The county lockup was on the highway outside of Memphis, on the opposite side of the city from Stone’s offices. They pulled me out, forcing Alli out of my arms. Danny wasn’t happy when he saw her cuffs had been moved, but he didn’t say anything about it. He was preoccupied with me and the high fence around the minimum security jail.

“How do we get in there?”

I shrugged. “That’s supposed to be your problem.”

“You’re the one who put him in this position. You’re the one who’s going to get him out of there!”

“Tell me how, and I’ll do it.”

“You’re in security. What would you do if he was a client?”

“I’d have a whole team of people behind me. I wouldn’t do something like this on my own.”

“Use your credentials. From when you were with the sheriff’s office,” one of the other guys said.

“Yeah,” I said, gesturing at myself in the too-tight pants and oversized shirt. “They’ll buy that, especially when they go on the computer and see that I quit three months ago.”

Danny began to pace. “We’ve got to get him out of there tonight.”

“Why? What’s so important about Willis?”

“The boss is afraid he’s giving things away,” one of the guys muttered. Danny walked over and slammed his gun into the guy’s head, knocking him into the dirt on the side of the road.

“Shut the fuck up!” he yelled.

The kid was out cold. The others stared down at him, their eyes moving from him to Danny like they didn’t know what to do. They were clearly afraid of Danny.

Was that good or bad for me?

“We’ll climb the fence,” Danny said. “You and me.”

“We do that, we need to know where they have Willis.”

“How do you find that out?”

“Talk to someone on the inside.”

“Then do it.” He held out his phone to me. “Call someone. Find out where he is so we can go in and find him.”

My head was spinning. Was he really this naive? Did he really think that a jail would release that kind of information to anyone who called them up? Did he really think we could just walk in there and come out with Willis?

“We should wait until tomorrow. They’ll let them out for exercise. We could get him then.”

Danny shoved the phone in my direction. “We need him tonight.”

“What do you want me to do? I can’t just call the jail and tell them we’re out here trying to figure out how to get close to him.”

“Use your security credentials. Tell them he’s in danger or something.”

I frowned. That was actually an interesting idea. But I was pretty sure Jack would have warned the jail by now that someone might be trying to come after Willis. They would know instantly…but that might be good for me.

“Okay.”

I took his phone and called the operator—a little surprised there was still an operator—and was connected to the jail. A moment later, a man’s gruff voice filled my ear, asking who I wanted to speak to.

“I’m with Stone Security in Memphis. I need to speak to someone about a prisoner, John Willis.”

There was hesitation in the man’s voice. “John Willis?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Would this be the John Willis who has a cougar tattoo?”

My heart jumped into my throat. He was verifying my identity. That meant Jack had informed the jail about Willis’s friends.

“It would be one and the same.”

There was silence for a long moment, and then Jack’s voice filled my ear.

“Can you talk?”

I glanced at Danny. He was pacing several paces from me. He couldn’t hear what was happening on the other end of the phone.

“Yes.”

“Are you okay?”

“For the moment.”

“And Alli?”

“Precarious.”

Danny shot me a look. I cleared my throat and said, “I wanted to inform you that someone might attempt to help Mr. Willis escape from jail. We’d like to offer our assistance in protecting him.”

“They’re listening.”

“That’s right.”

“We’re in the jail, and we’ve got men around the perimeter. We can get you out.”

“Negative. That would create more danger than it’s worth.”

“Alli?”

“Yes, sir.”

There was silence for a long moment on the other end of the line. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, sir, we believe they might attempt to jump the fence and locate the prisoner on the inside of the building. That is why he needs to be moved from where he’s currently located.”

“He’s on his way to Arizona. We had him moved the moment we got your call.” Jack was quiet a moment. “They want you to jump the fence and come inside?”

“That’s the plan.”

“How many?”

“Four would probably work.”

“At least one will go in with you, right?”

“That’s probably correct.”

“We’ve got you on camera. There’s two men in the bushes to your right.”

It took everything I had to keep from looking in that direction. Danny was watching me, agitation clear on his face. He moved his hand in a circular motion: hurry it up. I nodded, turning slightly so that I didn’t have to look at him.

“She’s in the van?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Jump the fence. As soon as you’re out of sight, my men will take the three that are holding her. Then you come to the right side of the building. We’ll have more people waiting for you there.”

I closed my eyes for a long second, relief washing over me. All I wanted was for Alli to be safe. Whatever happened after that was superfluous. Alli was all that mattered to me.

“Thank you, sir. Someone will be in touch very soon.”

I disconnected the call and held the phone out to Danny.

“Did they tell you where he is?”

“Yes, they did,” I said quite honestly. “But we need to do it soon. They said they’re having a shift change right now. They’ll be distracted. It’s the best time to go in.”

“Good.”

Danny looked almost excited. He gestured to one of his men. “Pick him up and get him into the van. The moment we come back, we’re headed home.”

“Thank goodness,” one of the men muttered as he walked over to where his friend was crumpled on the ground.

“We’ll go in and get John, then be back here in less than ten minutes. Have the van running, and be ready to hit the highway.”

“What about Alli?”

Danny glanced at me. “We’ll let her out when I get back here with Willis.”

There was darkness in his eyes, suggesting it was his plan to make sure I didn’t get back to the van. But there was also a little regret. His eyes traveled over me and, as sick as it made me feel, I realized that he was a human being under all this fanatic crap that was ruling his thoughts. He really thought he was doing the right thing even though he was about as efficient and as brave as a cockroach.

Danny tucked the gun into the back of his waistband and grabbed a pair of wire cutters from a bag in the van. It took a few minutes, but he cut a split in the fence big enough for us both to fit through. Alli had crawled to the back of the van, her eyes big as she looked at me. I moved close to her, touched the side of her face.

“It’s almost over, babe.”

“You promised you’d never leave me. Don’t break that promise now.”

I pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes. “How could I?” I kissed her gently, my heart breaking as it finally sank in that this could be our last kiss. I didn’t want to leave her with these men, didn’t like the way the younger one was always looking at her. But the knowledge that help was just a few feet away gave me strength.

“I love you,” I whispered as I turned and walked away.

“Don’t do that, Crispin,” she cried. “Don’t say that now!”

But I was gone, slipping through the hole Danny had created in the fence. I glanced at the bushes where Jack’s men were hiding, wishing them Godspeed.

 

 

The yard was dark, darker than it probably should have been. Jack must have had the jail turn off their security lights.

I followed close behind Danny, my hand resting on the small of his back so that we wouldn’t lose each other. He hesitated every few feet as though he was trying to get his bearings.

“This isn’t right,” he finally said.

“What?”

“It’s too dark. There aren’t any lights, no cameras. Why would that be?”

“There are cameras. They’re equipped with night vision.”

Danny frowned, his eyes moving around us wildly. “How do you know?”

“I was a cop in Yuma for a couple of years before I moved to Ellaville. I know.”

He was quiet for a minute. “If you’re screwing with me—” I felt the gun move against my side.

“You’ve already promised to kill me. Do you think that frightens me?”

He was quiet for a long moment, then the gun moved. He started forward again.

We were nearly to the edge of the building when gunfire erupted behind us. Danny dropped to his knees, jerking around, his hand tangling in my loose shirt. I tried to jerk back, but his grip was stronger than I’d imagined. I hit him on the back of the head, once, twice, shocked that he didn’t go down. I’d hit men twice as tough as him that way and watched them crumple like a wad of paper. But he was still kneeling, still gripping my shirt.

He jerked me forward, causing me to stumble. I swung at his head again, but he felt me coming and ducked. The gun came up, and I felt the cold steel against my side. I grabbed the barrel and twisted it, pulling backward until I heard something pop. Danny cried out, finally injured. The gun discharged, but then it was in my hand. I slammed the butt against the side of his head the same way he’d hit me. He fell then, crumpling into the grass on his side.

The lights suddenly came on, lighting the entire yard. Men in riot gear came at me from every angle. I dropped the gun and held up my hands, showing that I was unarmed.

“He’s ours,” a voice called out. “He’s a good guy!”

One of the figures ran forward, dropping to his knees in front of me. The helmet pushed back, and I saw that it was Jack, a deep look of concern in his eyes.

“You okay?”

“Is Alli?”

“We’ve got her back at the van. They tried to run, but we got ’em.”

I nodded, relief causing my head to spin. I sat back on my haunches, exhaustion settling over me. But the dizziness didn’t stop, and my vision began to blur.

“Medic!” Jack screamed.

I looked down, pain suddenly flashing through me. When the hell…?

A flash of activity began around me, people pushing me down on the grass, asking me questions I couldn’t answer. What blood type was I? When was my last tetanus shot? How long had it been since I last ate?

“Where’s Carson?” I muttered.

Jack actually laughed. “We’ll get her out here.”

And then Alli was there, big tears rolling down her checks. “Asshole!” she cried, her hands on my face, my chest. “You promised me.”

“I keep my promises.”

“You better.”

I took her face between my hands. “You’re okay?”

She nodded. “No thanks to you!”

“Good.”

I rolled onto my side and vomited into the grass. A medic pulled Alli away, while two others lifted me onto a gurney.

“He’s got a bullet in his side. It could have punctured the small intestine,” I heard someone say to Alli.

“Don’t you leave me, asshole,” she said, her lips trembling.

“Never.”