Alana Candler, Marked for Murder (20 page)

It was Brad’s face that reddened this time. “Touché. I won’t mention your past if you won’t mention mine.”

They both shared a laugh.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jaydn said suddenly. “Instead of following my car back to the apartment, why don’t we just take yours? That will give us more time to catch up.”

With that settled, they climbed into Brad’s car and pulled away from the office. They shared a few more laughs on the way to the apartment. Laughing was rare for Brad these days, and it felt good. But the humor in his heart quickly morphed into sorrow when Chet’s death invaded his memory. Brad stilled.

Jaydn notice the change. “Alana tells me things have been rough for you lately.”

A long sigh was Brad’s only answer for the space of a minute. Then he said, “Alana doesn’t know the half of it. We found one of my men murdered yesterday. Whoever did it tried to make it look like suicide, but we’re pretty sure from the evidence we’ve compiled . . . he was murdered.”

Jaydn sucked in his breath. “Man, I’m sorry. Do you have any idea who did it?”

“We think it might have something to do with the serial murders we’ve been investigating. The murdered man’s partner told us Chet suspected his neighbor, but we haven’t been able to find him to question him.”

“Do you have any leads in any of the murders?”

Brad shook his head. Defeat polluted the air like a cloud of gas.

“Nothing.”

He banged his fist on the steering wheel. “You would think after seven murders, they’d leave something! A cigarette butt, fingerprints, or a small bit of DNA—something! These people are good. They cover all the bases. We don’t have a clue.”

“Do you think it’s more than one person? I mean . . . the way you’re talking, it might be a gang or something.”

Brad shook his head. “We don’t know for sure. It would be hard for one man to single-handedly do everything we suspect them of doing.”

“I’m sorry, Brad. I wish I could help. I know all this with Alana isn’t helping either.”

“I don’t want her to know about this if I can help it. She wasn’t
best
friends with Chet, but they were friends. She’s upset enough as it is. If she knew I had Chet’s murder to worry about as well as everything else, and now this with her . . .”

Jaydn waited for Brad to continue.

“The fact is . . . I’m worried sick about her. I can’t concentrate on this murder investigation for worrying about her safety. You don’t know how much I appreciate your letting her stay with you last night. For the first time since all this started, I didn’t worry about her. I actually knew she was safe.”

“I’m glad, Brad. She can stay as long as you need her to. What about the police here? Have they agreed to give her protection?”

Brad laughed angrily. “
Humph
! That’s a laugh! They won’t even consider it unless I show some kind of motive. They still think blowing up her apartment was to hide evidence of a burglary.”

“But nothing was missing from the apartment.”

“Chief Carlson said they probably got scared off before they were able to take anything.”

“What about the business at the hotel and the lake?”

“We can’t prove it even happened—except for Alana’s word. There’s nothing to prove her story, and I’m not even sure they believe her. If they do, they can’t see how the two attacks are connected. In their eyes, it’s just coincidence.” Exasperation bled through his voice.

“Did they gather anything they could use from the bomb in her apartment?”

Brad shook his head. “The only thing we know was that it was wet dynamite.”

“Wet dynamite! How does it explode if it’s wet?”

“When it gets wet—
really
wet—it’s about as bad as nitroglycerine—very volatile. It doesn’t even need a detonating device. Any kind of jolt will make it explode. That’s why it was put over the bedroom door. It would have exploded on top of her if you hadn’t . . .” He shuddered then spoke with feeling. “Jaydn, I have to tell you again how much it means—you saving Alana’s life at the lake and at her apartment. She means the world to me, and . . .” His voice broke, and he rubbed his face to gain control. Turning to his friend, he nodded. “I’ll never forget it, man.”

Jaydn’s cleared his throat and turned away from Brad’s gaze. Neither of them spoke again until they pulled into the apartment parking lot.

Brad turned to Jaydn. “Was Alana
sure
nothing was taken from her apartment?”

“Yes. As far as she could tell, everything was there.”

“Then what was the point? I can’t figure it out. She has nothing of great value. What’s this lunatic looking for?”

“Maybe he wasn’t looking for something particular. Maybe he’s just trying to get to her.”

“Then why trash her apartment?”

They sat in silence staring at the three-story apartment building.

“Maybe the bomb was planted later . . . after they ransacked the place. Brad, you don’t suppose . . .” He stopped in mid-sentence. “Hey, look over there!”

Brad turned to look at the end of the parking lot. Beside the pool, he saw a hooded man with a pole in his hand, pushing on something in the pool. Just the hood itself was enough to make his blood turn cold, but to see the angry force he was using made his stomach leap into his throat.

Brad turned as white as a sheet and looked at Jaydn. “Was Alana going swimming today?”

Jaydn didn’t answer but jumped out of the car and headed toward the pool at the fastest run he could manage. Even so, Brad still beat him as he pushed through the hedges and ran toward the figure in the pool.

FORTY

JAYDN DASHED ACROSS THE PARKING
lot—the terror he felt for Alana pumped a burst of power into his legs. Surreal images of her drowning in a car, exploding in a blast, fighting for air at the bottom of a pool swirled in his mind.

The man in the mask heard Brad’s shouts and loosened his hold on the pool net as his head turned to see Brad and Jaydn running toward him.

Alana twisted to the side of the net with a frantic jerk. When the net went slack, she pulled the pole out of the hands of her attacker. Wrenching the net off her head, she kicked away from that side of the pool.

When her head broke through the surface, she gasped a mouthful of air and water and began coughing from deep in her chest. Her wild-eyed gaze swept the poolside area for a glimpse of her attacker, who had pivoted to make his escape. She heard shouts from Brad and Jaydn, and relief flowed through her. Her legs thrashed weakly like spaghetti noodles as she tried to reach safety. Coughing zapped what little strength remained, and she feebly sank back into the water near the opposite side of the pool.

Running around the bushes toward the gate, Jaydn thought they would never reach her in time. Brad ignored the gate. Instead, he took one leap and sailed over the fence, yelling, “Hold on, Alana!” He leaned over the edge of the pool and grabbed the sleeve of her shirt.

Jaydn was right behind him, and Brad motioned for Jaydn to take her arm. Brad pulled out his revolver and chased after the man who bounded over the chain link fence surrounding the pool. Then, he disappeared into the hedges.

With one jerk, Jaydn had Alana sitting on the edge of the pool. Looking up in fright, she recognized him. Realizing she was safe, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed between coughing spells. He wrapped his jacket around her, then pulled her into his arms and let her cry on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Alana. You’re okay. We’re here. We won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Her sobs filled the air around the pool and seemed to vibrate off the water.

“W-why is this h-happening?” she sobbed.

“It’s okay,” Jaydn kept repeating. He tenderly kissed her on the forehead, and held her close.

When finally her sobbing slowed, she leaned back away from his shoulder and whimpered, “I’m g-getting your jacket w-wet.”

“It’s okay, honey.” He leaned back and looked at her wet face. Pushing the wet strands of hair from her eyes, he asked, “Are you hurt?”

Before she could answer, Brad pushed through the hedges close to the swimming pool and trudged through the open gate.

Jaydn looked over Alana’s head—a question in his eyes. Brad shook his head—defeat obvious by his stooped shoulders. “Let’s go inside,” he said with an uneasy look around the apartment grounds.

As Alana stood, her wobbly legs refused to bear her weight. She stumbled and fell forward. Jaydn didn’t say a word. He caught her before she hit the ground, and without even a grunt, he picked her up and carried her out of the pool area.

At first, Alana struggled to be set down, but her weak limbs finally gave in. Submissively, she relaxed back in his strong arms and let his warmth radiate through her wet clothes.

Although the weather was still very warm, Alana shivered uncontrollably from shock. A strong sense of protectiveness invaded Jaydn’s heart as he felt her light weight in his arms.

Back in the apartment, Jaydn let Naomi fuss over Alana until she was in warm clothes with towel-dried hair and sitting on the couch in the living room wrapped in a warm quilt. She turned on the television to keep Alana occupied, then hurried to the kitchen to make hot chocolate.

Brad was sitting at the kitchen table with a pad of paper in front of him, talking on the phone with Chief Carlson. Standing halfway between the kitchen and the living room, Jaydn watched Alana sitting bundled on the couch, her eyes staring unseeingly at the television. He was watching Alana, but his ears were tuned to Brad’s conversation with the Ross police chief.

When Brad put the phone back on the receiver, he turned to Jaydn with a furrowed brow.

“He’s sending a cruiser to take our statements. I think he finally realizes Alana’s in danger.”

Even from a distance, Jaydn could see a pale tint to Alana’s lips. He sent a pointed look to Brad then nodded in Alana’s direction. “She’s pretty upset.”

Brad ran his fingers through his hair. “Nothing like this has ever happened to us. She’s always been a strong person, but I can tell that she’s in trouble if this keeps up. I bet she’s not sleeping at all.” He hit the table lightly with his fist. “It just doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t have an enemy in the world. She’s a friend to everyone she meets. Alana is one of those people who picks up every stray cat and dog she sees to find them a home and keep them from suffering. I can’t figure out why anyone would want her dead.”

“Maybe it’s something to do with your job. In your line of work, haven’t you had people who vowed to get revenge for one reason or another?”

Brad shook his head. “I’ve only been chief of police for a year. I haven’t had time to make serious enemies yet. Before that, I worked for the investigation division. Nothing there to make enemies, either. What really scares me though, is how the perp knew she was here.”

Jaydn’s head jerked up, and he stared at Brad. “That’s right,” he said in a low voice. “How
did
he know she was here? She was disguised when we left her apartment. I don’t even think you’d have been able to recognize her. I took a back road here in case someone might have followed us, and I even parked in front of the apartments across the road in case someone did find the complex.”

“Did anyone see you leave the apartment?”

“There was man washing his car at the end of the building, but he hardly looked our way.”

“Did you tell anyone she was here?” Brad studied him carefully.

“No, just Naomi.” He turned to look at the housekeeper, a question in his eyes.

“No, sir. I didn’t tell a soul,” Naomi assured him as she stirred the hot chocolate on the stove.

“What about you, Brad? Have you mentioned it to anyone? Someone who might have mentioned it to a friend?”

“I didn’t tell anyone, except for Lisa. She wouldn’t mention it to a soul. She knows enough about my work to know better. What about Alana? Has she talked to anyone since you brought her here?”

Jaydn once again looked to Naomi for the answer.

“Not to my knowledge, sir. She spent most of the day with me too.”

Jaydn pulled the kitchen chair out farther from the table so he could sit down and still see Alana. His concern for her grew. Her soft smile and familiar presence got under his skin. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“We’re going to have to move her again.”

“Or get full police protection.”

“No good.” Brad shook his head. “Chief Carlson says even if he has positive proof she’s in danger, he doesn’t have the manpower to leave someone with her twenty-four/seven. Three-fourths of his men are out with the flu. He suggested finding a safe-house that no one knows about.”

Suddenly, Jaydn tapped his head with the palm of his hand. “I have the perfect solution. I bought a house in the mountains about six months ago to spend time there on my days off—which I haven’t had yet.” He grimaced. “No one knows about it but my lawyer. It’s on an island surrounded by Lake Monty and one hundred acres of dense wooded mountains. There’s only one access to the house—across a bridge that spans the lake. And, the house has a full security system.”