Chapter 25
Gabe pulled his vehicle into the turnout near the entrance to a forest preserve owned and managed by the city. He opened the locked compartment between the seats and removed his weapon and holster.
“Do you think that’s necessary?” El asked. “We’re meeting your brother, after all.”
Gabe seated a cartridge in his sidearm. “I don’t really think he would hurt us, but it never hurts to be careful.” Not thinking about it any longer, he got out and clipped on his holster, then waited for El to join him.
“Keep an eye out,” he said as they started ahead on the road to the preserve.
He followed his brother’s directions down a nearly hidden path through soaring pines, needles littering the ground. Under any other circumstances, he would enjoy this walk with El, but today enjoyment was one emotion he couldn’t find.
They reached the designated gnarled and deformed tree, but Brad wasn’t in sight.
El turned, taking in the area. “Do you think he’s coming?”
Gabe shrugged. “You could be right, and he’s setting us up. Let’s take cover in case.”
He led them to a pine large enough for both of them to fit behind the trunk.
Footfalls rustled in the pine straw.
“Someone’s coming,” he whispered and pointed his weapon.
Sure, the use of his sidearm was probably overkill. If he were alone, he might not be so proactive, but he wouldn’t let anything happen to El.
They waited. He counted down in his head. Five. Four. Three.
A man rounded the curve in the path, his head on a swivel. He walked closer. Closer.
“It’s Brad.” Gabe let out a long breath and heard El blow hers out, too.
Gabe waited to see if anyone else followed, but convinced Brad was alone, he stepped out from behind the tree. El followed him.
His brother approached, his steps slow and apprehensive. “Hey, thanks, man, for meeting me. I didn’t know if you would.”
“If you hadn’t called me, we would’ve come to see you anyway.” Gabe widened his stance. “We know you were seeing Kenna.”
He jerked back. “How?”
Gabe didn’t even think twice before blurting out his statement. “The DNA test on the child Kenna was carrying came back as a familial match to me but we both know I’m not the father of the child. You are.”
He blinked slowly, as if the information struggled to permeate his shock. “She was pregnant? How far along?”
“Twelve weeks,” Gabe said. “A boy.”
A wounded animal growl came from his brother, and he looked like he might drop to the ground. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“We found a pregnancy test in the bathroom, so maybe she’d just found out,” El said. “From your reaction, looks like you would’ve wanted to have a child with her.”
“Without a doubt. I planned to leave the family business, find a job, and we were going to get married. But then she discovered Trent Jonas at New Tide was not only stealing money from Safe Harbor, but he was falsifying adoption papers, selling, and trafficking children.”
Just as they’d suspected, but hearing it spoken as the truth made Gabe want to hurl. “How did Trent do it?”
Brad closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath.
He flashed them open again. Gone was his pain, anger taking over.
“Trent convinced a social worker he was finding good homes for troubled children who would’ve stayed in the system and aged out if he didn’t intervene.
Likely end up on the street. She bought into it and had no idea what he was really doing with these kids. ”
“How did Kenna find out about the kids and the money?” El asked.
“She saw several line items in the budget Trent sent to Safe Harbor. Things like program services, consulting fees, and outreach expenses. When she asked Tinsley about them, he couldn’t explain them. He said they were just fees that Trent incurred on their behalf and not to question them.”
“But Kenna knew they were wrong?” Gabe asked.
Brad nodded. “She looked into the companies paid under these line items, and found one for Mason Engineering, a company with the payments going to a PO box. She suspected it was a bogus company, along with the number of others they couldn’t account for.
The last time they made a payment to Mason Engineering, she sat outside the post office and waited for it to be picked up. ”
“And was it?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah, an older guy came to get the check. She took his picture and did a reverse lookup on the internet. Guy’s name is Howard Mason, a former cop.
She continued digging and discovered money went to other companies that didn’t have employees, a website, or any online footprint at all.
Turns out the payments were sent to different PO boxes at the same post office, but that’s as far as she got before she was killed. ”
“Why didn’t she come to me?” Gabe asked.
“You know how independent she can be. Plus, she didn’t want to put your life in danger until she knew what was going on.”
But if she had…
“Odds are Trent is behind the financial scam, and the checks went straight back to him,” El said. “Probably deposited to a shell company making them virtually untraceable.”
“And the adoptions?”
“Kids at the home were telling her stories about the children who were supposedly being adopted, but they weren’t actually placed in the homes social services had approved.
She started looking into it and discovered the same social worker signed all of the paperwork.
Kenna confronted her and showed her the proof that these kids weren’t being adopted but trafficked.
She caved and admitted her part. I told Kenna to stop and let us get some clarity on this before she took any other action. ”
“She could’ve been risking her life,” Gabe said.
“Exactly, but she said the children came first.” He took a few deep breaths.
“She confronted Trent. He denied it all. But said if she ever tried to bring her lies to the police, he would kill her and Lucy. That’s when she went to see you.
She didn’t tell me she was going, or I would’ve gone with her. ”
Gabe felt his brother’s pain, and for the first time in his life, he believed the guy had a heart. Hopefully, Gabe could help him get out of the family business, even if he didn’t have a life with Kenna to look forward to.
“Obviously,” Brad went on, “Trent or one of his goons intercepted her. Those lying scumbags stole Kenna and the baby from me. They likely have Lucy and need to pay beyond me yelling at Trent.”
“You confronted Trent?” El asked.
“Of course. I told him if he got away with murdering her, I’d continue her crusade to reveal his illegal activities. He just laughed at me, so I located the social worker Kenna had tracked down. Unfortunately, she passed away in a car accident. Probably Trent’s doing too.”
“Why didn’t you come to me when you found out I was working this investigation?” Gabe asked.
“For the same reason Kenna never told you we were a thing. She didn’t want you to know about us until I’d gone legit.
I figured, even if she’d died, that still stood.
But I didn’t make any progress in bringing this guy to justice, and figured you guys might.
Besides, I have a potential lead on Lucy’s—”
A gunshot rang out. Brad spun and hit the ground.
Gabe dove toward El to take her down, but she was already dropping. He landed next to her. Brad’s moans saturated the quiet. Gabe rolled to look at him.
Blood seeped from his chest. Gabe pressed a hand on the open wound. Blood oozed around his hand and through his fingers. So much blood. Gabe pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and applied it to the wound, but it was soaked through in seconds. He pressed harder.
“Here, use this.” El held out a shirt.
Gabe glanced over to see that she’d stripped down to a T-shirt. He whispered his thanks and balled the fabric under his fingers to resume applying pressure.
She took out her phone. “No signal to call 911.”
Brad’s moans were deeper now as gunshots flew overhead. “Both of you get out of here,” he choked out. “It’s me they want, not you.”
“You could be wrong. Besides, I’m not leaving you,” Gabe said, but no way he’d let El stay. He glanced back at her. She’d drawn her weapon and sighted it in the direction the bullets were coming from.
“Go,” he said to her, his voice stronger now. “Find a signal. Get help. I’ll stay with Brad.”
“I can’t leave you.”
“You have to find a signal and call for help. Getting medics here soon is Brad’s only chance.”
As if letting her know how serious his injury was, Brad moaned again and closed his eyes.
She pressed her hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “I’ll go. I love you. Don’t do anything crazy.”
“I love you too,” he said, surprised at the intensity of his feelings.
She took a long last look at Gabe and fled, staying low and darting from tree to tree.
Please, keep her safe and don’t let my brother die.
His heart in his stomach, Gabe turned back to Brad, glad to see the bleeding had significantly slowed.
His only jobs right now were to keep intense pressure on the wound, keep his head on a swivel for the shooter, and pray El got safely away and help would arrive before the shooter took them all out.
Even with the midday sun shining bright, the forest was dark and cool as El remained low and out of sight, hoping the element of surprise was her key to apprehending the shooter.
She picked her way through the thick trees, quietly alerting the 911 dispatcher of their location and requesting an ambulance and immediate backup.
Nearing the shooter, she ended the call and circled behind him. The only sound was dried pine needles occasionally cracking underfoot, but still, she paused to search the area for another sniper.
Finding none, she focused on their shooter kneeling in a firing stance on a nearby hill.
A large man dressed in camouflage, sporting a high and tight haircut often worn by law enforcement and military, he had a phone to his ear and held an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle at his side.
Obviously the reason the barrage of bullets had ended.
If she let herself pull the trigger the shootout would end now, but she would only use deadly force if she thought they were in immediate danger. Sure, the guy had an AK-47, but it wasn’t aimed at anyone right now, and he was on the phone.
She crept ahead, climbing to within ten feet of his location. He showed zero awareness of her presence so she eased even closer.
He shoved his phone into his pocket.
Was he going to move forward to ambush Brad and Gabe? She couldn’t let him. She had to act. It was now or never!
“Drop the weapon,” she yelled as she lurched closer. “Police.”
He started to turn.
She reached him and jammed her weapon into the back of his head. “I said, drop the weapon.”
He didn’t respond. She poked the tip harder into his head.
“Okay. Okay. I hear you.”
“Slowly put it down in front of you.”
He complied. She kicked the gun out of his reach then cuffed and searched him.
Adrenaline raced through her. She’d stopped the sniper, but she couldn’t relax her guard. There could be a second shooter.
“You alone?” she asked.
As she suspected, he didn’t respond. Why would he? The last thing he would do was tell her if there was someone else hiding in the woods who could take her out and free him. And he likely wouldn’t tell her his name either. That could come later in an interrogation room.
“Get up.” She tugged on his cuffs to help him stand. “Start moving forward. Try anything funny and I fire.”
She shouldered his rifle, and in case a second shooter lay in wait for them, she cautiously made her way forward. Easing between scratchy branches, she tried to protect her bare arms, but she couldn’t stop with Gabe and Brad still unprotected.
“Gabe!” Not knowing if there was a second sniper, it was risky to yell, but she had to make sure Gabe knew it was her and didn’t open fire. “I stopped the shooter, and I’m coming back.”
He didn’t respond.
“Gabe!” she called out louder.
No response.
“Looks like I got them both.” The jerk in handcuffs cackled.
Was he right? Had Gabe been shot, too?
She shoved him forward, picking up her pace and bursting into the clearing where she’d left the two men. Gabe’s shoulder was covered with blood, but he was ignoring it and still pressing the other hand on his unconscious brother’s wound.
She wanted to race over to him, but she had to keep control of the shooter. She poked him. “On your knees.”
He dropped down.
Gabe growled at the gunman. “You better hope my brother doesn’t die or you’ll pay for it.”
She felt the same way, but tightened her hands on the service weapon to contain her emotions as she took a longer look at Gabe. “You’re bleeding.”
He whipped his angry gaze away from the shooter. “I’m fine. Bullet just grazed my arm.”
There was no such thing as a graze. Every bullet wound could be dangerous, but it would be like him to play it down. “Why didn’t you respond when I called out?”
“I couldn’t take the risk. This creep could’ve captured you and used you to lead him to our exact location.”
That made perfect sense. “Fortunately, I took him down without incident.”
The guy grumbled, and she gave him her practiced detective stink eye.
“Are you okay?” Gabe asked.
“Fine. Backup and ambulance should be here soon. I want to be sure your bleeding stopped.”
“Just a scratch. I don’t think there’s danger of too much blood loss.”
“I meant what I said earlier, you know.” She risked looking away and locked gazes with him. “It wasn’t just something I said in the heat of the moment. I love you, and I don’t want to lose you for any reason.”
Warmth and affection flooded his eyes. “Same for me, and once we find Lucy, we can pursue that to our heart’s content.”
The shooter made a retching noise.
She fired another round of stink eye at him. “Don’t make me gag you.”
“With what? You got nothing to bind his arm means you got nothing to shut me up with.”
Before she could put him in his place, sirens sounded in the distance. Maybe, just maybe, all three of them would get out of this situation after all.
Gabe leaned down to his brother. “Do you hear those sirens, bro? The ambulance is almost here, so hang in there, okay?”
Brad suddenly opened his eyes. “Lucy,” he said and tried to rise up but fell back. “Safe place by the water.”
“What? What are you saying?” Gabe blinked at his brother and looked like he wanted to shake him, but Brad drifted off.
“Safe place by the water,” Gabe repeated as he locked gazes with El. “This must be what he was trying to tell us when the shooting started. We need to get Hayden looking into any properties owned by New Tide, Safe Harbor, or Jonas Trent and near water.”
“I’ll go call him while you let a medic properly bandage your arm and clear you.”
“I’ll get a bandage, but if Hayden finds the location, I don’t care if I’m cleared. I’m going in and no one is going to stop me.”
She had no doubt Gabe meant it. He wouldn’t be stopped by anyone. Maybe only by a bullet.