Chapter 13
Flynn had sent her inside when the police arrived. “Anna?”
“I’m in the office,” she called out.
He stopped at the doorway. “What are you doing?”
“Going through the videos for the hours we were gone tonight,” she said. “I just want to make sure nothing was touched.” She glanced at him and smiled. “Thanks for fixing it again.”
“Good idea.” He smiled. “And you’re welcome.”
He was kind of pissed for not having thought of it himself. It just proved when he was personally involved in any case, it would throw him off his game. And he was in this deep, in two different ways—what with avoiding a murder charge, plus, not letting Anna get shot or worse. At the compound they had everything running through video cameras at over a dozen locations. Somebody was always going through them, making sure nothing happened they needed to know about. He should have done the same as soon as they arrived home from the police station.
“I saw him.”
She raised her head and studied him. “You saw who?” she asked cautiously.
“Brendan. He was the one driving the big truck.”
She bolted to her feet and threw her arms around Flynn. He hugged her close. “I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.
“I am too, but at the same time, I’m relieved. We have the right bad guy. There’s no one else out there doing this to us.”
“Did the cop see him?”
“The first cop was there with me. The second took off after him. The one seemed to think they’d have no trouble catching Brendan in a roadblock. But I highly doubt it. Chances are he’s already long gone.”
She pulled back and stared up at him in horror. “Really?”
He nodded.
Just then the doorbell rang. She clung to him instead of stepping away so he could answer.
“Maybe it’s Logan.”
She gave him a questioning look but pulled back, following him. He opened the door with her standing right behind him.
Sure enough it was Logan.
And he was bearing gifts.
The smell of pizza filled the hallway. She laughed. “Perfect timing. I’m starving again.”
He handed her the pizzas and she took them into the kitchen. Thank God he was okay. She had no idea if he just ran off to get the food and hadn’t told them, meaning for it to be a surprise, or if something else happened. She brought out plates and poured Logan a cup of coffee, topped hers off, and filled Flynn’s also.
Still talking, the men came into the kitchen, laughing and joking.
“I guess he didn’t see it then?” Anna asked.
Flynn shook his head. “He followed us just out to the freeway, but since I took the most direct way home to miss all the irritating lights, he actually went into town and ordered pizza.”
“Then that was a very slow delivery,” she muttered. “We parted ways over an hour ago.”
“True enough,” Logan said. “But I also stopped at the liquor store and picked up some beer. I figured Flynn could use a little bit of downtime on that whole stress-level thing.”
Flynn grabbed a beer, popping off the top. “You’re damn right I could. You haven’t heard the latest.”
When Flynn filled him in, Logan stared at him, his jaw dropping. “You’re saying that, if I’d followed behind you, I would have seen the goddamn asshole? Might’ve been able to run his plates?”
“Yeah. Instead the police are chasing him down. But I highly doubt they’ll catch him.”
“Hell, Brendan was in the same evasive driving-maneuver training we were. He’ll shake that off easily.”
Flynn nodded. “I know. I’m expecting him to return. Possibly tonight.”
*
He expected some kind of response from Anna. When there was none, he turned to study her face. It was white, like ice that had set too long in a freezer. He reached across and grabbed her hands. “I don’t want you lulled into thinking this is over. Brendan’s actions have escalated. There’s almost no time between his various little attacks now. He’ll come for the jugular, and we’re ready.”
She stared back at him mutely.
He squeezed her fingers and reassured her. “Remember, this is what we do.”
She shook her head. “It’s what you do, not me.”
“And that’s fine. You just have to trust us.”
Logan chimed in. “We have to be on alert and prepared for an attack.”
“What kind of an attack?”
“That’s the big question. Your security system is back up and running, which is good. But we can’t count on that. He took it out the first time. He’ll do it again. I did set an alarm for that eventuality. So if the system goes offline, an alarm will sound,” Flynn said.
“You can do that?”
“Absolutely. Security systems are way too easy to knock out.”
“So we just sit here and wait?” Her voice rose at the end. She pulled her hands free and reached up, giving her face a good scrub. “This is just too unbelievable.”
“I think Katina would say that same thing. She went through hell too.”
Anna shook her head. “Sure, but she’d seen and done something. I haven’t and the animals don’t deserve this.”
“It doesn’t matter who deserves it. This is what’s happening, it’s what’s on the table right now. Don’t compare the situation to anyone or anything else. We have to deal with what we have to deal with.” Logan’s voice was hard. Determined.
Flynn agreed. But he also knew Anna didn’t live in the same world they did. Cloak-and-dagger stuff was foreign to her. She dealt with puppies and kittens, and her biggest problem was paying vet bills and getting enough food to feed the animals she looked after. A far cry from his world.
On the other hand, it was a good balance. He saw the world in a much nicer light when he was around her. Sure, people were often assholes to animals, and for those he’d cheerfully take them out in a dark alley and give them a lesson about how hard the world could really be. But Anna was all heart. She’d spent her life saving animals. She just needed a hand. And as he considered her words from earlier, maybe a move wasn’t a bad idea. A little farther out of town would be good. He could see the neighbors not being impressed when she was full with thirty or forty barking dogs. There had to be noise ordinances. She had a business license, but if the city officials ever found a reason to cancel that, or change the scope of the license, he figured they would do it in a heartbeat.
Particularly after this session, her place would be deemed trouble. It wasn’t her fault; but his. And for that he was terribly sorry. However, the only thing he could do was get her through this and keep her alive.