Secrets of the Lynx (22 page)

Soon they were rolling down the four-lane highway ten minutes west of Hartley. Traffic flow and bad timing forced them to stop at a light in the small community of Kirtland, just north of the Navajo Nation boundary. It was the last stop before Shiprock, a dozen or so miles farther west. Traffic was heavier here than before, but their small convoy stayed together.

Paul checked the rearview mirror. “There’s a white van behind us. It’s probably a service or utility vehicle, but I can’t see a company or agency name from this angle.”

“There are two men inside wearing baseball caps and big shades. We’ve got the sun at our backs, and that makes the use of shades a bit odd. They look more like spooks than anything else,” Kendra said.

Kendra checked out the new-looking pickup that pulled up beside them at the light. There were two men in the cab there, also wearing ball caps and sunglasses. “To my right,” she said, “another pair of spooks in heavy jackets.”

Paul looked over. “Something’s not right. They’re not the least bit curious about us.”

“Yeah, and here we are in this ambulance.”

As the light changed, Preston’s SUV surged ahead. Paul accelerated to keep up, but suddenly the pickup beside them veered into their lane.

“Hang on!” Paul swerved the heavy ambulance to the left, lessening a blow to the right front bumper, but the ambulance still shook hard on impact. As he pulled the wheel back to the right, he caught the pickup’s rear bumper as it tried to cut them off. The truck fishtailed, almost catching an oncoming car, then straightened out, rocketing ahead.

“Behind us!” Kendra grabbed the dashboard.

The white van slammed into them with a bone-jarring thud. Kendra bounced forward, but the seat belt kept her from hitting the windshield.

Paul looked ahead. The passenger of the pickup was leaning out his window, pointing a gun. “Duck!”

A bullet shattered the windshield, striking the rearview mirror, which broke loose and bounced off the back of the cab. Paul tried to hold the wheel steady, but the van hit them again on the right rear bumper and sent them skittering down the highway, tires screaming. Paul yanked the wheel to the right, avoiding an end-over-end rollover.

Kendra drew her gun as the van pulled up on her side, but it instantly dropped back into their blind spot.

Paul yanked out his pistol, back in control of the ambulance, but by then the pickup was speeding away. The van behind them cut its speed, whipped across the median, and also raced off.

“What the hell?” Paul looked at Kendra. “They had us pinned. Why did they bail?”

Kendra looked out the side mirror. “There’s something stuck on our side panel back there. Get off the road, fast! There, that empty lot,” she said, pointing.

Ten seconds later, she leaped out of the cab and took a quick look at the object.

“Bomb!” she yelled to Paul. “Run!”

They were barely twenty feet away when the blast shook the ground. Enveloped in a wave of heat and pressure, they were thrown forward onto the gravel.

“You okay?” Paul said.

“Yeah,” she said, coughing.

They rose to their feet slowly and turned to watch the mass of flames that covered the ambulance. Billowing black smoke rose upwards in dark waves.

Paul looked over at Kendra. “You can bet they’re watching us with binoculars right now and think they killed Miller.”

“Good thing Miller’s safe and sound in Preston’s SUV.”

“We bought some time, that’s all,” Paul warned.

“It may be a small win, but it’s one that counts.”

Daniel, his head out the window, pulled up in a second SUV, this one blue. “Come on. Get in!”

Paul and Kendra didn’t hesitate. “What are
you
doing here?” Paul asked, waving Kendra in first. “I never told—”

Daniel gunned the engine the second they were both inside. “Preston asked me to cover the move but stay well behind so I wouldn’t be made. When I saw you running from the ambulance, I figured out what was going down. Now let’s get out of here.”

* * *

F
ORTY-FIVE
minutes later they arrived at a reservation clinic south of Beclabito in the piñon/juniper hills. Preston was outside waiting for them.

Kendra looked around. “Good choice. No way to sneak up on this place. There’s not much cover around here.”

“That, and we’re thirty miles deep on the Rez so a white man sticks out like a sore thumb,” Preston said, leading the way inside. “One good thing—the bomb attack rattled our prisoner. He wants to cut a deal—immunity in exchange for his testimony.”

“He killed a U.S. Marshal and Annie Crenshaw. Those defensive scratches found on his arms are going to seal a conviction when the DNA under Annie’s fingernails comes back from the state lab. His only hope is a life sentence,” Paul growled.

“Yes, but to survive even behind bars he’ll need our help. That’s going to be our leverage,” Kendra said. “Of course
any
deal will be up to the federal prosecutor.”

As they went down the short hallway, the doctor who’d ridden with Miller and Preston came out of a room to meet them. “Miller can be questioned whenever you’re ready,” he said, “but I’m going to stay in the room, monitoring his vitals, just in case there’s a problem.”

“Hold that thought, doc.” Kendra took Preston aside. “How carefully did you vet out this doctor?”

“I’d trust him with my life. He’s with the New Mexico National Guard and was wounded during a mortar attack on his medivac unit in Iraq. I chose him because I knew he could handle himself under fire.”

“Okay.” Kendra nodded to the doctor, then went inside the treatment room where Chris Miller lay on a hospital bed.

“You ready to cut me a deal?” Miller asked as Kendra came in. “I’ve got plenty to trade.”

“Give me something big to take to the prosecutor, then we’ll see what we can offer you.” Kendra brought out her digital recorder and set it on the table next to the bed. After recording the date and time, she gave Miller a nod. “Okay, make it good.”

Chapter Nineteen

Kendra waited as Miller sipped some water. He was taking his time. She wasn’t sure if he wanted to back out or if he was just playing them.

“First, let me make one thing clear,” Miller said at last. “I was hired to wound—not kill—your supervisor, Thomas.”

“What?” Kendra sat up abruptly.

“You heard me,” Miller said. “I was shown a photo, given the address, then ordered to make the hit once he got out of the car. I was paid to target an arm or leg—no head or torso shots.”

Kendra shook her head in disbelief. “What a minute. Are you telling me that your client told you specifically
not
to kill Thomas?”

“Yeah. I was instructed to use a pistol caliber round with a full metal jacket. Less damage if it went through and through,” he said. “It didn’t matter to me, I got paid the same. But I was set up, too. I was told to expect one fed inside the house and the target, not a full security team.”

“Your bad luck,” Preston said. “How long have you been in town?”

Kendra knew he was trying to tie Miller to the earlier events.

Miller shook his head. “That’s all I’m saying for now. What I’ve given you is just a taste of what’s to come. Give me immunity—in writing—and we’ll talk again.”

“Were you responsible for the hit on Deputy Marshal Armstrong and Paul Grayhorse a few days ago?” Preston said, pressuring him anyway. “And the murder of Annie Crenshaw?”

“I’m only copping to a single charge of assault with a deadly weapon. The more you give me, the more I’ll give you.”

“Not good enough. Tell us who hired you,” Preston said.

When Miller looked away and stared at the wall, Kendra stood and gestured toward the door.

Outside in the hall Preston glared at her. “That guy’s playing us.”

“Yeah, but he’s got information to trade, and we need him,” she said.

“All right then. I’ll get in touch with the prosecutor,” Preston said.

It took another hour and a half, but once they convinced Miller he’d be given protection behind bars and a new identity to protect him from hostile inmate retaliation, he relaxed.

“Okay, let’s have it,” Kendra said, staring her prisoner down.

“We’re still talking
one
crime—the one where I winged Thomas. But here’s something you didn’t know. I was also hired to take you and the former marshal out permanently the moment the opportunity presented itself. Last night, today, tomorrow—ASAP. That was my next gig.”

“So we were both targets,” Kendra said quietly.

“My primary target was Thomas. You two were B-list.”

Kendra didn’t answer. “Now on to the big question. Who hired you for the job, Miller?”

He shrugged, then his lip curled into what might have been a smile. “I never ask for a name. That makes clients uneasy. But there’s a way you can track him down. The carbine, clips loaded with ammo, and smart phone were all left for me at a prearranged location inside a discarded dog food bag and a paper sack. In the bottom of the sack, which contained everything except for the carbine, I found a sales slip for a cash transaction dated the day prior to my arrival, exactly one week ago. It wasn’t for the stuff I picked up, but the name of the place was Roy’s Happy Trigger.”

“That’s a gun shop on Hartley’s west side just off the old highway,” Paul said, looking at Kendra. “The owner’s a good man, and even better, he’s got a great security system. I provide it for him.”

“Do you still have the receipt?” Kendra asked Miller, thinking of fingerprints.

“No, I threw it out.”

Kendra stood. “We’ll be back,” she said.

“Wait a minute. Where’s the protection I was promised?” Miller said. “One cop at the door isn’t going to do it, you know.”

“You’re safe here,” Preston said. “You’ll have at least two armed guards outside 24/7, and others you’ll never see. Considering your location, no one’s going to sneak up either.”

A few minutes later, after warning the doctor not to trust Miller, Kendra led the way back outside. “I want to talk to that Hartley gun shop owner as soon as possible.”

“You two will have better luck if I’m not there,” Preston said. “The proprietor and I have had our differences.”

“That’s because you keep telling him how to run his business,” Paul said.

“All I’ve been suggesting is that he move his store out of that high crime neighborhood.”

“So why’s he staying there? You think he’s involved in some shady side business, dealing illegal arms or something?” Kendra asked.

“No, it’s not like that,” Paul said. “Willie’s dad started the gun shop and Willie doesn’t want to move away and leave all his memories behind. When he looks around the neighborhood, he still sees it as it used to be, not run down like it is now.”

Kendra was touched by the empathy in Paul’s voice, a man with more than his fair share of memories that continued to haunt him.

She didn’t comment until they were back in Gene’s truck, heading to Hartley. “I feel for Willie, but wanting things to stay the same...” She shook her head. “That’s a losing battle.”

“Sameness.... There was a time in my life when I would have considered that a curse of major proportions.”

“Is that also part of the reason you’ve decided to accept Daniel’s offer now? You want to stir things up a bit so the business will remain a challenge to you?”

“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “Something like that. What about you? Are you ready for new challenges? If someone offered you a job with a decent salary and more regular hours, would you leave the marshals service and become a mom?”

She took a slow, deep breath. “It’s not that simple. Salary’s important and so are the hours, but there are other holdbacks I’ve yet to work out. For one, I don’t have an extended family like yours who lives close by and could help me if I got sick or injured. I would also need to provide my child with some male role models, ones who would be around for more than an occasional birthday or holiday.”

“Here’s a thought. Come work for Daniel and me. You’ve got the training and skills we need, and I’ll be close by and able to help you out if you’re in a pinch.”

She suspected that even a partial commitment like that one had been hard for Paul. He was a man who didn’t open his heart easily to anyone outside his band of brothers. Yet halfway propositions weren’t for her, and what he was offering just wasn’t enough.

Paul was the kind of man she’d always dreamed of but never thought she’d find. When the going got rough, he’d remained right by her side. Yet although he was a relentless fighter, he could also show compassion.

Maybe those qualities also explained why Paul had been such an extraordinary lover. He was wildly passionate, yet he also knew how to take his time and prolong a woman’s pleasure.

Paul had claimed a piece of her heart. When the time came for her to leave, she’d go, but the memories they’d carved out would be part of her forever.

* * *

T
HEY RODE IN
silence until they reached their destination. “There’s Willie’s shop, straight ahead on the right side of the street,” Paul said.

Kendra saw a small building ahead with bars on all the windows. The stores on both sides were closed and boarded up, but Roy’s Happy Trigger seemed to attract a large volume of customers. The parking lot in front had just one empty space. “Looks like Willie’s got a booming business.”

“Yeah, he sure does. After his dad died, he inherited a shop that barely made ends meet. Willie turned it around and made it a huge success,” Paul said. “He sees things differently, though. If you compliment him on the good job he’s done, he’ll just say that his dad did most of the hard work. He just improved a few things because that was what his dad expected him to do.”

“Will he be leaving the place to his son?”

“Doesn’t look like it. Willie says that he’s married to the store. According to him, he’s never even had time for dating.”

“He sounds lonely, trapped.”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Willie just likes the status quo. By building up his business, he’s honored his father’s memory and found financial security. He has no desire to change anything.”