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  “Suzanne Simmons?” he called.

  “That’s Chief Deputy Simmons to you,” she yelled back without missing a beat.

  It made the man smile.

  “Lower your weapons,” he ordered his men. “We’re dealing with family now.”

  James didn’t get a chance to question that before the sheriff was walking through the barrier toward them. He nodded to James, who lowered his hands and popped open the door.

  “You hurt back there, Simmons? We have an EMT on standby.”

  “I’m a little banged up but I think I’m good.”

  “What about you, son?”

  “Nothing some Icy Hot can’t handle,” James answered. He got out of the truck but hung back to help Suzy out of the bed. Goodness knew she didn’t need it, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to offer.

  “My dress wasn’t so lucky,” she said, raising her voice. “So unless you want to see my undergarments, Sheriff Wayland, I suggest you stop in your tracks.”

  Like a criminal had just drawn a gun, the sheriff reacted instantly. He turned on his heel and walked back to his men without another word. James didn’t make such a retreat. Instead he took a few steps back until he was staring up at her.

  “Don’t worry—I’ve already seen that lacy number you’re trying to hide there,” he defended, going around to the tailgate. He opened it and then kept his gaze high. “I’m just here to help now.”

  Despite what they’d gone through in the last half hour or so, Suzanne Simmons looked like she was still ready for whatever was thrown their way. Her hair was wild, her body was tense, and her dress was ruined, but she in no way looked defeated. James stripped off his jacket and held it out to her.

  “This is the best I can do right now,” he said, trying to coax her forward.

  It worked. She dropped down on the ground next to him and wrapped the jacket around her, hiding the majority of the damage. Watching her do something as innocent as trying to cover herself with his jacket, James couldn’t help but remember everything she’d just done.

  It prompted an honest reaction from him. One that came out before he could censor himself.

  “I don’t know if anyone tells you this often enough but, Chief Deputy Simmons, you are an extraordinary woman.”

  Suzy lifted her chin and fixed him with a honey-filled stare. Her lips, red and plump and just asking for his, lifted at the corner.

  “Don’t I know it.”

  What the woman didn’t know was James was two seconds from taking her in his arms and covering that smirk with his own, but as quickly as he had the thought, he remembered what had led them to this point.

  His expression must have shown the change in feelings.

  “Did you tell them about Gardner on the phone?” he asked.

  If law enforcement knew that Gardner was his brother and had a son out there? It could jeopardize the baby even more. As well as his sister, friends and even staff. Any and all could be used to get information out of him. Not that he had much to give.

  Suzy shook her head. It surprised him.

  “I have a feeling that just knowing you’re Gardner’s brother won’t make this situation any less complicated,” she admitted. “I want to do as much as we can to catch those men from tonight, but if there really is a baby out there... We need to be careful and smart.”

  “We?”

  That surprised him.

  “I still don’t trust you,” she said, voice even. “So, I’m not leaving your side until this is finished. Got it?”

  It was his turn to nod.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Good. Now let’s get out of here so we can figure out what’s next.”

  He turned to follow her but not before lowering his voice.

  “How fast can you get us in the clear with these guys?”

  Suzy didn’t break stride.

  “What? Why?”

  Even as he said it, James felt a surge of adrenaline go through him.

  “Because I think I know where Hank went.”

  * * *

  THE CALWARTS COUNTY Sheriff’s Department was a quick trip in Sheriff Wayland’s Tahoe. Suzy had known the man for years, mostly because her father had been his friend when she was younger. Since he’d passed Suzy had kept a more professional friendship with the older man, occasionally grabbing a drink between their jurisdictions with Billy and Matt in tow.

  After she’d been shot, Wayland had called, sent flowers, but hadn’t visited.

  He tried to make up for that in the car but Suzy assured him she’d taken no offense. Their jobs could become overwhelming at times. Not to mention busy. Like now, trying to find a swatch of armed men, barreling through possibly both of their counties while they tried to find the baby of the Alabama Boogeyman. Even thinking it made her feel insane. She’d only gone to a party and now she was a county away with a ruined dress.

  Once they made it to the Calwarts department, all attempts to apologize for his self-conceived wrongdoings came to a halt. Sheriff Wayland took them into his office and buckled down on trying to get a better idea of what they were up against.

  “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you,” Suzy said with true frustration. “I didn’t get a clear picture of how many men were there, if they even were all men.”

  “It had to have been at least six before most of them left,” James supplied. “Then we just had the two after us. Guns and ammo didn’t seem to be an issue for them, either.”

  “And you have no idea why someone would give you an anonymous tip to go out to that house?” Wayland asked this to James directly. He shook his head.

  “I wasn’t aware it existed until I found the note with the address on my windshield.” Suzy didn’t know if she was impressed by the fact that James was weaving around stating direct lies or if it should be another point under the Reasons to Not Trust James Callahan list. Either way, she knew she couldn’t hold it against him too much. Considering it had been her idea to leave the teen called Queso, Gardner, Hank and Gardner’s son out of it.

  Still, she wondered if that had been the right call.

  “Because of my wealth I’m no stranger to the occasional prank or attempt at extortion,” he continued. “Which is why I asked Chief Deputy Simmons here to accompany me since she was the only law enforcement left at the town-hall social. Though if I had realized it was more than just someone pulling my leg, I wouldn’t have gone. I had no idea it was going to turn out the way it did.” That last part was the unequivocal truth. On both their parts. Had Suzy had any inkling of what they were walking into, she would have trod a lot more carefully. Or at least brought more ammo.

  Sheriff Wayland rubbed his chin. He looked toward the door and then to a paper on his desk.

  “What is it, Sheriff?” She showed him a grin. “And don’t tell me nothing because I can see it’s something.”

  If Wayland was amused that she knew him well enough to know he was chewing on some information he wasn’t sure about telling, he kept his mouth shut. Right up until James stood.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to call my sister back and make sure everything is all right.”

  He wasn’t asking for permission, just being polite. Though he showed a small smile to her before leaving. Suzy realized as soon as he shut the door that he’d only gone so Wayland would open up to her.

  Someone he trusted.

  “We’ve heard some talk on the street about a group attempting to weasel their way into the criminal underbelly here in the South,” the sheriff led in. “Just hearsay, mind you. Sounded more like some people talking big but nothing else. But now with what happened? It would be different if it had been just the two men, but at least six with that kind of firepower?”

  “Seems like overkill,” Suzy supplied.

  Wayland let out a long breath.

&nb
sp; “Or a show of force.”

  Suzy mulled that over while Wayland checked his phone. The laugh lines at the corner of his eyes were deep. Just not being exercised tonight. Which, by estimation since her phone was dead, was technically day. She bet it was at least one in the morning.

  A deep exhaustion was starting to settle the longer she sat in her chair. There were only so many jolts of adrenaline that could go through a person before draining them completely when they wore off.

  “Unless there’s more you need from me, I’d like to go home.” She stood, not caring if he protested. “We can go give our statements and then I want to point my head toward my pillow.”

  Wayland looked up from his phone, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, but then he nodded. He didn’t stand but motioned to the door.

  “I’ll keep you updated on anything we might find.”

  “I’ll do the same,” she lied. There was already a small list of details she wasn’t sharing. Suzy rolled her shoulders back, trying to physically get away from the discomfort of deceit. But somewhere in her gut she felt it was the right thing to do. If they had any hope of getting to Gardner’s kid before their unknown attackers could. Once law enforcement knew of James’s connection to the Boogeyman it would cloud protocol. And that wasn’t something they could chance with a baby out there.

  Her thoughts turned to her own son.

  No, she wouldn’t chance their situation from going any more sideways than it already had.

  “And, Suzy?”

  Her hand hovered over the doorknob.

  “Yeah?”

  Wayland’s expression was blank.

  “I don’t know James Callahan like you might, but I know enough to guess he’s hiding something,” he said, solemnly. “Be careful and try to stay out of his trouble, okay?”

  Suzy nodded.

  “Okay.”

  But she knew it was just another lie.

  * * *

  “WHAT HAPPENS NOW?”

  It was such a simple question at such a complicated time that James didn’t know how to respond for a moment. Instead, he slid his phone into his pocket and took the time to really look at Suzanne Simmons.

  They were outside of the Calwarts sheriff’s department, just within the glow of the outdoor lights. But it was bright enough to show him a woman who was tired and worn, but ready. The dress he’d admired from the moment he’d seen her at the party, however, had clearly seen much better days. Even with his suit jacket wrapped around her waist, one of the slits that had split farther upward was visible. Not only could he see the side of the lacy number he’d nearly died for in the attic, but the tan, smooth skin above it, too.

  James focused his attention back on the woman’s face. Her eyebrows were raised.

  “Well?”

  “Well, I think it might be time to get you out of those clothes.”

  Her eyebrows shot up even more. She pushed out her hip and crossed her arms over her chest. The stance did nothing to help his concentration.

  “Excuse me?”

  James held up his hands in defense. “We both need to get into some different clothes,” he amended. “We look like the poster couple for a zombie film.”

  Suzy’s eyes traced the cuts he knew he had on his face and neck from the windshield’s glass. He’d cleaned them up the best he could with the first-aid kit. After a good shower, he hoped they wouldn’t look so severe.

  “So, your plan starts with new clothes,” she said after a second.

  “My plan starts with getting into that.” He pointed over her shoulder to a burgundy Altima.

  “Whose car is it?”

  James started toward it, placing his hand carefully on the small of her back to steer her along with him. Even as he moved, he felt the soreness vibrating in his legs. The jump from the attic might have hurt him more than he’d originally thought.

  “Deputy Decker’s.”

  “Deputy Decker?”

  On reflex, James took her elbow as they started down the few steps between the department and the sidewalk. Her skin was as soft as it looked. Warm, too. It felt right. She felt right. Even in the smallest of touches.

  He cleared his throat and let go. She was a distraction.

  “He works here. Nice man.”

  James pulled out the key fob and unlocked the doors. He went for the passenger’s-side door. Suzy didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would let a man she didn’t trust open the door for her—and James had no illusions about her still not fully trusting him—but she didn’t fight it. He had to keep his gaze up as she maneuvered herself inside. However, in his peripheral vision he could still see her long bare leg when her dress parted at the movement.

  “And he’s just letting us take his car?”

  James leaned over the passenger seat. “Of course not. I bought it.” He shut the door on her look of surprise.

  Suzy kept her questions in until they were back on the main road that ran through the heart of Calwarts County. Without looking at her, he could tell she was listing off each concern and going over them all mentally before she said anything. Not only had he found she was a woman of action, he could tell now she was also a woman of contemplation. A combo that had helped make her chief deputy at a younger age than most, he was sure.

  “There might be an up-and-coming gang in the area trying to establish itself,” she started. “Sheriff Wayland guesses those men we ran into were a part of that group. I have to ask—did Gardner have any connections to local gangs?”

  “No,” James was quick to answer. “He was a gun for hire only. A floater. He liked not having ties to hold him down. He once told me the only anchor he really had to the past was his phone calls with me.” Although James had known that as fact, saying it out loud to someone else made the truth in it hurt. Regret, anger and a growing ache of loss came together all at once in his chest. “But I guess that changed. Or would have, if he hadn’t been killed.”

  “His son,” Suzy said.

  James let out a deep breath. A wave of exhaustion that was in no way physical washed away the rising emotions in his chest.

  Gardner was gone, and there was nothing James could do about that. With his brother’s death, their shared past had frozen without hope of ever changing their future. Losing the possibility of a different relationship was like losing his brother all over again. Just like when he’d heard Gardner had run away from school.

  And just like when he’d found him shot to death in the warehouse.

  “It’s been four months since he died,” James finally said. “If Hank has had the boy this entire time, then I agree with our trigger-happy shooter from the house. Hank’s waiting to do something. And considering I haven’t been contacted for any reason, I’m assuming Gardner never told him who he really was. Who his family was.”

  “And who is this Hank?”

  James rolled up to an intersection and stopped. All of the stoplights were flashing red. No other cars were on the road. It was just the two of them. He wondered if, under different circumstances, the two of them would have ever been in a similar situation. Just a man and a woman, tired in a car, making their way home together.

  A different kind of ache started in his chest.

  He ignored it.

  “Gardner, as you can guess, never really talked about his extracurricular activities with me. But sometimes he would mention an associate named Hank. On more than one occasion, he even referred to him as his friend. He never mentioned any other names, so I think it’s safe to assume our trigger-happy friends are talking about the same guy.”

  “And you know where he is?”

  James held up his finger. “I know where he likes to drink,” he said. “And if you ask me, that’s better than knowing where he lays his head.” He pressed the gas pedal down. It felt better to do that when not under extreme
duress. “Which is why we’re taking a road trip tomorrow.”

  That got her attention. “Where? And why not now?”

  “While you were giving your statement, I made a few calls. The bar is empty minus the owner, and he doesn’t plan to talk until he’s had some sleep.” James felt his expression harden. If only for a moment. “And I want us to be smart about this. Sharp. We can’t do that with the way we look and the way we feel.”

  Suzy’s head tilted enough that he saw her hair shift over her shoulder.

  “The way we feel?” Her voice was off. It prompted him to look at her. He didn’t understand the change.

  “Don’t tell me Action Hero Simmons doesn’t get tired,” he said. “Because I’ll be honest—I’m feeling it, and I wasn’t the one being thrown around like a rag doll in the back of a pickup truck.”

  Suzy snorted. “Right.” She cleared her throat and rolled her shoulders back. “I’d also like to reassess our situation.”

  “Our situation?” He glanced her way again. She didn’t meet his gaze.

  “I don’t want to be caught in another ambush. In a dress. With only one gun.”

  He couldn’t argue with that.

  James looked at the clock. By the time they made it back to his house, he guessed it would be nearly three. What Suzy didn’t know was that, even if they did sleep, he still had pieces on the figurative chessboard. Moving without him, but because of him. He’d made more than a few calls while she’d been talking to the Calwarts deputies and detective. The less he told her, the fewer reasons she had to lie when questioned. Something he was still surprised she’d done with her fellow law enforcement.

  She’d kept Gardner out of it. She’d kept Queso out of it. Hell, she’d even kept the baby out of it.

  James didn’t know if it was because Suzy believed in him, or if it was maternal instincts coupled with experience in the field that kept her from going in guns blazing with a county of deputies behind her.

  Either way, he was starting to see that, while he’d thought he knew everything about her through her reputation, she had a lot more surprises up her sleeve.