Chapter 17
Walker bolted through the bullpen for the front door. Quentin was into the storage unit camera feed, but it didn’t show anything but the front door of Serena’s unit, so there were no eyes directly on her.
Gladys held up a hand, holding Walker in place for precious seconds.
“EMS is enroute,” she said in her calm, efficient voice. “What else do you need me to do?”
She paused a moment, listening to a reply, then continued. “Walker just came out. Yeah, I’ll brief him. Hold on.”
“Someone broke into Adam Parsons’s place a little while ago and Tased him.”
That set Walker back a step. Crimes like that were unheard of in Cottonwood, but there sure as hell seemed to be a crime spree right now. “Thanks for the update but I’ve gotta go, Serena’s by herself. But is Adam okay?”
“Yeah,” she said. “You know how it is with Tasers. He came out of it pretty quickly, but he’s going to be sore as hell.”
That tracked, and he remembered what it felt like, even now.
Young military guys did all kinds of stupid things, like Tasing each other.
“Why would someone go after him?” Walker asked, because he couldn’t imagine anyone hurting Adam, and now he was curious, even with thoughts of Serena crowding his mind.
What Gladys was saying might be important, right now.
Garrett had obviously thought so, if he’d told her to read Walker in.
“That’s the weird thing,” she said. “He said the guy barged in, accused Adam of stealing his stuff, and then tore into a package he got today. Took out whatever was inside and started ranting and raving about a missing a key, threw it on the ground, and left. There’s glass everywhere.”
It took a moment for Walker to parse her words, to put them together. “Fuck. Was it a big white box with a bow on it?”
Gladys pulled the mic back up to her mouth and took whoever was on the other end off hold. “Walker wants to know if the box the guy opened was a big white one with a bow on it.”
The way her eyes went sharp at the reply Walker couldn’t hear told him all he needed to know.
All he could think of was Serena. He was already sprinting to the door as he tossed over his shoulder, “His name is Mr. Higgins, and I think he’s the one who assaulted Serena.”
Higgins did not look placated in the slightest. In fact, he looked angrier than he had before. “There was a key in the figurine,” he said succinctly. “What did you do with it?”
“I didn’t do anything with it,” she said calmly. “Let me think about this for a second.”
“I don’t have a second. I don’t have a minute. I don’t have an hour. Find the fucking key.”
She backed up a step and bumped into the big crate the figurine had been in. “Oh,” she said. “Let me look in the box. Maybe the key came loose.”
“Doubtful, it was secured very well. But look anyway, and don’t do anything stupid.”
“Listen,” she said, one hundred percent into placating him now. “I don’t want to get hurt like Adam did. I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t hurt me.”
She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, and he seemed to relax a little.
“Tell me why you’re doing this. Why you hurt me. Please.” She wanted to keep him talking, and dammit, if she was going to be hurt or die, then she at least wanted to know why.
“My retirement is in the safety deposit box that key opens,” he said, his voice sounding hollow now. “If you don’t find it, I’m a dead man,” he repeated. “My partners will find me and kill me.”
Well hell. She rummaged around in the crate with greater urgency, past where she’d searched before, and when her fingers grazed bubble wrap, she knew. The second one had always been in here, hidden beneath a mass of random shit.
She lifted out the second figurine and peeled away the protective wrapping. “I guess I should have kept looking for the other one on Saturday,” she said softly. “We wouldn’t be here if that was the case.”
He looked at the second figurine in shock, and she realized he hadn’t known there were two of them. She held it out to him, then backed up again. He kept the gun pointed at her, and tipped the figurine upside down, peering inside.
Then he did the exact last thing she expected. He threw the fragile glass down against the concrete floor of the storage unit, and it shattered. She yelped and jumped back, bumping into the box again and reaching back to grab the only thing that came to hand.
And as he knelt to search for the key, she leaped forward and bashed him over the head with an antique Mason jar stuffed to the gills with buttons.
It would have been a hysterical weapon, considering the contents, but it did the trick and shattered against his skull, as he’d shattered the figurine.
She raced toward the opening, praying she could get past him before he came to his senses. She almost did. But he reached out with one bleeding hand and grasped her ankle, catching her pant leg and holding tight, his voice back to that snarl. “You fucking bitch,” he said, and aimed the gun at her.
Walker brought his truck to a screaming stop at the corner of the row of storage units, not even trying for stealth.
He raced to Serena’s unit and glimpsed her before she was yanked back inside.
All the breath left his body. He pulled on every ounce of his military training, going silent as he stepped up to the door and did a quick look around the frame.
Higgins was on the floor, a weapon pointing up at her, blood all over his face and hands. Shattered glass littered the floor, and, of all things, buttons. The man lurched to his feet, screaming obscenities at Serena.
He had about one second to decide to pull the Glock at his back or charge the man, and chose the second, knowing it was now or never. He burst through the doorway, praying with everything in him that Higgins wouldn’t pull the trigger.
He hit Higgins center mass and crashed into him, grasping the man’s wrist and forcing the weapon up.
It was obvious Higgins had never had any military training.
He folded like an overused deck of cards and went down on his back, screaming as the scattered broken glass cut his shirt to ribbons and dug into his flesh.
Walker kicked the gun away and heard sirens approaching. Garrett had arrived a minute too late, but in time to take the dickhead into custody.
Walker looked up at Serena. “Are you okay, darling?” he asked, his breath coming in sharp pants as adrenaline coursed through him.
She had her arms wrapped around her middle and was staring at Higgins in shock. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Just scared and unnerved.”
Walker pinned down the squirming Higgins as Garrett shouted from around the corner, “Walker?”
“Scene secure,” Walker hollered back as Serena popped out to wave them in. Garrett and one of his deputies rounded the corner and stopped stock-still.
“What’s with all the buttons?” Garrett asked as he recovered and motioned for his deputy to cuff Higgins.
Walker gladly handed over the responsibility of restraining the thrashing man, who was now moaning about how his partners were going to kill him, how all he needed was the key, and they’d let him live.
The deputy cuffed Higgins and hauled him to his feet, propelling him toward the waiting patrol car.
Garrett looked at them, bemusement on his usually stoic face. “Want to tell me what happened?”
Serena’s teeth had started to chatter, and Walker knew shock was setting in. “How about we go back to The Menagerie and do this?” Walker said. “Let’s get Serena somewhere comfortable. We can lock this place up and keep it cordoned off for evidence.”
Garrett considered it, then nodded. “Okay, as long as the locks are still viable and we can keep the scene secure.”
“I got here before he did,” Serena said, her voice shaky. “So the locks are still good.” She looked around the unit. “I can’t believe this happened. I can’t believe it was him.”
Walker agreed. None of this made a lick of sense. But his biggest priority right now was getting Serena out of here.
He ushered her to his truck, boosting her up even though she didn’t truly need it. His heart had stalled seeing Higgins with that gun, and now he needed to feel her, to ensure she was real to his shocked senses.
He’d led men in battle, had watched some of them die and had taken lives himself. But nothing had scared him as much as seeing Serena in danger.
When he climbed into the cab and she scooched over until she was right next to him, he knew they were feeling the same things. The aftermath of pure adrenaline, terror and the need for physical touch.
He slung one arm over the bench seat and pulled her close, neither of them saying a word on the drive to The Menagerie.
About halfway there her shakes stopped and his own breathing evened out, so by the time they pulled into the parking lot, they both had their shit together for the most part.
The lot was empty, but Gena was still in the kitchen, buttoning everything up, and gave a little shriek as they trooped through the back door with Garrett on their heels.
“You scared me,” she said, holding a hand to her heart. Then she got a good look at their faces. “Oh God, what happened?”
“How about we all get a drink and settle into the dining room first?” Walker suggested. “I know I’m parched, and we need to do some talking.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Gena promised. “Let’s start with water for everyone, and then if you want something else I can make it up while still listening.”
They all nodded in agreement and took their seats, settling in when she bustled out with glasses and a pitcher. Once everyone was situated, she found her own seat.
Before Serena could begin, Garrett’s shoulder mic squawked. “Sheriff, check your phone,” Gladys’ no-nonsense voice directed.
He acknowledged her, then checked his phone, his expression going completely blank for a long moment before he raised his eyes.
“Why don’t you tell us what happened, Serena. Then Walker, you finish up with your piece, and then I’ll tell you what I know.”