Forced to hide, p.7
Forced to Hide, page 7
His gaze narrowed slightly. “When the time was appropriate.”
Adele crossed her arms over her chest. “And just when would you deem it appropriate?”
He flashed her a lopsided grin. She refused to let him affect her, even as her annoyance dimmed.
“Well, now seems as an appropriate time as any,” he said with a sheepishness that made her wonder what he was like as a kid. She would imagine his parents had had a hard time corralling him.
Exasperated by her own waning irritation and her affection for him, she turned to her family and sought to change the subject. “I made monster cookies, lemon Bundt cake, crème brûlée, and baked Alaska. What’s your pleasure?”
Smiling broadly, her mother’s gaze went from Brian to Adele. “It’s good you’re keeping yourself busy, my dear,” her mother said. “I’ll take a crème brûlée and a monster cookie.”
“Lemon cake for me,” her father said as he bent to pet Scout.
“Baked Alaska,” Brian said. “I’ll help you.”
“No, no, no,” Claire said. “I’ll help.” She toggled her fingers at her parents and Brian. “You all get to know each other.”
Claire hooked her arm through Adele’s and drew her into the kitchen. “I want to hear all about what’s been going on.”
Adele rolled her eyes. “Nothing has been going on.”
“You’re baking.” Claire released her to grab dishes from the cupboard. “You bake when you’re anxious.”
“I am anxious.” Adele brought the baked Alaska out of the freezer. Figuring her sister already had heard the news about the courthouse bombing, Adele stated flatly, “Someone is trying to blow me up.”
“True.” Claire gave her a fierce hug. “I thank God they didn’t succeed.”
“Me, too.” She didn’t tell her sister about the shooting attempt. Thanks to Brian, the shooter hadn’t succeeded. A ribbon of unease wound through her. Would the assassin try again? And when? How? She shivered.
Claire leaned back with worry in her eyes. “Why does someone want you dead?”
The question of the day. Brian had thought it had something to do with Garcia, but Adele couldn’t see how that would benefit the man. “I’m sure the marshals will figure it out.”
“They’d better.” Claire released Adele and moved to the cupboard to grab plates. “I want to know what’s going on with you and the good-looking marshal. Is he single?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Do you like him? He’s awfully handsome.”
Rolling her eyes to keep from revealing her feelings to her sister, Adele said, “Let’s just get the desserts going.”
She would never confess to her sister that she’d been cooking up a storm not because of her normal anxiety, made exponentially worse by the attempts on her life, but because of the too handsome man underfoot. Contrary to his statement that she’d hardly know he was there, her awareness of him was acute. Perhaps getting back to work would alleviate her anxiety and her attraction to a certain cowboy marshal.
* * *
The old elementary school on the outskirts of town was set back from the main road. A large field that needed to be mowed stretched behind the school and, beyond the field, a grove of oak trees grew thick and tall. The building itself was nothing to look at. Long, U-shaped wings with rectangular windows framed a central courtyard. Several of the larger classrooms had been commandeered and converted into makeshift courtrooms.
Brian prowled along the bank of windows, some cracked open to let in some fresh air, in the classroom assigned to Adele as her provisional courtroom. He didn’t like the various hiding spots that could conceal a shooter. The trees in the distance could provide a seasoned sniper a roost easily enough.
The responsibility to keep Adele out of harm’s way carried more weight than normal. He always took his job of protection seriously, but with Adele...they’d become friends and he liked the woman beneath the black judge’s robe. Seeing her today in her official role made him realize she used the robe as a shield. A way to distance herself from others, which he supposed was part of her job.
Brian didn’t like how exposed Adele was, sitting at the front of the room. He kept an eye out the windows for any glint of a scope on a sniper rifle. Nobody could get within a hundred feet of the school and a perimeter of armed officers stood guard, but that wouldn’t stop someone from climbing a tree in the distance. With some skill and the right equipment... Just because the shooter had failed his mission outside the hospital didn’t mean he wouldn’t try again.
Brian sent up a silent plea to God that nothing would happen to put Adele in danger.
He told himself his worry over her safety was purely professional. He refused to let his respect and admiration for Adele turn into something more. He needed to stay detached, professional. Do his job. Stay focused.
She sat at what would have been the teacher’s desk and was giving a speech about the responsibility of jury duty. Scout lay at her feet. She wouldn’t leave him at home alone and had insisted he come with her. A bit unorthodox, but then again, they were in an elementary school holding court.
Student desks had been arranged into three rows with an aisle running through the middle. A new set of potential jurors dotted the room, crammed into the too-small-for-adults desks. Many of the jurors who had been in the courtroom when it had exploded had declined to return on the grounds of post-traumatic stress. He certainly didn’t blame them.
Brian wished Adele would claim some post-traumatic stress, given how close she’d come to being blown up and then shot, but she was determined to carry on.
The defense attorney had already stated that Tomas Garcia had refused to return for the jury selection process. The man still insisted he’d been the intended target of the bomb and, despite their assurance he wasn’t in danger, Tomas was certain another attempt would be made either on him or on the judge, and he didn’t want to be anywhere near a courtroom.
Adele’s clerk, Jordan, entered the room and hurried to the desk-turned-bench, an envelope in his hand. She put her hand over the microphone while he spoke into her ear.
Frowning, Brian wanted to know what was so urgent that the clerk would interrupt her. She said something and the clerk nodded then headed toward the back of the room, where he took a seat. Jordan opened the envelope in his hand, releasing a puff of white powder into the air. The clerk coughed and waved his hand to disperse the particles.
Alarm bells banged in Brian’s head. “Jordan, put down the envelope and move to the window. Everyone else out!”
“What’s going on?” Jordan asked, his voice shaking and panic rising in his expression.
Not wanting to alarm the young man, Brian refrained from voicing his suspicions. “I don’t know yet, but I’m not taking any chances.” He motioned for everyone to hurry through the exit.
Closing the distance to Adele’s side, he grabbed her, practically lifted her from her seat and propelled her out the closest exit. Scout stayed at Adele’s side, his leash in her hand.
“Did you touch the envelope?” he asked her.
“What?” She stared up at him in alarm. “The one Jordan had? No. Why?”
Brian moved them far from the room. He called Jace, who was standing guard with Sera at the entrance to the school. “We’ve got a situation.”
Brian told Jace what he suspected. “White powdery substance. Could be nothing. Could be something dangerous. Airborne.”
Beside him, Adele gasped. “Oh, no.”
“On our way,” Jace told him.
Brian waved to another of the court security guards. “Get a hazmat team here, stat.”
More security guards hustled forward from their posts around the school as word spread that something was happening.
“We need to evacuate the school. Everybody into the courtyard,” Brian instructed.
Jace and Sera joined him. “We’ve got this,” Jace said. “You secure the judge.”
Instead of joining the rest of the people in the courtyard, he hustled her out the front door to the SUV he’d borrowed from his boss. He wasn’t taking any chances with her safety.
“We can’t just leave,” she protested. “I’m in the middle of court proceedings.”
Brian opened the passenger door and urged her inside. “Proceedings are over for today.”
He then secured Scout in the back passenger seat.
A siren filled the air as an ambulance roared to a halt in front of the school. Brian was glad to see the quick response time. He sent up a prayer that the paramedics reached Jordan in time to halt whatever poison had been in the envelope.
When they were on the road heading back to the judge’s neighborhood, he asked, “What did Jordan say to you when he came up to the bench?”
“Someone handed him an envelope and told him it was urgent for me to see what was inside.” She gasped and put a hand to her throat. “That envelope was meant for me?”
His gut churned with apprehension. This had been another attempt on her life. “Yes, it was. Whatever was inside is probably poisonous.”
“But Jordan...” She looked like she might be sick.
He released one hand from the steering wheel to reach for hers. “He’ll get the help he needs. My job is to protect you.”
He couldn’t believe the killer had managed to get so close. Who had handed Jordan the envelope? How had they gotten past the wall of security surrounding the elementary school? His hand tightened on the steering wheel while the petal-soft feel of her palm pressed against his other hand seared him to the core.
Somebody was going to pay when he found out who the traitor was among those sworn to protect.
* * *
After calling to ensure Sera and Jace had access to the State of Texas court records to acquire the judge’s case files from her time as both a prosecutor and a judge, Brian patrolled the house, securing all the windows and doors. Adele had retreated to her room. Scout sat at the back door, every now and then giving a little whine.
Relenting, Brian opened the door and let the dog out. Scout went around to the side of the house while Brian walked the fence line.
Scout brought his ball and dropped it at Brian’s feet. He picked up the ball and tossed it. Scout ran across the grass to the edge of the fence. The dog picked up the ball, paused, then dropped it to sniff the ground around the fence. A few seconds later, a feline head appeared over the top of the fence. Scout barked as the cat scampered across the top rail and disappeared into the neighbor’s yard.
“At least we know you will keep her safe from any critters.”
Brian threw the ball a few more times for Scout before heading back inside to pace the living room. Scout jumped onto the couch, his big paws hanging over the edge and his head resting on the arm. His dark eyes watched Brian.
Adele came out of her bedroom. She’d changed from her work clothes and into bright red sweats. The bottoms of which had the words Corpus Christi up the side of one pant leg. The matching hooded sweat jacket had a screen print of the Corpus Christi beach. Her auburn hair had been set loose to brush over her shoulders. So pretty.
She asked, “Any word on Jordan?”
“Last update I received was that he was being treated for anthrax poisoning. But his prognosis is good. His exposure was minimal.”
She stopped midstride, her hands fisting at her sides. “Who did this?”
“Someone very determined,” Brian replied. “Jace and Sera are bringing your old case files that haven’t been digitized for us to comb through.”
Adele sat on the couch, drawing her bare feet beneath her. “A fun stroll down memory lane. Not.”
Joining her on the couch, he sought to keep her mind from the horror of being a target. “Do you spend much time at the beach?”
“I do,” she replied. “Every summer, growing up, my family headed south. The water’s warm on my feet, the sun hot, and there’s freedom to just run up and down the shoreline. I haven’t had a chance to take Scout there yet.”
“Sounds like you have good memories. I’m sure Scout will love the ocean. I must admit I prefer the Texas beaches over the California ones. Both are beautiful in their own ways, though.”
“Did you surf while you were in California?”
“Yep. The coastline from San Diego to the northern part of the state offers every type of wave you can imagine. I’ve surfed here in Texas, too. But the best waves here are in the winter months, and I prefer warm water.”
She smiled softly. “You’re a good swimmer then.”
“I am. My grandparents bought a house on Medina Lake, where I spent a lot of time with my cousins when not at school or some summer camp or visiting one of my parents. Swimming was a must.”
Her brows drew together. “You grew up around here?”
“Born and raised here,” Brian told her. “My parents divorced when I was five.” Memories assailed him, and he pushed them back. “My dad moved to Ohio. I spent a fair amount of time up north. My mom stayed around here.”
At least he’d go but not stay long. His father hadn’t been too interested in having his son around. Too busy with whatever woman he was with at the time.
Sympathy darkened her pretty, amber-colored eyes. “It had to have been tough on you at such a young age for your father to move away. Did you fly back and forth?”
“Sometimes. They both moved often. And sometimes my mom would drive me halfway and Dad would pick me up. My parents both went through several new spouses, some with kids, and both produced siblings that are scattered around.”
The empathy written in her expression tightened his gut. “Hard to become attached to anyone?”
“Yes, it is.” No one could be counted on to fully commit which was exactly why he didn’t do serious relationships. He wasn’t going to end up like his parents.
After a moment, she asked, “Why did you join the marshals service?”
Brian stretched his arm across the back of the couch. This was a more favorable topic to discuss. “I met Jace when I was fourteen. His family would come to the lake during breaks.” He smiled, remembering. “I was fascinated with the idea of the US Marshals Service. Jace would always complain that his dad was never home. But I saw how committed his father was to the service and to his family.” Admiration and respect had grown over the years for Gavin. “When Gavin was around, he was all-in.”
Acid burned in Brian’s veins. “Unlike my own father. There were times when I went to visit my dad and he didn’t even realize I was there.”
Adele reached across the space between them to briefly touch his leg. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
With just the slightest move, his stretched arm could be around her shoulders. The yearning to pull her close had his skin itching. He removed his arm from the top of the couch and smoothed his hands down his thighs, as if he could smooth away his attraction.
“It is what it is,” he remarked. He didn’t want pity. Life happened. Everyone had troubles. He was no exception. “Anyway, when I graduated high school, I applied to the San Antonio Police Department. Four years later, Jace applied. We both served on SAPD for a couple years.”
“Then you decided to go to the marshals service together?”
He chuckled. “Funny enough, we each made the decision to apply without telling the other. I thought he’d be mad because his father was a marshal. And Jace thought I’d feel like he was abandoning me.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sounds as though you guys have a deep friendship.”
He caught a whiff of her floral scent. She smelled like a meadow and sunshine. An ache settled in his chest. “The deepest. We were both stunned and immensely happy to discover that we both got into the same class. We met Sera there.”
“You three work well together.”
Her observation pleased him. “We do. We have a lot in common.”
“Like being dedicated. And good at your job.”
Surprised at her praise, warmth spread through him. She sounded like she admired him. Like she cared. But there were more ways he, Jace and Sera were alike.
“And commitment shy,” he blurted before he could stop himself. He winced at the revealing statement. He wasn’t usually so self-aware but remembering Sera’s admonishment to keep his and Adele’s heart safe seemed to have made an impact.
Adele tilted her head, her gaze curious and confused. “I thought I heard someone mention Jace was married?”
That had been astounding to Brian. “He is and has a baby on the way. I couldn’t be happier for them.” Thinking of how different Jace was after falling in love with Abby, Brian said, “Jace changed for the better. Marriage seemed to have settled down his restlessness.”
Adele was silent for a long moment. What was going on in her beautiful mind? Did she share the same commitment-phobic tendencies as him? Or was she searching for a fairy-tale romance? She was a beautiful woman. Why was she single? What kept her from finding love? But the bigger question was why did he care?
SEVEN
Brian thought she was done with the conversation, which was fine by him, but then she said, “Staying in the marshals service seems like a big commitment to me. You are dedicated to your job.”
His insides stilled. “I am committed to my work. But a different kind of commitment is required in a romantic relationship.”
She held his gaze, her eyes seeming to search for something in him that he wasn’t sure was there. “You’ve never been tempted to commit to a romantic relationship?”
Growing uncomfortable with the conversation, Brian forced himself to stay seated when he really wanted to move away from the question. “No. I’ve dated. Casually.”
“And Sera?”
“She has her own reasons for staying unattached and hasn’t cared to share all of them. I think that’s why we all get along so well. We would do anything for each other. But we all know where the boundary is when it comes to all that touchy-feely kind of stuff.”
