Sheriff

“She has a few bruises from landing on the ground,” Joe said. “I think she’s more scared than hurt.”

Julianne didn’t blame her. The incident had shaken her, too. Just standing here in plain view was making her nervous. What if the guy who’d set the bomb came back? She and Brody being here could very well be placing innocent lives in danger. Sirens wailed, indicating help was on the way. “We need to leave, Brody.”

“I hear you.” He turned to the restaurant owner. “Joe, Deputy Hanson is on his way to take over for me. He’ll file a police report that you can submit to your insurance company.”

Joe Clancy nodded and lumbered over to where the waitress still stood, wiping at her eyes.

“Do you need to stay until your deputy arrives?”

Brody shook his head. “For now, it’s probably best if we stick together.”

She couldn’t argue his logic. Besides, there wasn’t time to worry about it, they were expected to meet up with Max West at the chopper. “We’ll need to take your truck, since mine is toast. I’m also going to need to replace Thunder’s equipment that was inside. Thank goodness I still have the evidence bag with Jake’s shirt in my backpack.” The thought of losing one of their key leads made her stomach clench. This incident only proved she needed to keep the evidence with her at all times.

“Sure.” Brody led the way to his SUV, with the words Clover County Sheriff painted across the side. He automatically went to the driver’s side door, then hesitated. “Okay if I drive?”

“Yes, of course.” The Brody she knew wouldn’t have bothered to ask. Why was he being so open-minded now? Had he changed in other ways, too? Probably, but she told herself it didn’t matter.

The bottom line was that Brody hadn’t cared about her. He hadn’t trusted her.

Hadn’t believed in her, the way she’d needed him to.

Brody was a part of her past, not her future. As soon as they’d finished here, they’d both return to their respective lives.

On opposite ends of the country.

An hour later, after they’d stopped to pick up the items Thunder needed replaced, she joined Max at the designated meeting spot. The chopper arrived early, which suited her just fine.

Julianne wanted very badly to find Jake Morrow and knew that it was highly likely the hidden house in the woods belonged to the Duprees. Several weeks ago, after a shoot-out at a desolate warehouse, the kingpin Reginald Dupree had been arrested, but unfortunately, his second-in-command, Angus Dupree, had gotten away with Jake Morrow as his hostage. Jake’s K-9 partner, Buddy, had been injured but had thankfully recovered. Their team was desperate to find Jake, worried Angus would attempt to force Jake to provide inside information. Or, worst case scenario, ask for a trade: Jake’s life in exchange for letting Reginald Dupree go.

Each member of the team knew that freeing Reginald from custody was not an option.

“Zeke, this is Julianne Martinez and Sheriff Brody Kenner.” Max performed quick introductions.

“I appreciate being brought in as part of the team,” Zeke Morrow said, his expression solemn. He was tall, broad-shouldered with dark brown hair and dark eyes, and his partner, Cheetah, was a beautiful Australian shepherd with a black-and-white coat, mostly white around the animal’s neck and chest. Julianne found herself sending up a silent prayer that they’d find Zeke’s half brother alive and well.

“We’re glad to have you,” Max assured him.

Julianne echoed the sentiment, then tugged Max’s arm. “There’s an incident I need to tell you about.”

Her SAC’s expression turned grim. “Now what?”

“Somebody planted a bomb under my SUV while Brody and I were grabbing dinner at Rusty’s, one of the restaurants located outside of town.”

Max looked at Brody, then turned back to her. “A bomb?”

“Yeah. Thunder alerted us to the danger, and I happened to catch a glimpse of someone running away from the parking lot, toward the back of the building,” Brody said. “We managed to get away unscathed.”

“Thunder saved our lives,” Julianne added. “He alerted us to the danger. We caught a glimpse of someone running toward the building, and it’s likely he triggered the bomb early. Thankfully, no one else was hurt.”

Max leveled Brody a stern look. “This latest development is related to your prison break, isn’t it?”

“I think so, yes. I know this mission to find your agent is top priority but as soon as we’ve checked out the cabin, I’d like Julianne and Thunder’s help in tracking our escapee. When I checked in, the deputies manning the roadblocks hadn’t seen any sign of him, so that means he either slipped away or is seeking revenge against me personally for bringing him down. Based on the bomb, I’m figuring it’s the latter. I’m concerned about placing more innocent lives at risk.”

“Good idea. Better to go on offense rather than remaining on defense.”

Brody grinned at the football analogy and Julianne remembered how they’d loved to watch college football games on Saturdays. She lived in Montana now, and they had a college team but she still followed Texas A&M, her favorite.

Did Brody still watch them, too? A bittersweet longing swept over her. She missed what they’d shared.

She missed him. At least the way he’d been before Lilly’s disappearance.

“Thanks,” Brody said. “Now, let’s check the equipment, make sure we’re ready to roll.”

Once Brody was assured that they had everything they needed to parachute successfully into the Dupree compound, Max spread out a topographical map on the hood of his SUV so he could outline the plan.

“According to Dylan’s estimate, this is where the house is.” He drew the outline with a felt tip marker. “To the southwest, there’s a small clearing, here.” He made additional marks on the map, then glanced up at them. “This is our target landing zone.”

“Looks like there are a lot of trees.” Julianne kept her tone matter-of-fact. “How big is the landing area?”

“Roughly twenty by twenty.”

“That’s feet, not yards,” Brody pointed out. “Y’all know it won’t be easy, but it’s doable. Are you sure we all need to do this? Do you need anyone to stay behind?”

“The four of us are going,” Max said, gesturing to include Julianne, Zeke and Brody. “And the three dogs. That’s nonnegotiable.”

“Okay, I’ll have my deputies on the ground, surrounding the area as backup. You, Zeke and Julianne will have to drop in carrying your dogs.” Brody flashed a reassuring smile at Max. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, especially since your team has done this before.”

“We have.” Julianne glanced down at Thunder, glad to have him as her partner. She depended on the animal to back her up, sensing danger the way he had outside of Rusty’s. Besides, she needed Thunder’s evidence-retrieving expertise in following Jake’s scent so they could find him. She’d stuffed the bag containing Jake’s shirt into her small backpack so they’d have it within the compound.

“When are we going airborne? Soon?” Zeke was clearly anxious to get going.

“Yeah.” Max nodded, glancing up at the sky. “Dusk isn’t as good as going in at night, but since we have everything ready to go, I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Good.” Julianne was relieved, she didn’t particularly want to wait, either.

Time was their enemy.

* * *

Brody helped Julianne into the chopper, wishing there was a way to convince her to stay behind, far away from the heart of danger. Logically, he knew she was a well-trained, capable FBI agent, but on a personal level, he couldn’t stand the idea of anything happening to her.

The only good part of this entire scenario was that he’d be down there, with her. Close at hand if she needed backup.

If he were honest, he’d admit that she was the main reason he’d insisted on coming along in the first place. He figured between him and Thunder, they’d keep her safe.

He assisted Julianne with her harness. Thunder was remarkably calm despite being airborne in a noisy chopper. Clearly they had done this before.

For the first time since seeing Julianne again, he wondered what it would be like to have a K-9 partner. He’d always thought the animals were a bit overrated, but after the way Thunder had alerted them to the impending danger, he realized he hadn’t given the four-legged officers enough credit.

Their skills were amazing.

Clearly, Julianne had done well for herself. It hurt to realize that leaving him had been the right thing for her to do, in so many ways.

And he only had himself to blame.

At the time, he’d been determined to keep searching for Lilly, not just because Nate asked him to, but because he wanted to prove to Julianne that she was wrong.

He hadn’t anticipated she’d turn her back on him and walk away.

He shook off the troublesome thoughts. Glancing at Julianne, he gave her a thumbs-up. The rotors of the chopper were too loud to allow conversation, although they could communicate through their headsets. The only problem was that everyone on board could hear what they said to each other.

Maybe once this was over, they’d have time to speak privately and finally put the past to rest.

“ETA five minutes.” The pilot’s voice came through the intercom.

Their mission was a go. Brody edged over to the door, filled with a sense of urgency fueled by adrenaline. This was it. They’d be jumping two at a time. He and Julianne would go first, followed by Max and Zeke.

Julianne bent down and lifted Thunder into her arms. The dog’s front paws went over her shoulders and she held his hindquarters firmly against her. Brody secured the strap, holding the dog in place. With a brief nod, he pushed the door open. Holding up his hand he counted down from five.

Four. Three. Two. One.

Julianne and Thunder went first; he jumped shortly thereafter.

The most difficult part of the mission was to make sure they landed in the appropriate spot. Getting their chute tangled up in the trees would be catastrophic.

Brody concentrated on steering his parachute in the appropriate direction. Julianne was directly in front of him. Thunder didn’t bark or growl during the parachute ride, which was reassuring.

The ground rushed up to meet them and when a gust of wind hit hard, he cranked on the leads to stay on course.

His heart thundered in his chest. What if Julianne didn’t have the strength to make the adjustment?

He dropped onto the twenty-by-twenty landing spot, his left knee jarring a bit from the force of his feet meeting the earth. He didn’t waste a second, but quickly gathered the parachute into a ball, ducking out of the way to make more room as Julianne and Thunder descended, landing a few feet away.

He found himself thanking God for their safety, despite the fact that he hadn’t prayed in a long time.

Without speaking, he shucked his harness. Then he stepped forward to assist Julianne and Thunder. Holding his weapon ready, he led the way to the side of the clearing and took shelter behind the largest tree. There was a faint path through the woods, leading to what he assumed must be the house.

The structure wasn’t easy to see because the dark wood blended in with the surrounding foliage.

“Do you think they heard the chopper?” Julianne asked, coming up to stand beside him.

“Probably. I’m hoping whoever is here assumes that the chopper belongs to the Red River Army Base. It’s roughly sixty miles to the east and it’s not uncommon for choppers to come and go.” Brody returned his gaze to the path. “How many guards do you expect?”

Julianne shrugged. “Four or five on the outside, but I’m sure there are a lot more inside.”

He scowled, realizing he should have asked more questions about the Duprees and what they were capable of. He didn’t like being outnumbered.

Having deputies surrounding the compound wouldn’t be very helpful if they couldn’t get inside.

Soft thuds signaled the arrival of Max, Opal, Zeke and Cheetah. Five minutes later, they came over to join them.

“We’ll split up,” Max directed. “Julianne, I want you and Kenner to go in from the right. Zeke and I will cross over to cover the other side.”

It was on the tip of Brody’s tongue to ask that Julianne stay back with Zeke while he and Max went in first, but he managed to hold back.

With four to five outside guards, it probably didn’t matter one way or the other.

He and Julianne gave Zeke and Max time to make their way around the property so they could approach the house from the other side. After an excruciating ten minutes, he nodded at Julianne.

“Our turn.”

He crept along the path, moving silently through the brush. Julianne and Thunder covered his back.

When they’d gone about fifty feet, he paused and took out a pair of binoculars. The structure was closer now, just another forty to fifty yards away.

He caught a glimpse of one guard near the front door. If there were others, they were too well hidden for him to see. But he suspected there was at least one more, patrolling the perimeter.

“Found one,” he whispered, handing her the binoculars. “At the door. He’s not even trying to hide, but maybe there are others.”

Julianne handed the glasses back to him. “Seems awfully quiet. I expected the chopper to garner some attention.”

Brody didn’t disagree. Even if the guards assumed the chopper belonged to the army base, which was located near the border of Texas and Arkansas, wouldn’t they at least come out to make certain?

“Ready?” He looked at Julianne who nodded. “Let’s go.”

He shook off a wave of apprehension and moved forward. They covered another twenty yards, the house now dangerously close, when he signaled for her to wait.

Raising the binoculars again, he could see the single guard near the front door as clearly as if the guy were standing right in front of him. He was dressed in army green, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, but he also lounged against the wall of the house as if he were bored out of his mind.

Something about this wasn’t right. He took his time, carefully checking the vicinity for others who might be hiding nearby.

Nothing.

Could this Dupree guy Julianne was tracking be that arrogant? Did he really think the thick woods and the fence offered him enough protection?

If so, maybe this wouldn’t be as dangerous as Brody had feared.

With the guy leaning up against the wall, he couldn’t go in to take him from behind. But Brody could rush him, bringing him down before he had a chance to pull his weapon.

“I’ll take the guy at the door,” he said using the mic to make sure Max and Zeke knew the plan. “I need everyone else to keep alert in case there are other guards who may come running.”

“Roger,” Max replied. Julianne simply nodded and moved a few feet ahead, putting herself and Thunder in position.

With stealthy precision Brody moved from one tree to the next, coming up on the guy’s right-hand side. The gun was slung over his right arm, so Brody had to assume he was a lefty.

He rushed the guard, hitting him hard and taking him to the ground with a muffled thump. He pressed the guy’s face into the earth so that he couldn’t shout for assistance. But it didn’t matter because within seconds the front door swung open and a second guard appeared in the doorway, his weapon pointed directly at the spot where he’d left Julianne.

Crack! Crack!

Two shots echoed through the trees. Brody’s heart slammed to an abrupt stop in his chest. The guard in the doorway fell backward into the house from the force of Julianne’s shot.

Brody yanked on the guard’s arms, pulling them behind his back to cuff him when more gunfire rang out. The guard tried to head-butt him, so he was forced to hit back, knocking him unconscious. Then he finished tying the guy’s wrists behind his back and his ankles together so the guy couldn’t escape.

When he rose to his feet, he saw that Max, Zeke and Julianne were huddled near the front door. Unfortunately, it looked as if the gunfire had been exchanged both ways; there was a bit of blood on Zeke’s arm and two guards, he’d been right about one patrolling the perimeter, were dead, leaving only one to question once they’d cleared the house. Max and Zeke quickly took control of the fallen guard’s weapons.

“Ready to go inside?” Max asked in a low, urgent tone. “I’ll take the lead.”

Julianne nodded and pulled out the same evidence bag she’d used earlier that day, the one with Jake Morrow’s shirt inside. She opened the bag. Thunder buried his nose inside, taking his time to imprint the scent.

“Find Jake.”

Thunder put his nose to the ground, but Julianne kept her hand on his collar, giving him a hand signal of some sort. The dog stood at her side, his nose twitching with the need to follow the scent.

Max approached the door first, taking the right side. Zeke came up on the left. After a moment they both disappeared inside, each heading in opposite directions.

Julianne stepped up to the doorway, following Max. Brody didn’t like being separated from her, but took the left, following Zeke and Cheetah.

The house was plush, with at least a dozen different rooms, but there was no sign of a captured agent.

In fact, there wasn’t anyone at all. Other than the three guards they’d taken care of, the place was empty.

* * *

Julianne couldn’t believe that Angus Dupree and his henchmen had gotten away. Frustrated, she let go of Thunder’s collar. “Find, Thunder. Find Jake.”

Her partner went to work, nose to the floor, instantly alerting in the main living area. But then he kept going, down the hallway to one of the bedrooms, where he alerted again.

In the kitchen. The bathroom. Another bedroom.

Thunder found evidence of Jake in nearly every room in the entire house.

“He was here,” Julianne said, glancing at Zeke. “Probably recently. We must have just missed them.”

“Julianne, come look at this,” Max called from one of the back bedrooms.

“What did you find?”

His expression was grim. “Blood. Fresh blood along the side of the desk chair.”

She sucked in a harsh breath. “Thunder, heel.”

The dog bounded to her side.

“Find Jake,” she repeated. He’d already alerted in this room, but over by the side of the bed, not the desk.

Thunder put his nose to the floor, sniffing along the edge of the desk. When he got to the side where the blood was, he alerted again.

“We’ll need to test the blood to match Jake’s DNA, but according to Thunder it’s likely his.” She glanced around the room. “Maybe this is where they kept him locked up, either at the desk or on the bed.”

“That’s the picture I’m getting.” Max opened the desk drawers, but they were empty.

Julianne went down on her knees to look under the bed. A flash of silver caught her eye. “Thunder, find Jake.”

The dog crawled on his belly beneath the bed, emerging a moment later with something in his mouth. Julianne gently pried it out of his jaw.

“What is it?” Max asked.

Zeke and Brody came into the bedroom. Zeke took one look at the item she held in her hand and asked, “Where did you find that?”

“Under the bed.” She looked at the heavy silver watch. “Do you recognize it?”

Zeke paled, his expression full of anguish as he nodded. “It belongs to Jake.”

“How do you know?”

Zeke took the watch and turned it over. “See here? I had it engraved.”

J: Proud to be your brother—Z.

She swallowed hard, handing the watch back to Zeke. “The evidence proves Jake was here.”

“Yeah, but where is he now?” Zeke demanded, jamming his fingers through his hair. “And what’s with the blood? Are they torturing him in order to make him talk?”

Julianne shook her head, feeling helpless. She didn’t know where Dupree had taken Jake, or why there was blood on the edge of the desk.

The news didn’t bode well for Jake’s safety.

And worse, they were back to square one.

FOUR

“Okay, now what?” Zeke demanded, staring at Max. “You must have some idea of what our next move should be. We have to find Jake before Dupree kills him.”

Brody remained silent, feeling the same frustration as the rest of the FBI team. The loss of their agent was clearly taking a toll, especially on Jake’s half brother. Zeke looked mad enough to take on the world.

He couldn’t blame the guy. He’d feel the same way in his shoes.

“We need an evidence team to come in and sweep this place, make sure we haven’t missed anything,” Max said. “And we’ll take the guard into custody, see if we can get him to talk.”

Zeke scowled. “You’re assuming he knows something worth telling us.”

“Zeke.” Julianne rested a hand on the newest agent’s arm in an attempt to calm him. “At this point, we’ll take every bit of information we can get. Have faith, we’ll find your brother.”

Brody knew that Julianne’s faith was strong, while his had wavered over the years. Once again, he hated the idea that she was clearly better off without him. Their disagreement over Lilly’s disappearance as well as her bluntly negative opinion of Nate, had created a rift between them wider than the Mississippi River. Besides, as much as he felt bad for the FBI’s missing agent, he had a bigger problem to contend with.

Finding Nate Otwell and the gunman who’d assisted his escape.

“We’d better get outside,” Brody interjected. “We’ll need to get the guard airlifted out of here, along with the rest of us.”

“Yeah.” Max jammed his fingers through his short blond hair before turning and heading back through the house, Opal at his side.

The two guards they’d been forced to shoot in self-defense were of course lying where they’d left them. But when Brody looked over to the side of the house where he’d tied up the guard he’d bound and left unconscious, the guy was nowhere to be found.

“Where did he go?” Zeke demanded.

Good question. Looking closer, Brody noticed that one of the dead guards’ bodies had been disturbed. Had the guy managed to roll over here to get access to a knife? “I bound his wrists and his ankles, but he may have managed to get ahold of a knife. Still, he couldn’t have gone far.”

“Let’s see if any of the dogs can pick up his scent,” Max instructed.

Julianne took Thunder over to the spot on the ground where the bound guard had been. She pointed with her finger. “Find, Thunder. Find.”

Thunder took his time sniffing the area, then trotted off toward an area of dense brush, where the branches were broken as if someone had recently barged through.

“We’ll go in at another angle,” Max said.

Brody battled a wave of guilt as he followed Julianne and Thunder. He wanted desperately to find this guy. If the guard managed to escape, it would be his fault.

Just like Nate’s return to his criminal past was. If he hadn’t gone into the army...but he had.

So far, he hadn’t exactly been much of an asset to Julianne and Max’s case. Granted, the FBI agents had also searched the fallen guards for weapons, but he still felt responsible.

Thunder stopped for a moment, alerting on the base of a tree. Brody wondered if the guard had paused there to catch his breath.

“Good boy,” Julianne praised. “Keep going, Thunder.” She opened a bag of leaves for him to sniff. “Find.”

In the brief moment of silence, the sound of a tree branch cracking echoed loudly. Brody instantly spun north. Thunder reacted at the same time, heading in the same direction from where the sound had come.

Brody clung protectively close to Julianne. She wasn’t his responsibility anymore, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. She was still important to him, even after all this time.

He didn’t see how the guard could have gotten ahold of a gun, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances. For all he knew, they had weapons stashed somewhere on the property.

Sure enough, a loud boom echoed through the air, something hitting a tree branch above their heads. He jerked her arm, covering her body with his. “Get down.”