Chapter 9
NINE
Maren struggled against her captors. She’d had no time to mount a real defense before the two masked men had crept out of the dense spread of juniper bushes, like apparitions, and had grabbed hold of her arms. The pair attempted to drag her toward the rushing water of the Arkansas River. She dug in her heels.
“Boss wants you dead,” one of the assailants ground out. “There’s a hefty bonus for anyone who makes you disappear.”
His words slammed into her with enough force to suck the breath from her lungs. Once again, she was being mistaken for Opal. How had these two found her? Had they been staking out the area?
Their intent was clear. They wanted to drown her.
Her feet tried to find purchase in the loose rocks of the riverbed.
They pushed her forward, forcing her to splash into the river.
The icy cold mountain water had her sucking in a sharp breath.
She stumbled over the rocks. One of the assailants grabbed a handful of her hair and tried to force her face-first into the rushing rapids.
“Haven!” she shouted. The dog had disappeared while exploring. “Attack!”
Within seconds, a streak of red and brown came into view. The dog easily leaped over rocks and a fallen log to get to her handler. She snarled and barked as she raced to help Maren.
One of the men swore, released his hold on her arm before running away.
The remaining masked assailant tightened his grip on Maren’s hair and arm but remained frozen as if debating what to do.
Taking advantage of having an arm free, she pummeled her attacker with her fist, punching him in the face and using her elbow to clock him in the side of the head. He continued to hang on to her arm though he released her hair. His fingers dug painfully into her biceps through her clothes.
Haven lunged, biting into the meaty part of the attacker’s calf, her teeth sinking into flesh, drawing blood.
The man screamed, a bloodcurdling sound that echoed across the valley, mingling with the roar of the white water rapids.
She heard another scream, but didn’t dare remove her attention from the masked assailant who still refused to release his iron grip. He was tenacious.
But so was she.
A well-placed knee in the groin sent the man doubling over and he finally let go of her arm. Haven shook her head, causing the man to lose his balance, and he went to the ground, splashing into the water.
Backing up and drawing her weapon, Maren gave the release command, “Out.”
Haven released her bite on the man’s calf, backed up but stayed in front of Maren and snarled, baring her teeth, threatening to bite the man again.
Noise behind Maren had her spinning with the gun aimed at whatever threat was coming toward her.
Colt marched forward, escorting the runaway assailant with his hands cuffed behind his back, and Rusk nipping at the man’s heels. Glad to see her partner had captured the guy, she lowered the barrel of her weapon.
Turning back to the man groaning on the ground and clutching his calf while blood seeped through his fingers, Maren said, “You’re under arrest. Hands behind your back.”
“You gotta get me help,” the guy said, his voice filled with pain. “I’m gonna bleed out.”
“Unlikely,” she said. “It’s just your calf. Nothing vital there.”
She holstered her gun, grasped the man, dragged him out of the water onto dry soil and flipped him onto his stomach.
Yanking his hands behind his back, she pulled a zip tie from her pocket and slipped it over his wrists and cinched it tight.
Taking off her blazer, she ripped the sleeve of her blouse and wrapped it around the man’s calf.
Even though there were no major blood vessels to worry about, she didn’t want dirt to get into the wound and become infected. Then she ripped the mask off the man. She’d never seen the dark-haired guy before. He had a wide nose, dark eyes and pockmarks on his cheeks.
“I’ve already called for backup.” Colt pushed the other assailant to his knees. “I saw you had that one handled, figured I’d keep this one from getting away.”
“I appreciate it,” she said.
“Are you okay?” Concern deepened his voice.
“Dandy.” She gestured to the assailants. “They said their boss wanted me dead.”
Understanding lit Colt’s eyes. “Ah.” He peeled the mask off the man he’d cuffed. He too was a stranger. “Your boss is Shadow?”
The man sneered but didn’t say anything.
Colt huffed out a noisy breath. “I’ll take that as a yes. How did you know we were here?”
Though neither man answered, Maren noticed the way they both glanced toward the dense clump of bushes from where they’d come out.
She stalked over and pushed aside the tangled branches of the juniper to discover a cell phone.
She hoped it would have a way to track Shadow.
Donning latex gloves, she slipped the phone into her pocket.
Then she marched back to the assailants.
“Things will go a lot better for you to if you tell us where Shadow is,” Maren told the two men.
Both men made faces and stayed silent.
Sirens rent the air.
Maren crouched down and grabbed the face of the man Haven had bitten. “Tell me where to find Shadow.”
“I want a lawyer,” the man ground out.
Maren released him and stood, fisting her hands at her sides.
“We won’t get anything out of them,” Colt said. “They’re more afraid of Shadow than they are of the police.”
“Because Shadow has people in the police departments.” Maren’s insides twisted. “And now they’ll let Shadow or someone who will relay a message to Shadow know that you’re DEA and I’m a cop.”
“Couldn’t be helped,” he replied. “Though I’m sure Shadow knows who I am since I’ve been trying to bring him down for over a year.”
Several police cruisers ground to a halt near their vehicle.
Maren recognized many of the officers. She hated to think that one of them was dirty. “Can you deal with them while I call Emmett?”
“Of course.” Colt strode away to talk to the local police.
Maren contacted the task force leader. She quickly updated him on this latest attempt on her life and being mistaken for Opal again. “We’re still no closer to discovering Shadow’s location. But I did find a cell phone. I’ll get it to Eva as soon as we can.”
“You’ll catch a break,” Emmett said. “I feel it in my bones.”
“Thanks, boss,” she said, hoping his words were true. “We need to bring Vinnie Homer into protective custody.”
“I’ll contact the US Marshals Service and have them take Mr. Homer into protective custody. And let Colt know I’ll update Special Agent in Charge Herman.” Emmett referred to Colt’s direct boss at the DEA.
“Will do.” Maren prayed the marshals would be able to keep Vinnie Homer safe. The man had falsely reported Opal’s death. But he was the only link to finding her sister.
After giving her statement to the local police, she watched as the two men were put into the back of a cruiser. They would be taken to the county jail, where they would be formally charged and arraigned.
Once she and Colt were alone again, she said, “Emmett’s going to relay an update to your boss.”
“I was about to do that,” Colt said. “Good to know.”
Blowing out a breath, she asked, “How did Shadow know to send men here?”
For a moment, Colt didn’t respond, but she could see he was thinking.
Then his eyes widened, and he reached into his pocket for his phone.
He held it up. “Somehow, they’ve been tracking me.
Maybe malware or an app I’m not aware of.
That’s how they knew to find Opal at the clinic.
They know I’m trying to find her. Could be how they found out about our visit to Steve and how they found us here. ” He powered down the phone.
“We can have Eva go through both of our phones along with the burner phone and see what she can find out,” Maren said. “My boss said he’d contact the US Marshals to pick up Vinnie.”
“We can’t go back to your house,” Colt said.
“If Shadow knew about my place, why didn’t he send men last night?”
“Don’t know,” he said. “But we can’t assume he doesn’t send them now. Maybe he was waiting to see where we would go.”
Frustration crimped her chest. They may have led the drug kingpin straight to Vinnie. She sent up a silent prayer that the marshals would get to Vinnie before Shadow did.
She met Colt’s gaze, saw the worry there. “We have to go back to my place, at least long enough to grab some things. I’ll let Emmett know we need backup. I think it would be wise to have a task force member we know we can trust to provide extra protection in case we’re tailed to a hotel.”
“Fair enough,” he said.
They left the river area and met Colorado K-9 Unit member Officer Lizzie Reynolds and her golden retriever, a spectacular tracking dog named Reena, at the front door of the town house.
“I appreciate you coming,” Maren said to the petite blonde.
Though Haven and Reena had been around each other a few times the past few months, Maren kept Haven close.
The two female dogs eyed each other but neither showed any sign of aggression toward the other.
“Of course,” Lizzie replied, as her curious, green-eyed gaze took in Colt and Rusk. The pointer cocked his head to study Reena and her K-9 handler. “Glad to help.”
Maren made the introduction. Colt and Lizzie shook hands.
“I’d heard we had DEA on board,” Lizzie stated. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Colt’s voice was polite, but his gaze moved up and down the street. “We should hurry.”
With Lizzie and Reena staying on guard out front, Maren and Colt, with their dogs, hustled inside.
Maren found an extra duffel bag for Colt to put the things he’d bought the night before into, while she packed a small suitcase. Then she bagged up Haven’s food, treats and bowls.
After locking up the town house, she and Colt waved goodbye to Lizzie and then climbed back into the SUV.
“Let’s head to Denver,” Colt said. “We can find a dog-friendly hotel with connecting rooms and figure out our next move.”