.
Within minutes, her slow, even breaths let him know she’d fallen asleep. That didn’t surprise him. After all she’d been through, starting with the fact she’d hardly slept a wink last night before the Colombian broke into the cabin, he could easily imagine her exhaustion.
By the fourth inning, Emma had slid down, resting her head on his lap. She drew herself into the fetal position. Out for the count.
Now that they were safe, at least for the time being, a little rest would do him some good too, and he could probably get some now that the nausea had subsided.
If only the dull ache in his torso hadn’t turned sharp, his odds for sleep would be better.
He thought sprawling out on the bed in the next room would help relieve the pain, but didn’t want to disturb Emma, so instead he simply leaned his head back and shut his eyes.
Was it too much wishful thinking that while he rested, the license plate reader system would ping the Colombian’s license plate and he’d be detained?
If that happened, would the deepening heat on the situation be enough to have the cartel walk away from this one?
It worked for Hannah, so would it work for Emma?