Chapter Eighteen
Camden pocketed the key fob as he bolted through the trees a few steps ahead of Rochelle. Hat gone, her red hair flowed behind her as she ducked through the low-hanging tree branches.
Limbs slapped him in the face and chest as he tore through the woods in the direction of whatever had moved.
After several fruitless minutes of running, he stopped to catch his breath.
“We lost him,” she said through heaves after catching up to him. “Or it. Whatever we were chasing.”
“Might have been a deer for all we know.” Deer weren’t uncommon in these parts.
“Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. What if we were close?” she asked. And then she tensed as though she realized Asher could be hunting them. His rifle could be searching through the trees for a good shot.
Camden moved next to her to block a shot as she leaned against a tree trunk. There were too many holes in this plan to consider Rochelle to be safe right now. He couldn’t block her from every angle. “This is dangerous. Let’s head back to the Bronco.”
“Did you remember to bring the key?” she asked.
“It’s in my pocket,” he said.
“Good.” She held up a hand, a silent request for a few more seconds. When she could somewhat breathe normally again, she nodded. “I’m good now.”
Finding the way back was going to be trickier than he realized. How long had they been running? He vaguely remembered a zigzag pattern but had no idea how much they’d zigged versus zagged.
He checked the GPS on his smart watch. Hell. No signal.
They could head in the opposite direction and keep moving until they found the road.
The very real possibility they were walking prey right now sent his blood pressure up.
He kept his gun out, ready to go in case they ran into Asher.
But it was likely the movement they’d been tracking was a deer.
Or another large animal. Black bears were common in these parts.
“Stay close to me, okay?” he asked despite the fact Rochelle was capable of taking care of herself. She brought out a protective instinct inside him that had been dormant far too long.
Carefully, quietly, and methodically, he moved through the woods in search of the road. He must have checked his cell phone a half dozen times for bars in twenty minutes. Nothing. To Rochelle’s credit, she wasn’t distressed.
“Let’s try this way,” she said, taking the lead. If Asher came up from behind them, she’d be safe. But, damn, she was exposed out here no matter what Camden did.
Thankfully, they both had on protective gear. Still, there were armor-piercing bullets and plenty of real estate the gear couldn’t cover. Getting off a deadly shot wouldn’t be as hard as Camden needed it to be under these conditions.
Much to his surprise, Rochelle found the road in a matter of minutes.
The Bronco was half a football field down the road.
He kept toward the tree line as they walked toward it.
Asher could be hiding on the other side of the Bronco, so he moved next to Rochelle and walked beside her.
From this vantage point, he could nudge her into the trees if a shot rang out.
By the time they reached the Bronco, his stress levels were through the roof. There was no sign of Asher, so he reached for the key and clicked the button to unlock the doors. Rochelle climbed in the front seat and then he came around to the driver’s side.
After taking the seat and starting the engine, it occurred to him that he hadn’t remembered to lock the doors.
Turning to face Rochelle, he mouthed the words get out as he checked the back seat through the rearview mirror.
There was no one hiding on the floorboard behind his seat, but that didn’t mean they weren’t led on a wild-goose chase so someone could hitch a ride without their knowledge or find the right moment to kill them both.
Rochelle did as requested, stepping away from the Bronco after abandoning her seat.
Camden came around to the back, and then tapped the button. The door slowly raised up. Keeping a safe distance, Camden led with his service weapon.
A swift kick knocked the gun out of his hands, causing it to go flying into the middle of the road. In the next second, a male figure dove at Camden as Rochelle seemed to catch on to what was happening. She came around the side of the vehicle a second too late.
Camden was on the road, wrestling for control. A large male had exploded from the back of the Bronco, diving at Camden. The two landed hard on the pavement. Was this Asher?
A blow to the ribs caused air to whoosh out of Camden’s lungs, but he was able to quickly counter with a knee to the man’s groin.
“Stop,” Rochelle demanded. “Police.”
Those words had little impact as Camden began to get the upper hand.
“Asher Foley, I’m telling you to stop right now,” Rochelle commanded.
Asher’s muscles tensed and then his body went limp like an exhale. “You know about him, so why are you still coming after me?”
“Kage?” Camden asked as he took advantage of the moment and seized control of the fight. He rolled on top of Kage and then pinned the man’s arms together with his thighs.
“I need to see some ID,” Rochelle demanded. “Tell me where I can find your wallet.”
Kage was on the concrete, face down. He cursed. “I have nothing on me to prove who I am.”
“I’m going to check your pockets anyway,” Rochelle said as she moved closer.
Camden waved her off, then patted down Kage. “He’s not lying.”
“Then, how can we prove he is who he says he is?” Rochelle asked. She made a point. He had an identical twin who clearly knew Kage.
“Tell me something only Kage would know,” Camden said. “Like how you feel about being a Texas Rangers fan.”
“Why would I be?” Kage asked.
“Okay, then,” Camden said. The response was the same one he got when he first asked Kage, word for word.
“Why are you here?” Rochelle asked, her expression still tense.
“Because I found out about my brother,” he explained, sounding more than a little put off they were questioning him.
“Identical brother,” Camden pointed out. Could they risk trusting a felon? Take him on his word?
“I had no idea he existed, but recent events make so much sense now,” Kage stated as Rochelle retrieved and then tossed zip cuffs toward them.
Camden placed the zip cuffs on Kage’s wrists and then rolled off the man.
Chest still heaving as he tried to catch his breath, Camden sat on the concrete.
He’d taken a fist to the ribs that made breathing hurt.
He was going to have a nasty bruise. But a physical wound would heal.
He couldn’t say the same for the emotional scars left behind, for example, when a parent abandoned you.
“You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do, Kage Durham. If that proves to be your name.”
“Give me a chance,” Kage said.
Camden shifted his gaze to Rochelle. She gave a slight nod in response.
Then again, what were their options? They were going to the same place whether they believed him or not.
They were taking Kage back to Austin and the nearest substation off the highway, so he could be locked up while they fingerprinted him and checked the database.
Even identical twins had slightly different fingerprints.
“Here’s an idea,” Kage began. “Let me go.”
Camden almost laughed out loud. Then, he issued a grunt. “No chance in hell.”
“I didn’t do it,” Kage responded with a mix of anger tinged with bitterness in his voice.
“A jury can decide once they’re presented with the evidence,” Camden stated.
Rochelle read Kage his Miranda warning from memory.
Though Kage was familiar with his rights, it still had to be done.
“Give me one good reason we should honor your request,” Rochelle said in a surprising twist. Had she read his warning as a way to remind him of the stakes here? Of what he faced?
“Because we both ended up here, for one. We’ll get a whole lot more done if we’re both coming from different angles. And I deserve a chance to prove my innocence considering you’re about to lock me up for the rest of my life.”
“That’s more than one reason,” Rochelle said.
“I could keep going,” Kage responded.
“There’s no need,” Rochelle said through gritted teeth. She’d been keeping a safe distance while intensely studying Kage. “And I don’t take arresting someone lightly, just so you’re aware.”
Kage studied her. “He came after you. Didn’t he?”
She blinked a couple of times, rapidly. Had she been thrown off balance by the question?
Rochelle took a step back as though someone had thrown a physical punch. The question was simple enough. It shouldn’t have thrown her off like it did.
Kage was well spoken. Astute. A convict, she felt the need to remind herself.
And yet for reasons she couldn’t immediately identify, she wanted to trust him. Or was she just becoming that desperate to catch the bastard who’d shot at her, taken away her sense of safety, attacked her at her home?
Either way, they needed to find a reason to keep Kage with them and in cuffs without violating the man’s rights. She needed to talk to Camden in private. “Can I have a word?” She nodded toward the front of the Bronco.
Camden pushed up to standing with some effort, and then followed her out of earshot from Kage.
“We can use him,” she said to Camden.
“Not without his permission,” Camden pointed out.
“I realize that,” she said. “However, if he agrees to be a witness and cooperate, we could surprise Asher with his brother. Maybe give us some sort of advantage for the first time.”
“That assumes Kage, if he is who he says he is, will be willing to cooperate with us,” Camden said. “I’m not exactly his favorite person.”
“Anyone in law enforcement is his enemy right now,” she said. “We have mutual interest here and both parties stand to benefit. We all want Asher behind bars.”
“Again, you’re assuming that this isn’t Asher,” Camden said.
He was right. She could have put on her rose-colored glasses out of desperation to save Justina in a way she hadn’t been able to save her best friend years ago.
Right a wrong that Rochelle had buried so deep she never thought about it again.
“What’s your honest opinion? Is he telling the truth? Because a growing part of me believes he is, and if it’s true then we can use him to our advantage and possibly find Victoria before it’s too late.” The words came rushing out.
“Victoria?”
Rochelle’s hand came up to cover her gasp. “Did I say Victoria? Because I mean Justina.”
Whoa!
Camden closed the distance between them and captured her hand in his.
His warmth, his touch, calmed her in places she’d buried so deep she was surprised they’d ever see the light of day again.
“I just don’t want us to get blindsided here.
I don’t want him to use our desperation against us.
Plus, even if he is Kage and not Asher, what are the odds that he’s going to ditch us and run the second he sees an opportunity? ”
Dammit, Camden was making logical sense. Was she losing perspective?
“That’s why I’m asking you,” she said. “I want you to be the one who makes the call because I’m afraid my objectivity has been compromised considering I’ve become a target and with everything going on in my personal life.”
“Anyone’s objectivity would be affected,” he said with compassion in his beautiful eyes. “Don’t be hard on yourself.”
Rochelle wasn’t being hard enough on herself. She was bringing personal feelings into an investigation.
“It’s late,” he soothed. “Let’s get back to Austin and grab a few hours of sleep. Okay?”
“We can’t, Camden. The clock is ticking for Justina. I can’t let her down.” She left out the rest of the sentence…like I did my best friend.
With Camden’s gaze locked on to hers, the world righted itself for a moment. It was a flash, nothing more. And yet, it gave her the strength to keep going.
Rochelle had never needed anyone. This feeling should scare her instead of comfort her. Because from somewhere deep inside, she sensed that he needed her too. That rather than draining from each other, their connection was a power source that strengthened them both.
Was something special happening between them?
Because her heart said yes as she stared into his eyes.
“What should we do?” she asked, hearing the raspiness in her own voice.
Camden blinked a couple of times before clearing his throat. “If you want to trust him, then I say we take a risk and go for it. We won’t know what we’re dealing with until we do.”
They would find out fast if this was the real Kage. Though, even he might jump ship at his first opportunity.
“We should ask him if he’ll help us before we make any plans,” she said.
Camden nodded before letting go of her hand.
The second they rounded the side of the Bronco, she froze.
Empty zip cuffs sat on the concrete. Kage was gone.