Chapter 4
FOUR
Panic gripping him in a tight vise, Colt bolted from his truck, firing at the gunman standing beside Maren’s car. Had the guy already put a bullet in Maren?
A wave of dread and nausea rolled over Colt.
The man spun and shot back at him. Colt dove to the side, rolled and came up on one knee, firing again at the gunman. The masked assailant screamed as a bullet lodged in his shoulder, and he practically fell back into the van.
The vehicle took off in a squeal of tires, taking the injured gunman with it.
Fearing for Maren, Colt lunged to his feet and ran to the Bronco, now lodged front-end first in the ditch on the side of the road.
The second Colt watched the van race up behind Maren’s vehicle, he’d known something bad was going down.
Seeing her back tire blow had his heart jumping into his throat.
But then, when the van jerked to a stop and a masked man jumped out, he’d nearly crashed into the ditch as well. He’d managed to stop in time to fend off the attack. At least he hoped so.
He reached the driver’s side of Maren’s vehicle.
His heart slammed into his throat. She was slumped over onto the passenger seat.
Her dark hair created a curtain that concealed her face.
There was no visible blood that he could see but the lack didn’t mean she was unharmed.
White powder from the steering wheel airbag floated in the air, landing on the glittering chunks of glass spewed all over Maren’s back and the driver’s seat.
From the back, Haven barked frantically and scratched at the partition between her compartment and the front seat.
“I know, I know,” Colt reassured the dog as he reached in through the broken shards left in the windowsill and undid the door latch, pulling the door open.
He reached for Maren, praying he wasn’t too late.
“Maren?” he said softly. His hands landed on her shoulders with a tremor running up his arms.
Please, Lord, please, don’t let her be injured. Or worse.
Slowly, she turned her head. Her panicked gaze met his. Then relief filled her face.
“It’s you,” she breathed out and sat up. Glass from the broken window slid off her back.
Unable to help himself he gathered her into his arms, cupping her face in his hands. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so.” For a moment, she was pliant in his arms, then she pulled back, forcing him to release her. “I need to let Haven out.”
She reached for the key fob dangling from the ignition and popped open the side panel. Within seconds, the Doberman was crowding next to Colt in the open driver’s-side doorframe and frantically licking her partner’s face.
“Whoa, whoa,” Maren said gently, fending off the dog. “I’m okay. Everybody back up.”
Grabbing Haven’s collar, Colt tugged the dog away from the SUV, allowing Maren space so she could climb out of the vehicle.
“You’re sure you’re not hurt?” He heard the concern in his voice but was helpless to stop it. Scenes like this brought back memories of his cousin’s overdose and eventual death. Colt had been the one to find him and had done CPR, to no avail.
She tested her limbs and her neck before saying, “Everything seems to be in working order.”
Relief that she appeared unharmed flooded his system.
Her gaze dropped to Haven, who now sat quietly at Colt’s side. He still had a hold of the collar.
Maren’s mouth twisted in a wry grimace. “She usually doesn’t behave for anyone else but me.”
“I think these are extenuating circumstances.” He released his hold on the dog.
Haven immediately went to Maren and put her paws on Maren’s feet.
Maren reached down and scrubbed the dog behind the ears. “Good girl. I’m glad you’re okay, too.”
From his truck, he could hear Rusk barking. The dog had to be frantic with worry.
“Come on, let’s get you into my vehicle,” he said to Maren. “We can call this into the local dispatch and for a tow truck for your vehicle. I don’t like being out here. We’re too exposed.”
With a nod, Maren reached back into the Bronco, grabbing a backpack from the passenger’s floorboard.
Colt led the way back to his truck while he made the call to the local dispatch, promising them they’d give statements once they were safe.
Keeping an eye out for any more trouble, he opened the back hatch to comfort his K-9. “Do you think Haven would be okay in the back with Rusk?”
Maren seemed to contemplate the question. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to keep her up front with me. We need to let the dogs officially greet each other before we just throw them into an enclosed space. Haven can be an alpha when she needs to.”
That brought a smile to Colt. “Rusk is an alpha, too. We’ll see how they do when we get to where we’re going.”
“Which is?”
“Go ahead and get in and I’ll tell you.”
They climbed into his truck. Once they were both settled, with Haven folding herself onto the seat and putting her head into Maren’s lap, Colt said, “First stop the local PD, then Denver. We should go to your task force headquarters.”
“I’m good with that.”
“I’m sure your boss will want to know this latest development. We need to let him know that your investigation has heated up.”
With a gasp, she grasped his arm. “This isn’t about the adoption ring. The man with the gun said, ‘You should have stayed dead. No one crosses Shadow and lives.’”
Colt’s hands gripped and re-gripped the steering wheel as he drove them away. “The shooter believes you’re Opal. This has to do with the drug trafficker. But why shoot at you at the clinic?”
“The shooter must have mistaken me for Opal then, too.” Her voice took on a grim edge. “Could this Shadow person have tried to kill her and make it look like a suicide, but she survived and went into hiding?”
“Maybe Opal suspected she was pregnant and wanted out from under Shadow’s thumb, so she faked her death to protect her child.” Colt’s mind whirred with possibilities.
“That would make sense. Especially if she can identify Shadow. We have to find my sister before Shadow does,” Maren insisted.
Colt wouldn’t lose sight of his mission. “And take down Shadow.”
“The task force could help,” she said.
“What if Shadow has some connection to the illegal adoption ring the task force is hunting?” Colt turned the thought over in his head. “Your sister shows up at an OB clinic and you’re investigating dirty OB’s.”
“It’s something to consider,” Maren replied. “We could talk with my boss about it.” She went quiet for a moment. “I keep thinking about Opal and what she must be going through. How alone she must feel. I want a second chance with my sister and my baby niece or nephew. I need a second chance.”
At the mention of her meeting Opal’s baby, his mind went to his own twin nieces. He loved his siblings and their kids, and though he hadn’t seen much of them lately because he’d been so focused on taking down Shadow, he couldn’t imagine life without his family.
“We’ll get Shadow and bring your sister home to you,” he vowed.
“Thanks. As much as I want to believe we will succeed, I know better than to hope.”
“Sometimes all we have is hope and faith.” Colt’s hands flexed on the steering wheel. A truth he’d once rejected. But now, every day, he’d found his faith reawakening.
“I agree, in theory. It’s just hard sometimes to believe in faith and hope when there’s so much bad in the world.
” Maren petted Haven, her hands working over the sleek Doberman’s coat.
“For a long time, it was just Opal and me. And then she disappeared. But at least I knew she was alive, and I had hope we’d reconnect.
Then trying to accept she was dead…it broke my heart. ”
It didn’t sound like she had much family around. Who did she turn to for support? He couldn’t imagine being that alone, and found himself saying, “You must have people who care for you… You’re part of an elite federal task force. Surely, you’ve made friends among your colleagues.”
“I’m just starting to get to know the other task force members,” she said. “There is one member, Eli Blackwood. We have a bond of shared grief. But I’m not sure that’s enough to build a friendship on.”
He pulled into the local police department parking lot, thankful to have the distraction of giving their statements and arranging for a tow of Maren’s vehicle to the task force headquarters in Denver.
Once they were back on the road, and the miles stretched out, taking them farther away from Barren Valley toward Denver, Maren seemed to grow restless in the passenger seat.
Finally, she broke the silence. “I still have trouble reconciling the sister I knew with a woman who’d be involved with drug dealers. I hadn’t realized how far she’d become embroiled in the drug scene. And to date someone high up in the food chain—what was she thinking?”
“People can hide who they are until it’s too late and you’re in too deep,” he replied.
“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”
“Unfortunately, I am.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to go down this road, but here they were and for some reason he felt the need to tell her. “My last serious relationship ended on a very sour note.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she murmured. “Did she break your heart?”
“Not only my heart but the law,” he replied. The old anger tinged his tone. He’d been so blinded by his love for Rebecca. A fate he swore to himself he’d never allow again. “She was dealing drugs right under my nose.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah. Whoa.” A shudder worked over him. “I had to arrest her and now she’s doing time.”
“That’s rough. And I thought my love life was dismal,” Maren stated with a grim tone.
He gave her a questioning glance, inviting her to speak further. But she remained quiet.
Apparently, she wouldn’t be sharing.
An awkward tension settled over the cab and he wasn’t sure what to say next. Finally, she broke the silence. “Well, you know about me and Opal. What’s your family like?”