DECKER, WE HAVE a big problem.”
Decker was in the truck driving away from the police building with Jamison when Kemper had called.
“What?”
“I just got a call. We lost track of Ted Ross.”
Decker swore under his breath. “How the hell did that happen?”
“I honestly don’t know. He must have found out we arrested Green and Martin and now he’s disappeared down a rabbit hole.”
“How about his old man?”
“Now that’s one card we might be able to play.”
“How so?”
“Fred Ross is sitting in a holding cell at the Baronville jail. I had him arrested based on the phone call from Alice Martin after Bond had phoned her. Now we have Martin’s evidence of the guy’s involvement in the murders of my two agents and the drug ring. We’ll arrange to have him transferred to a federal lockup shortly. But in the meantime, we’re going to grill him until he screams he wants a lawyer.”
“Then I suggest you wear earplugs.” He clicked off and threw his phone down on the front seat of their truck.
“Bad news?” Jamison asked.
He told her.
“Okay, really bad news. What do you think Ted Ross is going to do?”
“For starters, he’s going to try to avoid the death penalty.”
“What do we do?”
“We go home and get Zoe and Amber and get them the hell out of Baronville.”
“Right.” Jamison stomped on the gas so hard, Decker’s head snapped back.
* * *
When they pulled into the driveway of the house, Decker noted that the cop was still stationed out front in his cruiser.
“Tell your sister to pack up and we’ll drive them someplace safe. I’m going to call Bogart and have him put some agents around them both.”
Jamison jumped out of the truck and ran into the house while Decker phoned Bogart and filled him in. They made arrangements to meet a team of FBI agents in Pittsburgh. It was dark now and would be darker still by the time they got there.
Decker put his phone away and studied the house. It was almost impossible to believe that just a short time ago he and Jamison had traveled here for some rest and relaxation.
If I survive this, I’m never taking another vacation in my life.
He checked his watch. They needed to get going, and he hoped that Jamison had told her sister and niece to just grab the essentials. They could get whatever else they needed in Pittsburgh.
“Decker!”
He looked at the front porch and saw Jamison waving her hands at him.
He jumped out of the truck and raced up to the house.
“What is it?”
“They’re gone. There’s no one here.”
Decker looked at the two cars parked in the driveway.
“Could they have gone somewhere on foot?”
Jamison looked over his shoulder and said slowly, “Why didn’t the cop get out when I yelled for you?”
They hustled over to the car.
Decker knocked on the window. And when he didn’t receive a response, he pulled his gun and slowly opened the car door.
The dead officer slumped sideways, held in only by his seat belt.
Jamison said, “Oh my God! Decker!”
Decker looked up at the house. “You sure it’s empty?”
“I called out to them. Nothing. I looked around the first floor.”
“Were there signs of a struggle?”
“No, nothing that I could see.”
“We have to search the rest of the house. But hang on.”
He called Lassiter for backup but got no answer.
He next called Kemper.
Again, nothing.
They both went to voicemail.
He put his phone away. “Okay, it’s just us. Get your gun out and follow me.”
They entered the house and searched the first floor thoroughly, including the closets.
The place looked normal. There was an empty bowl and glass in the sink. No overturned furniture.
They headed upstairs and went bedroom by bedroom until they got to Decker’s.
He opened the door and looked around. His gaze fell on the folded piece of paper lying in the center of the bed. Next to it was a cell phone.
He picked up the paper and slowly unfolded it.
You will wait to hear from us on this phone. Any mistakes, they are dead.
Jamison held out her hand for the note and he passed it across. She read it and plopped down on the bed and buried her face in her hands.
Decker walked over to the window that looked out over the rear of the house.
That was how they must have taken them. Through the backyard, over the fence, and onto the next street.
Where it all began.
He said, “They’re going to call, Alex. We just have to be ready when they do.”
Jamison said nothing.
He sat down on the bed next to her, picked up the phone the kidnappers had left, and stared at it.
* * *
About the time that Decker and Jamison discovered the dead cop outside the Mitchells’ home, Donna Lassiter, three uniformed officers, and two DEA agents led Alice Martin and Detective Green out of the police station after they had been booked, photographed, and fingerprinted. The next stop would be jail, where each would be kept in an isolation cell until their arraignment.
The alleyway here had been closed off and Lassiter had men all around looking for threats.
Lassiter spoke into her phone as they exited the building from the rear and the transport vehicle immediately pulled up.
As they moved toward the vehicle Martin looked at her.
“I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”
“Well, that really doesn’t matter. But what will matter is for you to make amends by testifying.”
“I understand. But I was wondering something.”
“What?”
“Can the prison where I’m sent be close to my children?”
“Look, you’re hardly in a position to be making demands.”
“I know. And I don’t expect that it will happen, but I was only asking for your help. For your old Sunday school teacher?”
Lassiter sighed. “I have nothing to do with where you’ll be sent, but I can speak to someone about it. But it might not do any good. In fact, it probably won’t. But I will make a call.”
“Thank you for trying.”
“But my help is contingent on you testifying truthfully about all that you know.”
“I understand. I’m looking forward to it, actually. It’ll give me the opportunity to make penance. They said no one would get hurt. But they lied about that.”
“Where did you think it was going to end?”
“I…I guess I never really thought about that.”
“Well, it’s a little late now.”
“Is it too late for me, Donna?”
Lassiter turned to look at her former partner.
“There’s nothing I can do for you.”
“I was just trying to get what was mine.”
“Nobody’s entitled to shit, Marty.”
“Been pounding the pavement for next to nothing all my life. Protecting the public. Hell, the public’s not worth putting my ass on the line for.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
The next instant, the long-range shot hit Martin directly in the chest, blowing a chunk of the woman out through her back. Blood and splintered bone smacked against the window of the transport truck.
Green screamed, but it died in his throat as the next round went through his head, taking a large piece of his brain with it.
“Shooter!” screamed Lassiter, pointing her gun in the direction from where the bullets had come. She managed to fire several shots.
The next bullets slammed into Lassiter and two others, dropping them all to the ground.