Sheriff Read online

  “Okay, then that leaves the cabin here as the primary search zone.” Julianne pulled some sort of computer-engineered map out of her pocket.

  “What’s that?” Brody asked, stepping closer to get a better look.

  “A map put together by Dylan O’Leary, our team’s technical expert. He’s located back at headquarters, helping to coordinate our activities. Here.” She tapped the map, glancing up at Max. “This is where I veered off track. We need to head due north.”

  “Maybe you didn’t understand what I meant,” Brody interjected. “I’m going with you.”

  She frowned. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary. We can take it from here.”

  “This may be your jurisdiction, Agent Martinez.” He emphasized her formal title with a hint of sarcasm. “But this is my county, and I’m going with you. Whether y’all like it or not.”

  She stared at him for several long moments. “What about the crime scene here?”

  “My deputies will be here any moment—they’ll take care of things.”

  He wasn’t going to let anything change his mind. Whatever Julianne and Max were doing was just as important as searching for Nate Otwell.

  Now that Julianne had reappeared in his life, there was no way she was going anywhere without him.

  * * *

  “I see you’re just as stubborn as ever, Brody.” There was no time to waste, so Julianne didn’t bother trying to talk him out of joining them.

  She hadn’t been able to convince him to believe in her, to come with her to join the FBI academy six years ago, either. The man could teach stubborn to an ox.

  “Are you sure you want to keep going?” Max asked for the third time. “I can take over.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Stop asking already.” She was annoyed at the way her boss was treating her, as if she were some helpless damsel in distress who couldn’t hold her own.

  She was a trained FBI agent. Getting shot at came with the territory.

  And if she were honest, she’d admit that seeing Brody again, hearing her name spoken in his familiar southern drawl, had shaken her up more than any gunman. Especially since it looked as if her ex wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

  Ignoring the four deputies who’d just arrived at the crime scene, she retraced her steps, looking for the evidence bag she’d dropped in her mad rush to stop the prison break. Fifty yards back, she found the sack containing an old shirt belonging to Jake Morrow. Kneeling on the ground, she opened the bag and encouraged Thunder to take a deep sniff.

  Thunder buried his nose in the bag for several long seconds.

  “Find, Thunder.” She pointed north in the direction where the cabin was located. “Find Jake.”

  Thunder’s tail wagged, then his nose went to the ground. He walked in a few circles, then trotted north. Julianne followed, trying to ignore Brody dogging her heels.

  As they made their way through the woods, the brush grew more and more dense. Twice Thunder made a few circles, as if he’d caught a whiff of something important, but he never alerted.

  The trees offered significant shade from the hot May sun, but that didn’t mean it was cool. Sweat beaded along Julianne’s scalp, rolling down her temples.

  “Do you know the people responsible for Agent Morrow’s disappearance?” Brody asked.

  Julianne glanced at him. If in fact Angus Dupree had a cabin in the area, Brody deserved to know. “We have reason to believe that Jake was captured by a highly organized crime family headed up by Reginald Dupree. We raided a warehouse owned by the Duprees, capturing the head of the family, Reginald, but his second-in-command, Angus, got away. Angus is running the show now. Upon further investigation we found evidence that Jake had been there. Unfortunately he’s been missing ever since.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Too long.” Julianne’s voice was curt. “But I’m convinced that with Thunder’s help, we’ll find him.”

  “Are you sure your dog knows where he’s going?” Brody asked as they wedged their way through a particularly dense thicket. “I can’t believe there’s a cabin anywhere in this mess.”

  “He knows,” she said in a terse tone. “Besides, I have a map.”

  “I’d like to see it.”

  Julianne shook her head, there wasn’t time, besides, they’d already told Brody more information than they should considering the confidential nature of their team. Keeping her gaze trained on Thunder, she noticed her partner was slowing down thanks to the denseness of the woods and she wondered how much farther they’d be able to go. By her estimation, the cabin was still a good mile away.

  A mile that may as well be twenty based on the difficult terrain.

  “I should have brought a machete,” she grumbled as she forced her way through another bush.

  “Wouldn’t help.” Brody was so close she was surrounded by the spicy scent of his aftershave intermixed with his unique male essence. Breathing through her mouth to avoid his intoxicating scent, she tried her best to fight the memories.

  Both the good and the bad.

  Don’t, she warned herself. Don’t go there.

  Abruptly, Thunder veered right, heading straight for a large tree. Julianne held her breath, closely watching her partner.

  Thunder sniffed along the base of the tree, then jerked his head back to the right side of the tree. Then he scratched at the spot and plopped down on his butt, staring at the ground as if there was something to see.

  “What in the world?” Brody sounded incredulous.

  Julianne glanced at Brody. Max and Opal were bringing up the rear. Opal was a bomb-sniffing dog, so Max had given Julianne and Thunder the lead in attempting to pick up the trail.

  “Thunder alerted on Jake’s scent. He was here, Max. Jake Morrow was here.”

  “I see that, but where’s the cabin?” her captain asked.

  Good question. She joined Thunder. “Good boy,” she praised him. “Good boy. You found Jake.”

  She stood near the large tree for several moments, then pulled Dylan’s map out again.

  “Max? Hand me your binoculars.”

  Brody took them from Max and brought them over. Raising them to her eyes, she peered through the magnified lenses and incrementally moved the glasses from right to left.

  There! She used the dial to sharpen the image.

  “I found it,” she said excitedly. “There’s a house, not a cabin, but a large house roughly three hundred yards away. The only problem is, I don’t see a driveway or even a path that could be used to get in there. All I see are trees.”

  “There has to be a way in,” Max insisted.

  She inched the binoculars over the wooded area, then stopped abruptly when she saw the wire. “There’s a chain-link fence well disguised with brush and trees, topped by barbed wire.” She pulled the glasses from her eyes and turned to her boss. “This has to be it, Max. It reeks of Dupree.”

  “Yeah, but how are we going to get in? Obviously not on foot,” he said.

  Max was right. She battled a wave of frustration. They were so close. She knew Jake Morrow was being held against his will somewhere inside that house.

  They just needed to figure out how to get in to rescue him.

  TWO

  “I know a way,” Brody drawled, drawing skeptical looks by the FBI agents. The way the dog had alerted on the trail had been impressive, but he didn’t appreciate the way the feds acted as if he wasn’t even there.

  Especially Julianne. Her indifference hurt, more than it should have.

  They’d retreated from the woods, returning to the road. Two of his deputies’ vehicles were parked on either side of the prison van, and Brody knew that he needed to head over there to talk to them. But not yet.

  She stared at him. “How?”

 
; “From the air.” He waved a hand. “I’m a trained paratrooper, I can parachute down landing inside the compound.”

  Genuine surprise widened her eyes. “Brilliant.” She swung toward Max, who nodded in agreement.

  “We need to contact Dylan, see if we can get a chopper here, ASAP,” Max said. “Not too close, though, because we don’t want anyone from inside the compound to hear it.”

  Brody scowled. “Para-jumping with dogs can be dangerous.”

  “We learned to do this in our training program,” Julianne said in a brisk tone. “We can go in alone, no reason for you to come along.”

  “Yes, there is. My county, my problem.” He couldn’t stand the thought of her going in without him and possibly facing an ambush. “Besides, this will be tricky. It might be better if you stay here in the woods as backup in case the whole thing goes south.”

  She took a step closer and jabbed her finger into his sternum. “Listen, Brody, this is our case and I’m going in. You want to come along? Fine. I’m not staying behind. Understand?”

  The steely determination in her eyes proved he was fighting a lost cause. Julianne had always been driven to prove herself capable and he knew she’d go in no matter what. He wanted to capture her hand and press it against his chest, but he didn’t.

  She’d only pull away from him, the way she had six years ago.

  “Okay, okay. We’ll do this, together.”

  “Max and Opal are going in, too.” She tilted her head. “Where did you train to be a paratrooper?”

  “Brief stint in the army.” Brody didn’t want to mention his messed-up knee that had sent him home early. Three surgeries and it was almost as good as new.

  Almost.

  Unfortunately, the army didn’t want to take a chance with his bum knee, so they’d given him a choice, climb the officer ladder or an early honorary discharge. Climbing up the ranks hadn’t interested him so he’d returned home and was offered a job as a deputy. Then somehow managed to become elected sheriff the following year.

  Hometown hero and all that. Which was ridiculous since he was anything but. Julianne had left him after their disagreement over her best friend Lilly’s disappearance. She’d insisted Lilly would never have run away, despite all the signs that pointed toward the girl doing just that.

  Forcing himself to let go of the past, he swept his gaze over the area. “It would be nice to have deputies guard the perimeter, but that means taking them off roadblock duty, something I’m not willing to do.” Brody knew even if he could mobilize every officer he had on staff, it still wouldn’t be enough.

  Max finished his phone call. “Dylan’s looking for a place for a chopper to land. He’s also looking for an area for us to use as a landing spot near the house. He figures that there must be something to use if the Duprees are using the air to get access.”

  Despite his annoyance with his authority being usurped, Brody was impressed. “Wish we had those kinds of resources.”

  “We’re getting the chopper, a pilot and one additional staff member.” Max’s gaze was on Julianne and Brody couldn’t help wondering if there was more between the two of them than professionalism. The flash of jealousy was annoying and unwarranted. Julianne’s personal life wasn’t his business.

  No matter how much he wished otherwise.

  “Who?” Julianne asked with a frown.

  “Zeke Morrow, and his K-9 partner...an Australian shepherd named Cheetah. Zeke asked to join the team weeks ago, and I’ve been working on getting him assigned as Jake’s replacement. The paperwork has finally cleared, and Zeke really wants in on this.”

  She stared at Max in apparent surprise, but then blew out a breath and nodded. “I get it, Jake’s his half brother. If I were in Zeke’s place, I’d want in on the mission to find him, too.”

  “Boss?”

  Brody turned to where two of his deputies waited beside the prison van. The other two deputies were combing the area, looking for clues. “Coming. Julianne, I’ll need your help with recreating what happened.”

  She hesitated, but Max nodded. “Go ahead. It will take some time to get things rolling here.”

  “The sooner we get inside, the better,” she muttered. But she fell in step beside Brody and headed over to the van.

  Brody did a quick round of introductions. “Deputy Dan Hanson and Deputy Rick Meyer, this is FBI Agent Julianne Martinez.”

  Julianne offered her hand. “Nice to meet both of you. I’m the one who stumbled across the prison break.”

  And almost died for her efforts, Brody thought grimly.

  Julianne took them through the events step by step. When she got to the part about the gunman telling her to stop and raise her hands in the air, Deputy Rick Meyer interrupted.

  “You get a good look at him?”

  Julianne nodded. “Yes. About five-ten, weighing roughly 180 but some of that bulk could have been from the body armor. Thin blond greasy hair and narrow, light eyes. He wore a scruffy beard and had a half-inch scar at the bottom left corner of his mouth.”

  Once again, Brody couldn’t help being impressed. “You got a better look at him than I did.”

  “Really? You’re the one who threatened to plant a bullet between his eyes.”

  “I know, but that was mostly a way to distract him, so that he’d focus on me, instead of you. To be honest, I didn’t have a clear shot from where I was standing.”

  “I managed to hit him in the right arm,” Julianne continued. “He dropped his weapon, then took off.”

  Brody glanced at Thunder. “Your dog might be able to track him for us.”

  “Yes, but only if you have some clothing of his to provide Thunder the scent to follow. Blood alone won’t work.”

  Brody considered that idea for a moment. He didn’t have anything belonging to the gunman, but he certainly had personal items belonging to Nate Otwell, the man who’d escaped.

  His former best friend whom Julianne had never completely trusted.

  He let out a disgruntled sigh. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, there was no way to deny he needed her help, and the dog’s, too.

  The time had come to fill Julianne in on what had transpired before the prison break.

  Even if that meant proving that she may have been right to leave him, six years ago.

  * * *

  Thunder found the gun and they also discovered several drops of blood left behind by the gunman, but of course the trail disappeared at the edge of the road.

  “Did you see what kind of vehicle was waiting for him?” Rick asked. Deputy Dan Hanson was sending antagonistic vibes, but Rick Meyer seemed genuinely willing to partner with her.

  Maybe Hanson was one of those who resented having women in law enforcement. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to deal with overblown macho egos. Or the last.

  In her line of work, she was often surrounded by an overabundance of testosterone.

  “No. I was still making my way through the trees when I heard the vehicle take off.”

  “Too bad Thunder can’t tell us.” Brody patted the animal’s head and she bit back the urge to snap at him. Thunder wasn’t a pet, he was her partner.

  “Thunder, heel.”

  Instantly, the dog came to her side and sat straight upright, waiting for the next command.

  “He’s on duty, just like I am,” she explained when the three men stared in surprise. “We need to figure out our next steps.”

  “The medical examiner is on his way to pick up the driver’s body,” Rick said. “We already know the slug should match the weapon you recovered in the woods.”

  “Keep looking for the other slug,” Brody said. “Julianne can show you where she was when the guy fired at her.”

  “This way.” She led the team of deputies to
the area where she’d been. “Here’s the rent in the tree bark from the path to the bullet.”

  They’d found the empty shell casing near where the gunman had dropped the weapon, so Julianne held it out for Thunder. “Find, Thunder. Find!”

  Her partner went to work, scouring the area and tracking the scent of gunpowder. The ground was covered in leaves, twigs and other brush, but she knew Thunder could find the missing bullet fragment.

  Fifteen minutes later, he alerted on the spot, circling the area, scratching at the ground, then dropping onto his rump. Julianne walked over, gently edged the debris aside, and smiled with grim satisfaction.

  “Found it.”

  “Well, I’ll be,” Rick said in amazement. “That dog is smarter than most of the people I know.”

  “Good boy.” Julianne rubbed his silky ears and slipped him a treat. “Good boy, Thunder.”

  Dan made a rude noise under his breath, but drew on gloves then picked up the bullet fragment and dropped it in a specimen bag. “How many shots did he take at you?”

  Julianne lifted a brow. “Just the one.”

  “Hmm.” Deputy Hanson took the evidence back to his squad car.

  She decided not to waste time worrying about Hanson’s opinion of her abilities. Glancing at her watch, she realized roughly ninety minutes had gone by, and she was feeling dehydrated and hungry. Which meant Thunder needed to eat and drink, too. The hour was close to dinnertime and she hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast.

  “Max? What’s the ETA on the chopper?”

  “Two hours, maybe less. They’re coming in from Houston and Dylan has found a small airstrip not far from here for them to use. He sent us a secure email with the location. He’s still working on an aerial view of the compound.”

  She wondered how Dylan was holding up back at headquarters while his fiancée, Zara, was training at Quantico to become a part of their team. “We need to take care of the animals. How about I meet you at the chopper in ninety minutes?”

  “Sounds good.” Max turned and walked with Opal through the woods. No doubt he’d left his vehicle near the cabin he’d investigated before the gunfire rang out.