01 Cade (7 page)

Turning off the television a couple of hours later, Cade threw himself back into bed and tried hard to push thoughts of Riley from his mind. He did fall asleep, but only because he was exhausted. And even then, he slept fitfully, and often awoke swearing he could feel Riley there with him, sleeping curled up at his side.

Cade woke up around five the next morning feeling even more exhausted than he had the night before. He wanted to sleep more, but decided that it would be a waste of time to try. So instead, he took a shower and got dressed, then left for work. At the office, he’d at least have something to distract him from thinking about Riley.

He logged back into the NCIC database the moment he got into the office, but even though he tried to focus, it did no good. He couldn’t stop thinking about Riley. Or worrying about her. Thompson and Morris were more than competent, so Cade knew that logically there was no reason to be concerned for Riley’s safety. But he also knew that he would feel a hell of a lot better if he checked on her. So, around mid-morning, he gave up on the database search and decided to get a status report on Riley. Cade didn’t have either man’s cell phone number, however, but rather than ask Conner, he went down to get it from the Support Division.

Maxine, the woman who managed most of the administrative functions for the Seattle office, wasn’t at her desk, however. Not knowing when she’d be back, Cade was about to leave a note for her when he noticed the photograph on her desk. He stared at the picture, unable to believe what he was seeing. In it, a smiling Maxine was standing in front of a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon, and beside her, was the dark-haired man that had tried to kill Riley at the safe house the other night.

“Son of a bitch,” Cade muttered.

Grabbing the photograph off the desk, Cade leaned over the cubicle to show it to Maxine’s coworker. “Do you know who this guy with Maxine is?”

The woman smiled. “Sure,” she said. “That’s Maxine’s husband, Tony.”

Photograph in hand, Cade swore under his breath as he quickly weaved his way through the maze of cubicles. All this time he had been thinking that it was some mob hit man that was after Riley. No wonder he hadn’t been able to get a match through the NCIC database.

Back upstairs, Cade made a quick stop at his desk to grab the composite drawing before heading to Conner’s office. Not bothering to knock, he walked right in. Ignoring the other man’s scowl, he held up the photo in one hand, and the sketch in the other.

“I finally have a name to go with the face,” he said. “Tony Caruthers, who just happens to be married to Maxine from the Support Division.”

Conner’s brow furrowed as he glanced from the photo to the sketch, and then back again. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Cade assured him.

The other man swore. “Is Maxine Caruthers in today?”

Cade nodded. “But she’s not at her desk.”

“Let’s find her then,” Conner said. “I want to talk to her.”

It took nearly half an hour to find Maxine in the huge office building, but when they did, it was to take her directly to an interrogation room. It didn’t take much prompting to get the woman to talk, and within minutes, she broke down and admitted everything. It seemed that her husband wasn’t a hit man for the mob by trade, but just some guy that thought he could get rich quick by killing federal witnesses. The fact that Maxine had the addresses and personal records on all of the witnesses had made the decision easy.

“Did Albert Donatti order the hit?” Cade asked curtly.

Maxine shook her head. “No,” she sobbed. “Tony thought he should do the job first, and then go to Donatti and ask for the money.” She sniffed. “I told Tony it was a stupid idea, but he was sure we could make a bundle, and that no one would ever know. I didn’t want to do it!”

But she went along with it anyway, Cade thought bitterly. “Why Riley Barnett, then?”

The woman shrugged. “Tony thought she would be an easy target, a good way to get his feet wet, I guess,” she said. “He thought it would be safer to start with a woman instead of a man.”

“Where is your husband now, Maxine?” Conner asked.

She didn’t answer, but only fiddled nervously with the tissue in her hand, and Cade ground his jaw.

“You’re already an accessory to attempted murder, Maxine,” he told the woman. “Tell us where your husband is and the district attorney will probably take that into account.”

Maxine said nothing for a moment, but Cade could tell she was considering his words. “I don’t know for sure, but I gave him the address for the safe house down in Olympia this morning,” she said finally. “He’s probably on his way there.”

Cade felt his gut clench. Riley, he thought. He could hear Conner talking to someone on his cell phone, ordering the local PD to the safe house, but Cade didn’t wait around to see what else the man said. Instead, he got the address for the safe house from Maxine and was out the door before Conner could stop him.

Riley never ate ice cream right out of the container, but that afternoon she found herself sitting at the kitchen table with a pint of chocolate chip mint, half listening to the two Marshals talk about the baseball game they were watching on television in the living room and feeling altogether miserable.

It had only been a day since she’d seen Cade, but Riley missed him so much that her heart ached. How was it possible to develop such strong feelings for a man she barely knew? she wondered. She’d only slept with him onetime. And they hadn’t even exactly hit it off in the beginning. But as she sat there eating the ice cream, she wondered if she and Cade would have ended up dating if they had met under different circumstances. Then again, she thought, it was highly unlikely that they ever would have met at all if she hadn’t been in the Witness Protection Program.

As painful as it was to think about, Riley let herself imagine what could have been. If she weren’t moving to parts unknown, would things have gotten serious between her and Cade? Would they even have gotten married? She liked the idea that they might have.

Tears abruptly stung her eyes. What was the use of daydreaming about something that wasn’t going to ever happen? All it did was make her feel more wretched.

Angrily wiping away the tear that trickled down her cheek, Riley jabbed her spoon into the ice cream again, only to freeze when she heard a loud thud coming from the front of the house. It sounded like it had come from the living room, she thought. But before she could even begin to puzzle out what it could have been, she heard a series of loud bangs. Oh God, she thought. Gunshots!

With the colored lights on the dash flashing and the siren blaring, Cade made the two-hour drive to the safe house in half that time. The local police were already there, as was an ambulance, and Cade felt his blood run cold at the sight of the latter. Had that bastard Caruthers succeeded in killing Riley this time?

Cade barely put the car in park before he was out and running toward the house, flashing the silver star on his badge to the cops standing along the perimeter as he did so. Taking the steps two at a time, he hurried into the house to find the paramedics kneeling down beside the Marshals that had been guarding Riley. Both men had been shot, Thompson in the shoulder and Morris in the stomach. Afraid to think what that meant for Riley, Cade strode over to crouch down beside the woman tending to Thompson.

“Where’s Riley?” Cade asked.

Thompson jerked his head toward the rear of the house, only to wince at the movement. “She must have gone out the back,” he said. “The shooter went after her.”

Swearing under his breath, Cade got to his feet and raced through the living room and down the hallway to the back of the house, pulling his weapon as he went. The kitchen door was wide open and Cade immediately headed for it.

In the backyard, there were several uniformed cops standing around talking, and Cade hurried up to them.

“Has anyone gone after them?” Cade asked, referring to Riley and the man hunting her.

One of the cops shook his head. “No,” he said. “We have some dogs that should be here any minute, though. We’re waiting for them.”

Cade stared at the other men in disbelief. The ground was soaking wet and the tracks through the mud were obvious to anyone. He could have stood there and berated them for their lack of police work, but decided that it would be a waste of time. Instead, he headed into the woods behind the house.

A path led directly from the backyard to a dense, wooded area, and even if the ground hadn’t been muddy enough from the rain they’d had earlier in the day for him to see footprints, Cade instinctively knew that was where Riley had gone. It was the only place to go really. And though Cade was grateful for the muddy tracks, he also knew they would give Caruthers an advantage as well. But Riley was a fast runner, Cade reminded himself as he set out after her. And if she had a good head start, there was no way Caruthers would catch up to her. Unless she ran out of places to run.

Cade had been running for at least twenty minutes through the wet, slippery forest, at the same time working hard to keep his eyes on the tracks in the mud, when a dark shape suddenly burst through the trees and over a small hill directly ahead of him. Skidding to a halt, Cade instinctively took aim with his pistol, only to let out a sigh of relief when he realized it was Riley. Her long hair was a wild tangle around her shoulders, and there was mud all over her clothes. But Cade didn’t think he’d ever seen her look more beautiful.

For a moment, Riley just stared at Cade, unable to believe that he was really there. Then, with a cry of relief, she closed the distance between them and threw herself into his arms. His closed around her tightly, enveloping her in his warmth, and she sobbed against his chest. She was safe now, she told herself.

“Oh God, I w-was so scared, Cade,” she told him, her breath coming fast and hard, the words half-muffled against his chest. “I d-didn’t know wh-what to do, so I ran. But he f-followed me...”

Cade smoothed her hair with his hand. “Shhh, you did good, sweetheart,” he said softly. Then, still holding onto her, he took a step back to gaze down at her. “Where is he, Riley?”

She looked up at Cade through her tears. “Somewhere behind me, I think,” she said. “I doubled back, but I think he must have realized it because as I was running, I could still hear him behind me every once in awhile.”

Cade’s gaze quickly darted to the wooded area around them before going back to her. “Go back to the house,” he told her. “The police are there, so you’ll be safe.”

Riley frowned up at him. “What are you going to do?”

His jaw tightened. “I’m going after the guy that tried to kill you.”

She tightened her grip on his arm. “You can’t!” she protested. “He’s got a gun!”

“So do I,” Cade told her. “Now, go back to the house.”

“Cade...” she began, but he cut her off.

“Dammit, Riley, for once in your life just do as you’re told!” he growled. “Now, go!”

His tone brooked no argument, and this time, Riley obeyed. Still reluctant to leave Cade alone, however, she took off at a slow trot over the sloppy, uneven ground. She was exhausted and would rather just have waited and walked back with Cade, but she understood his desire both to keep her safe and to catch the guy that had been terrorizing her once and for all.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t worried for Cade, and she couldn’t help but stop when heard the sound of footsteps crashing through the forest behind her. The hit man had caught up to her already, she thought. Even though Cade had told her to go back to the house, Riley found herself turning around and heading back toward the clearing where she had left Cade. Heart hammering wildly in her chest, she got there just in time to see the hitman standing in front of Cade, gasping for breath.

“Drop the gun and put your hands in the air!” Cade ordered, leveling his own weapon at the man.

Riley held her breath as she waited to see what the man would do. For a moment, he just stood there, his gun still pointed at Cade, and Riley felt fear grip her. Oh God, what if he shot Cade? But to her relief, the hit man tossed the gun onto the ground and slowly lifted his hand above his head.

Relieved that it was finally over, Riley jogged back over to where Cade was standing. Though it wasn’t her intention to distract him, she did, and in the split-second it took for him to glance her way, the other man charged.

Riley opened her mouth to warn Cade, but it was too late. The other man had already knocked him to the ground and they were grappling.

Her eyes wide, Riley watched helplessly while the two men struggled with each other. She had to help Cade, she thought. But how? Not quite sure, she ran toward the men, only to jerk to a halt when she saw Cade’s gun go flying into the bushes. Her first instinct was to go look for it, but she knew it would take forever to find it, so instead, she reached down and scooped up a heavy branch that was lying on the ground.

Gripping it tightly, she slowly approached the two men. They were rolling around on the ground, each of them struggling furiously to gain the upper hand. She had to be careful, she told herself; she didn’t want to end up hitting Cade by mistake.

Suddenly, the hit man rolled on top of Cade and drew his arm back to punch the Marshal. Knowing she wouldn’t have a better opportunity, Riley swung a vicious blow at the hit man’s head, only to hit Cade across the shoulders instead when he rolled his opponent over.

“Dammit, Riley, what the hell are you doing?!” he yelled at her while he still grappled with the man.

“I’m trying to help!” she shouted back.

“Well, stop it!” he ordered.

Disregarding what Cade said, Riley tightened her grip on the branch, ready to whack the guy again if she got the chance, but it wasn’t necessary. Within a few moments, Cade had the hit man subdued and cuffed.

Cade glared at her as he hauled the man to his feet. “I thought I told you to go back to the house,” he growled.

She gave him a sheepish look as she dropped the branch on the ground. “I know, but I thought you might need help or something.”

“Really?” he said sarcastically. “And how did that work out for you?”

The question really didn’t require and answer, but Riley gave him a sheepish shrug anyway. “I’m sorry I hit you,” she said.

Cade gave her an exasperated look but made no comment. “Come on,” he said, and still pushing the hit man in front of him, led the way back to the house.

When they got back, the place was a complete madhouse. There were dozens of police cars, as well as what looked like every Marshal from the Seattle and the Tacoma office. Of course, there was already a lot of press there as well, but to Riley’s relief, they were relegated to a spot behind the yellow tape at the bottom of the driveway.

Riley didn’t really need any medical attention, but at Cade’s insistence, she allowed the paramedics to check her out. The EMT fussed over ever scratch and scrape, and was just finishing up with her when Deputy Chief Conner walked over.

“The other Marshals that were with me,” she said. “How are they?”

He nodded. “They’re both in surgery, but they’re expected to make a complete recovery.”

She nodded, relieved to hear that. “That’s good,” she said. “So, what happens to me now?”

Conner shrugged. “Actually, that’s up to you.”

Her brow furrowed. “Up to me?” she said. “I don’t understand.”

“It turns out that Albert Donatti didn’t hire Caruthers to kill you. after all,” Conner explained. “As a matter of fact, Donatti is really no longer a threat to you at all. He turned evidence on some of his own and is now in the WitSec Program himself. We’ll have to go through some bureaucratic procedures, but I would think that you would be removed from the list of protected witnesses.”

It took a moment for Riley to wrap her mind around what Deputy Chief Conner had just told her. “So you’re saying that I don’t have to move then? That I can go back to using my real name again?”

The older man gave her a small smile. “I think that’s all going to be up to you now,” he told her. “We would certainly move you one more time, though, if you wanted us to.”

Riley glanced at Cade to find him watching her with those remarkable gold eyes of his. “Actually,” she said softly. “I kind of like it here in Seattle.”

Conner nodded. “Then it’s settled,” he said. “I’ll have someone take you home.”

Riley hoped that Cade would volunteer, but to her dismay, Deputy Chief Conner was already calling over another Marshal.

“Like I said, there’s some paperwork we’ll need to go over, Ms. Barnett, but we can do that another time. Deputy Brogan will take you home,” the older man said to Riley, and then, giving her a nod, pulled Cade off to the side to speak to him before walking over to intercept the group of reporters coming their way.

Riley hesitated, giving Cade a glance out of the corner of her eye, but he was deep in conversation with the uniformed police officer that had come up to him. Disappointed that he wasn’t even going to say goodbye to her, she followed Deputy Brogan toward his car.

She was just about to get in when she heard Cade calling her name. Her pulse skipping a beat, Riley tried to hide her eagerness as she turned to see him jogging toward her.

“I wanted to catch you before you left,” he said.

Riley held her breath as she waited for him to continue. He glanced at the other Marshal standing by the driver’s side door, and then back at her. “I can’t really talk to you here, though,” he said. “Would it be okay if I stopped by your apartment later?”

She was tempted to ask him what he meant when he’d said that he couldn’t talk about it there, but Deputy Chief Conner was already calling Cade over to talk to the press. “Of course,” she said. “That would be fine.”

He looked relieved. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”

As she watched him walk away, Riley tried to tell herself not to read too much into Cade’s wanting to see her, but she couldn’t suppress the surge of excitement that began to course through her.

Riley changed clothes half a dozen times that night before finally settling on a simple skirt and camisole top. She had no idea why Cade had asked to come over, and told herself again not to read to much into it. For all she knew, he might be bringing over that paperwork that Deputy Chief Conner had mentioned. God, she hoped not!

The doorbell rang then, interrupting her thoughts, and Riley felt her pulse quicken. Smoothing her hands over her short skirt, she gave herself one more look in the mirror before hurrying to answer the door. Once in the entryway, however, she paused to take a deep, calming breath. She couldn’t ever remember being so nervous! Wetting her lips, she ran her hands over her skirt again, and then threw open the door.

Cade was dressed and jeans and a button-up shirt, and looking even more gorgeous than Riley remembered, and she must have stood there gazing at him for a full minute before she finally managed to find her voice.

“Come in,” she said, taking a step back so that he could do so.

He took in her outfit, his gaze lingering on her legs for a moment, and Riley felt herself blush. “You look nice,” he told her.