Loe raamatut: «Dead End»

ONE

Nina Holmes squeezed her hands into fists and resisted the urge to slam them down on the counter. “Ma’am, with all due respect. I’m not leaving until you tell me what I want to know.”

Probably not proper decorum for the federal courthouse, but what else was she supposed to do? This woman was her last option. Nina had to get this information.

The name tag read “SONDRA,” and it jiggled as she huffed. “Be that as it may, I am only a federal employee. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

Nina pushed the creased and worn paper closer to Sondra. “I just need you to contact this person at the other federal courthouse, the one in Baltimore, where these records are kept. They can have the file transferred here. It’s so old it’s paper, but only an employee of the courthouse can request the file.”

Now that Nina was a retired CIA agent, she had zero clout.

Sondra looked at the paper with one penciled eyebrow raised. Nina took a deep breath and launched in. “You see, I’m looking into an old case. It was an FBI investigation into the murder of a congresswoman that took place nearly thirty years ago—my mother. I need this file, Sondra.”

It was the one thing she’d never been able to let go of, even in all her years at the CIA running covert missions. Her best friend had been there for her since third grade all the way through their time with the CIA. But now Sienna had gotten married, and they were no longer secret agents for the US government.

Sienna had a new life, and Nina had...nothing but the will to find the truth. That was why she had to look into her mom’s death, and maybe even discover the real killer once and for all, so her father—wrongly convicted of the crime—could finally have peace. So that she could have peace. Otherwise she was never going to be able to move on with her life.

Sondra fingered the paper.

Nina sighed. “Please, help me.”

The woman took the name and phone number of the person Nina had been in contact with in Baltimore—where the murder and trial had taken place. But she didn’t pick up the phone. She moved her fingers over the keyboard. The clicking of keys took on a rapid pace, and soon Sondra sat back.

“This person, whoever it is, doesn’t show up in my system as working for that particular courthouse.” She pointed to the paper. “And that phone number is for the Baltimore public library.”

Nina flinched. “What? How is that possible? I called the federal courthouse. I was transferred to that person. He knew about my mother’s case. He said he remembered it from the news reports, since the husband killed his congresswoman-wife.” Nina swallowed against the bad taste of those words. Her father had been innocent. “He said he would process my request.”

“I must be too young to remember it.” Sondra’s eyes narrowed. “That is what the computer says. I’m sorry I can’t help you more.” She glanced over Nina’s shoulder and raised her voice. “I can help the next in line!”

Nina staggered back. What was going on? She’d thought for sure today would be the day she would finally see the file.

The public library. How could she have been given that number by mistake? None of this made any sense. The process should have been...not easy, but at least possible. She might have worked for the CIA, but it wasn’t as though she could just call up one of her old coworkers and ask them for information on a domestic murder that happened years ago.

Nina stumbled down the hall, the injury in her left hand aching beneath the brace she wore to cover the scars. She didn’t need the questions, usually innocent enough, but she had no interest in being reminded how she’d gotten the nasty cut. She had more important things to worry about. Her teaching job at the local college would start with the fall semester in a few weeks. Until then the clock was ticking.

It was time to find the killer and put the past to rest once and for all.

She’d walked from the apartment she rented close to the federal courthouse. She lived downtown simply so she didn’t burn extra money on a car, insurance payments and gas. The college where she had been hired to teach economics was nearby. A new chapter for her new life.

But so far she was getting nowhere.

Nina blew out a breath and pushed open the heavy door. The Oregon fall weather was breezy with a pleasant temperature, much different from the biting East Coast air she was used to. Nina hitched her purse higher on her shoulder and tried to push down the frustration while she figured out a new plan of attack. Regroup. That was all she had to do, and the CIA had taught her how. She just needed to come at this from a different angle.

The concrete steps were smooth under her canvas flats. Traffic whizzed past, and two men in bulletproof vests walked a man in an orange jumpsuit up toward her. She stepped aside, too preoccupied to really look at them. They were just doing their jobs. It wasn’t their fault she was having a bad day.

But they slowed.

Whether she knew them because Sienna was now married to a marshal or not, Nina didn’t want to make small talk. She trotted down the steps onto the sidewalk and turned in the direction of home. Two steps after she had set off, someone yelled her name.

Wyatt? She turned back to tell him she couldn’t talk, or wasn’t in the mood for it, or some variation of that.

A silver car jumped the curb as it barreled toward her.

Nina didn’t have time to scream. She jumped aside and prayed she wouldn’t die before she found her mother’s real killer, a man who had been having an affair with her mother. A man who called himself Mr. Thomas and who’d told her stories of spies, pirates and fair maidens.

A man no one had ever believed existed when she’d told them he killed her mother.

Nina hit the ground and rolled.

* * *

Deputy US Marshal Wyatt Ames ensured his partner had hold of the prisoner and sprinted down the steps. The silver car raced away, but he ran to Nina with his gun ready. It was a reflex to draw his weapon, but he wasn’t going to shoot at a car fleeing the scene. Too easy to hit an innocent person on a busy downtown street.

Behind him Parker called in the make and model, no plates. Request for EMTs, possible injuries.

“Nina.” He crouched beside her and holstered his weapon. “Nina, are you okay?”

She groaned. “No.” She sounded mad, which almost made Wyatt smile.

He helped her roll over, which made her groan again. The road rash on her right arm and her temple made him wince.

She eyed him. “That bad, huh?”

He didn’t return her smile—there was too much fear in her blue eyes. He did lift her left hand so he could survey the scar from the injury she’d had the day he’d met her. She had a wrist brace on, and he couldn’t see the injury on her fingers. Was it under the brace material? That would mean the injury was down by her thumb. Why hadn’t he known that?

Wyatt had been there the day they rescued her from the house where she’d been held, months ago now. Caught up in Sienna’s amnesia, and the hunt for a flash drive of sensitive information Sienna had hidden before she lost her memory, Nina had been kidnapped in order to draw Sienna out. The man who had held her was dead now, but Nina had been injured.

When they’d found her, Nina’s left hand had been bandaged, the wrappings soaked in blood. Yet she’d still been strong enough to push through and help Wyatt’s partner—Parker—find Sienna, who was now his wife. That danger had passed, and Parker and Sienna were finally free to be happy.

Wyatt had been impressed by Nina that day, and it hadn’t let up since. Clearly her inner character was as beautiful as she was on the outside, even with the haircut she had gotten recently. He’d never been a fan of short hair on women, but the choppy blond strands made her eyes stand out all the more and he had to admit it was cute.

Wyatt’s phone started to ring, but he ignored it. “Don’t get up, okay?” Her left hand seemed to have gone through this unscathed, the road rash on her right arm likely from trying to protect the injury beneath the brace. “EMTs will be here in a minute and we’ll get you looked at.”

Nina sighed and straightened her legs on the sidewalk in front of her. Wasn’t she glad help was coming?

“Ames!”

Wyatt turned back to his partner.

Parker motioned over his shoulder with his thumb. “I’m going to check our friend here into his permanent staycation and I’ll be back out.”

Wyatt nodded and turned back to Nina, still in his crouch. “That was crazy. I can’t believe that car jumped the curb and came right at you. Seriously. It was nuts.”

Nina’s lips curled up, though he could see the pain on her face. “You’re babbling.”

“Your life just flashed before my eyes.”

Nina laughed. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hug her until his heart rate settled down, and she was laughing? “This isn’t funny, Nina.”

She shook her head. “No, it really isn’t. You’re right. But to be honest, it’s just been one of those days. This is pretty much the perfect end.”

“It’s not even lunchtime.”

“I’m still ready to go home and crawl back into bed. Maybe tomorrow will go better, because today does not seem to be my day.”

The ambulance pulled up, a police car parking right behind it. He knew the sergeant who climbed out. Sergeant Zane sauntered over, apparently relaxed, having decided the emergency had passed and Wyatt had whatever this was covered.

The law enforcement community in their town was pretty tight-knit. Zane probably knew Nina through her connection to Sienna and Parker. Being retired CIA agents in this town was enough to make them famous.

Wyatt got up and stepped back as the EMTs started to work on Nina. Zane might think the former CIA agent could handle herself, even in a situation like this, but he hadn’t seen the raw fear on her face like Wyatt had. There was a lot of wincing now as the EMT doused her road rash, but she kept it together. All that raw skin had to hurt something fierce, but she held her own. As usual. Did the woman ever break?

Sergeant Zane stopped in front of him. “Parker called in an attempted vehicular homicide. I’ve got units on the lookout for the car he described, but it seems like it worked out.”

Vehicular homicide? Wyatt glanced back at Nina. His head hadn’t caught up with his reflexes yet so it took a minute. The car. Nina on the sidewalk. “Why would someone try to kill you?”

It couldn’t be easy to have a past full of covert missions—especially when a recent leak made her past career public knowledge. Had someone she’d angered as a CIA agent just tried to retaliate?

Nina looked up, one eyebrow raised. “You’re seriously asking me that question?”

Sergeant Zane snorted. When Wyatt glanced at the man, his eyes were on the blue sky. He looked back at Nina. He’d been more concerned about the fact that she was hurt. He hadn’t even wondered who was driving the car and why they had done this.

“Who wants you dead?”

Nina cocked her head to the side. “I would write you a list, but...” She lifted her right arm, now being wrapped in a bandage.

Sergeant Zane erupted in chuckles. Wyatt shot him a look that shut him up. Wyatt had been a cop before transferring to the Marshals Service, but couldn’t ever remember acting the way Zane did. Now that he was on a fugitive apprehension task force, Wyatt didn’t have to suffer the sleepless nights of being a homicide detective. He didn’t have to see the tear-filled eyes of loved ones as they faced the gruesome details of death. The long-drawn-out investigations. Awful hours that had taken a toll on every relationship he’d had.

As a homicide detective, he’d had only questions and then had to go out and find the answers. As a marshal he knew the answers—the case was closed—and he only needed to track down the fugitive and dispense justice. When the cell doors shut, his job was done.

The one gray cloud in his life right now was Nina. Or, more specifically, his unwanted feelings for her. Wyatt might have been attracted to her since they met, but Nina wasn’t like any other woman. Not exactly a bad thing, but her best friend had just married his partner. She’d have the bug, and if they started dating she’d be thinking about him and “long term.”

Not exactly Wyatt’s thing, at least when he considered the fact that his track record at relationships wasn’t good. It was why he kept everything light. First he had to figure out why he’d never been able to hold on to a relationship. Then he’d open himself up to dating again.

He glanced back at the courthouse, where Parker made his way down the steps toward them. Wyatt looked back at Nina. “What were you doing here?”

Nina opened her mouth to answer, but Parker spoke first. “She was trying to find out who killed her mother.”

She shot him a dirty look. “Sienna was not supposed to have shared that with you. That was private.”

Parker’s brows lifted. “You want my wife to keep secrets from me?”

Wyatt glanced between them. They seemed to have this rapport as friends that he didn’t have with Nina. And why did that bother him? He moved so the EMT could get by him and head back toward his bus. He heard a low “She’s good.”

Wyatt nodded to the EMT, then looked back at Nina. “Your mother was killed?” He could see the sadness in her eyes. He’d never seen that undercurrent of grief in her before. Apparently she was as good as he was at keeping things light. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Nina glanced at Parker for a second. “It was a very long time ago. I came here trying to find out what happened. To say I’m getting the runaround is an understatement.”

Parker took a step closer to them. “Sienna and I said we’d help.”

“Sienna said she’d help. I wasn’t even aware you knew.” Nina sighed. “And I might have to take you up on your offer since I’m not getting anywhere. I wanted to do it myself, but I might have to face the fact that I’m in over my head with this.”

Nina glanced around, still sitting on the sidewalk. Wyatt moved to help her up, but Parker beat him to it. Held out his hand and hauled Nina to her feet while Wyatt just stood there looking inconsiderate.

She gifted Parker a small smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” His eyes were dark, but he had that undercurrent of a happily married man that had for a long time been absent in his partner. “Wyatt is going to take you home, okay? Watch your six.”

Finally Parker said something right. Wyatt nodded to his partner, since Nina couldn’t see him. She snapped a salute with her good hand. “Yes, sir.”

Wyatt shook his head. “Where’s your car?”

She turned from Parker as he walked away and said, “I walked here.”

“You did?”

She shrugged. “I only live around the corner.”

Parker, already ten feet away, spun back. “I’m headed to the office. When you see her home, make sure she eats some lunch.”

Nina rolled her eyes.

“My car is this way.”

He held out his hand, but she didn’t take it. She walked gingerly, and he wished he’d parked closer. She’d hit the sidewalk pretty hard, and she was leaning toward the opposite side. Wyatt put his hand on the small of her back like he was leading her, when the reality was he needed to give her support and comfort even if it was in that small measure.

He’d done the same a million times with witnesses, or women he’d dated, but he’d never felt like this. It was as though a spark of electricity had arced from her to his hand. She probably wasn’t even aware of the action, whereas all of his senses had lit up. The lingering rush of adrenaline at watching her almost die wasn’t helping. She’d nearly been flattened on the concrete by that car.

She needed support and protection, but from what? The police could track the car, but it was likely stolen. Maybe they would never find out who had been driving. Nina would live the rest of her life under a cloud of impending danger.

Nina’s cell phone chimed from inside her purse. She pulled it out and looked at the screen, but he couldn’t read the tiny text. What he could read was her reaction.

The flinch.

The quick intake of breath that meant the danger was far from over.

Maybe it was just beginning.