Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1) (26 page)

Need to talk to D. Barnes and friends.

Cop said alibi seems solid.

Jason read and re-read the note, something he couldn’t put his finger on bugging him, niggling in the back of his brain, the word “seems” jumping out at him. That’s how everyone’s alibi started out. They all seemed plausible. It was up to the investigator to make sure it was bulletproof. Beyond question. At least until the criminal was caught. A shaky alibi didn’t mean someone was guilty, but it also didn’t mean they could be omitted as a suspect either.

Had the cops twenty years ago simply assumed Damian Barnes’s alibi was strong? Because he was a kid? Anita and Roger couldn’t have talked to the investigating officer because he had passed away five years ago, so they could only be working off of the reports.

Jason reached behind him for the police file stacked on the kitchen table and plopped it down, flipping through it looking for Damian’s statement. He’d been at the movies with his friends. That seemed conclusive.

There was that word again.

The detective had a short report where he’d talked to the teenagers and they’d confirmed the four of them had all seen the seven-fifteen
Braveheart
. It was the film’s opening night and they’d been talking about going for weeks. They’d even waited in line for almost two hours and the theatre had been packed.

Jason had been at college at the time but he and his friends had also gone to see
Braveheart
on opening night in their own city. He too had waited in line and the theatre had sold out. When it came time to find a place to sit, the group of ten young men had to split up because the seats left were only singles and a few doubles. After the movie, they’d regrouped in the lobby and headed out for pizza and beer.

Son of a bitch.
Had anyone bothered to ask those boys if they had all sat together for the entire three hours plus previews? If Damian Barnes had sat separately he would have had plenty of time to slip out, commit the murder, then slip back in to see the end of the film and meet back up with his friends.

Jason needed to talk to those young men and a quick glance at the clock on the wall told him that it would be indecent to phone this late at night. Shit. He’d have to wait until morning. The one decent idea he’d had in days and now he had to sit on his hands for the next seven to eight hours.

Wait
. Jared had sent him the current phone numbers and addresses of Damian’s friends. Jason hopped off the bar stool and waded through the files on the kitchen table until he found the right one. A quick check to confirm his memory and he was grinning like an idiot. Fred March had moved out to Hawaii after graduation to manage a hotel.

Adrenaline surged through Jason’s veins and that little voice was telling him this meant something. His gut agreed.

And it was only eight o’clock in the evening in Honolulu.

‡

“I
don’t like
this one bit,” groused Jason as he, West, and Jared took up their designated places in Brinley’s home. “She could get hurt.”

“She’s not going to get hurt.” West settled next to Jason in the entryway closet, the door partially open so they had an unobstructed view of the living and dining room. “We walked her in the front door and then snuck her out the back under the cover of darkness and into the garage where Logan is keeping her tucked up and safe until this is all over. Hopefully we won’t have to do this every night for a week.”

They’d already staked out Brinley’s house for the last two nights waiting for Damian Barnes – at least they assumed it was going to be Damian – to show up. After Jason had talked to Damian’s friends from the movie he’d found his hunch was correct. The boys had been forced to separate and Damian had sat near the back, all alone. He’d had plenty of time to leave, shoot his stepmother, and then return to the theatre. The boys had answered the cops’ questions honestly; they simply hadn’t been asked the right question.

Jared had also dug up financial information that gave Damian a clear motive to getting rid of Linda Barnes. She was spending his inheritance and Wendell had changed his will so that if he died Linda would get a cut of the estate right out from under Damian.

Add in the fact that he disappeared a few weeks ago just before Roger Gaines’s murder and he was looking good as a suspect. A murderer who wanted the woman Jason loved dead.

He wasn’t going to allow that to happen which was why they were here hiding in a closet. Damian had been on the run, living a lie for over twenty years and no one close to him seemed to have any idea where he currently was. The best plan they could come up with was to lure him here. If he wanted in the house and he wanted Brinley dead, logic dictated he would eventually show up to take care of what he considered loose ends.

West pressed the button on his ear piece. “Report.”

His brother kept his voice low although there were only the three of them in the darkened house, along with Logan and Brinley in the garage and several cops hidden in a circle around the perimeter. If Barnes showed up they’d be ready for him.

“I’ve got a car coming down Alder Avenue slowly.”

Jason didn’t know which of West’s men was reporting but finally something might be happening. He hadn’t realized he lived in one of the most boring neighborhoods in the entire world until he’d sat back to watch it all night.

“It’s parked and a man is getting out. Wait…now he’s disappeared in between the houses.”

Jason’s heart sped up in his chest and he had to force himself to sit, quiet and controlled. He’d been in this situation enough times to know the drill but then there had never been so much hanging in the balance.

“Okay, this is it. No talking.” West nodded to Jason. “Here we go.”

There was silence except for the sound of the wind chimes on Brinley’s patio moving softly in the slight evening breeze. Jason waited impatiently, his fingers finding the handle of the handgun tucked into his shoulder holster. There was a good chance Barnes was armed. They already knew he was dangerous. He’d killed two people and made attempts on two more. Jason had no expectation that the man would come quietly.

They’d left the front door locked but the large windows in the living room wide open as if Brinley wanted the night air to cool the house. Jason heard a clip-clip sound – possibly Barnes snipping the screens – and then a tall man shrouded in shadow stood in the middle of the room, holding what looked like a gun in one hand and a crowbar in the other. There was just enough moonlight coming through the sheer drapes to highlight the outline but none of his features.

Every muscle in Jason’s body was coiled and ready to spring, the tension in his gut churning up acid into his throat. He waited, never taking his eyes from the figure who simply stood there for the longest time. Perhaps waiting to see if he had woken the lady of the house?

Finally the figure crept up the stairs where Jared was crouched in the hall closet. Jason’s phone lit up with an incoming text.

Went into bedrm.

Jason held his breath, waiting to see what the intruder would do. Once he found Brinley’s bed empty would he leave or would he do what Jason was counting on?

Checkg othr bedrm.

Hopefully Barnes wouldn’t find Jared, although the closet was deep and piled high with boxes. They’d made sure of that. If someone opened the door all they’d see was clutter, not a fully trained and armed ex-lawman.

Comng dwnstrs.

This was the moment he’d been waiting for. Barnes was standing at the bottom of the stairs, paused as if not sure what to do next. He’d come for Brinley but she wasn’t there.

Come on. Come on. Look for it. You know it’s here. This is your chance.

Jason was frozen in place but his heart was beating so loudly he was shocked that it couldn’t be heard blocks away. Sweat had begun to trickle down his back, the lack of air in the small space almost stifling. The seconds stretched and time seemed to stand still as he waited. And waited.

Finally the figure slowly crept into the dining room before shining a small flashlight on the floorboards near the entrance to the kitchen. Jason slowly expelled the breath he’d been holding, relief and exultation flooding him all at the same time. Barnes was kneeling now, using the crowbar to pull up the floorboards. Jason could see him reaching down and then another long pause before the crowbar pulled up a few more boards.

It had been too long since the last time he’d caught a criminal red-handed. But he remembered the rush as if it was only yesterday. How long had it been? Months and months and all because he’d been playing it safe. He’d been doing it with Brinley too, trying to protect himself from being hurt.

He was done with that, here and now. No more tip-toeing through life, half-assing everything. As of this moment he was back and it felt more than good. It felt like the part of him that had been missing for so long. He was finally someone that not only he could respect but that he could ask Brinley to love.

Jason quietly stood and reached around the door, flipping on the overhead lights while West and Jared, who had snuck down the stairs, pointed their guns at the intruder. Bright light filled the room and Jason blinked several times as he directed the muzzle of his handgun right at the surprised man’s chest.

It would soon be all over.

*

“Waiting sucks.”

Brinley practically yawned the whispered words as she and Logan sat in the darkened garage on a couple of chaise lawn chairs. This is where she’d spent the last two nights, unwilling to be sequestered in Jason’s house with Logan as her bodyguard. She might not be useful during a stakeout but she wasn’t going to be pushed aside completely. It was her life on the line and she needed to see the man that had tried to kill her face to face. She wanted to find out if evil looked the same as everyone else or if there was something different about a person who was willing to kill a fellow human being.

“It won’t be long now if someone is darting in and out of the houses around here. But if you’re bored I could take you back to Jason’s house so you could get some sleep,” Logan offered with a quiet laugh. He was lying back as if he didn’t have a care in the world but she’d learned enough about him to know he was constantly at the ready. His gun was safely in his shoulder holster but the entire garage was tricked out with motion sensors. If anyone’s shadow even darkened the door loud sirens were going to go off, bringing several officers with them. “I don’t think this is what the doctor had in mind when he sent you home. It can’t be too easy to sleep on a lawn chair, even one as nice as this.”

“I dozed off and on last night. I’m too jumpy to sleep unless I take my pills. Besides, I got a good nap in this afternoon.”

She could hear Logan’s low chuckle in the dim light although she couldn’t see him smile. “Only because Jason carried you up the stairs. You’re a stubborn one, Ms. Snow.”

“He is too.”

“What a pair you are then.” Logan sat up and in a flash was by the one side window that looked out at the house. “The lights are blazing. They must have their man.”

Brinley hopped to her feet and then winced as she landed wrong on her still tender ankle. She was battered but much better than she had been a few days ago. She didn’t even wear the wrap on her ankle or wrist any longer, although the bruises were turning an ugly shade of green.

Logan turned and placed a hand on her shoulder, pressing her firmly back into the chair and putting his body between her and the door. “Sit down until I hear the all clear. It’s not safe yet.”

She was damn tired of all of this. Being protected might sound romantic or interesting in the movies, but mostly it was a pain in the ass. Her independent nature rebelled at the invisible chains and walls that Jason had placed around her. It was the right thing to do but it didn’t mean she had to enjoy it.

A few raps at the door and a young police officer stuck his head in. “We got him. I turned off the alarm and you’re free to move around.”

“Is it Damian Barnes?” she asked, standing more gingerly this time.

The cop gave her an apologetic smile. “I don’t know, ma’am. I haven’t heard. They’ll know inside.”

The officer disappeared and Logan held up his hand when she would have rushed out of the garage. “You don’t have to do this, you know. You’ll see who it is soon enough as you’ll probably have to testify if he doesn’t confess or plead out.”

“I can’t explain it but I just need to see him.” Brinley shrugged helplessly. “I know that sounds lame but this man tried to run me over with a car. I need him to not be some faceless bogeyman that haunts my nightmares. This way he’s just an asshole.”

“Actually that sums it up pretty well. Just remember that when we go in there you need to stay out of the way. They’ll be reading him his rights and so forth.”

Brinley nodded, taking a fortifying breath. “I will. Let’s do this.”

With Logan by her side Brinley climbed the back porch stairs and entered her kitchen. She could see Jason, West, Jared, and several police officers milling around in her dining room along with a handcuffed man with his back to her. She moved through the doorway and closer to Jason as the man turned around, giving her a full view of his face.